HARATAUNGA

by

COLIN ALEXANDER WILSON  (Great great grandson of Nathan Kenendy)

1976

INTRODUCTION

I remember in my boyhood my part Maori grandmother telling me of my Maori ancestors and the area whence they came.  When she died almost all that was known about the family's ancestors was lost.

 Using what few facts I could remember of what I had been told, I promised myself that one day I would regain the lost information about my ancestors and my home.  This research essay is a start in fulfilling this promise.

 In the course of my research, I came across a land claim file which gave much detail of the problems one of my ancestors faced in the contact period and it is on this, that I have based my essay.

 Although my essay is centred on this land claim, it is the area and the people involved in it that I wish to understand.  As a result, I have endeavoured to make them the focus of my attention

THE AREA AND ITS HISTORY UP TO 1830

 The area involved is a small bay on the east coast of the Coromandel peninsular called Kennedy Bay.  Before the European came it was known to the Maori as Harataunga.

 Because of its position on the coast, being the last sheltered bay before Cape Colville, the bay had many visitors. The Ngati Porou used it often as a stopover on their way north to do battle with the Ngapuhi and had an agreement with the local Ngati Tamatera over rights of occupation over certain areas of the Bay.

European contact in the bay was not firmly established until the 1850's because of two violent incidents.

 The first incident in180l involved a small convict ship, the Venus. Her crew had been overpowered at Sydney by the convicts she was transporting.  She then sailed for the east coast of New Zealand where she carried on a precarious existence, at one stage kidnapping two Maori maidens.  The ship was eventually seized at Harataunga where the convicts were eaten and the ship burnt on the beach for its iron.

 The second incident occurred in 1815 after the captains of two ships, the 'Brothers' and 'Trial' refused to pay a chief for a large load of supplies taken on at the Bay of Islands. The schooners had headed south to take on a further load of flax. But word of their misdeed caught up with them at Harataunga and while anchored there, a thousand warriors attacked the two ships which were lucky to escape with only six dead.  Reports vary as to the casualties among the Maori warriors, although one report says as many as two hundred were killed or injured after one of the ships opened fire with canon.After this event the bay became known as Trial Harbour and was probably avoided by European traders until the 1830s.

 THE BEGINNING OF THE DISPUTE

 In 1837 HMS Buffalo arrived in New Zealand with a John Kennedy, shipwright and timber merchant from northern England .  He was contracted by the British Navy to collect and prepare a shipment of kauri spars.  Kennedy first worked from Mercury Bay and then further south from Tairua employing a few Maori and European workers to fell and square spars.

 During his stay at Tairua, Kennedy took a wife, Katerina Taurangi, said to be a chief’s daughter, said to be from around Tairua and possibly a member of the Ngati Maru tribe.  They settled at Harataunga where Kennedy purchased some land.

 This piece of land purchased in 1839 consisted of 242 acres with a fine stand of kauri.  The original owners were members of the Ngati Raukatahuri hapu of the Ngati Tamatera iwi.  The purchase price included a number of assorted articles such as blankets, axes tobacco and a sum in cash.

 Because the sum of cash required as part of the purchase price had not been paid, it is unlikely that the agreement had been fully settled in the eyes of the original owners.  Despite this, it would seem that all parties proceeded on the basis that the sum of cash would be paid and Kennedy’s right to take possession of the land was fully recognised.

 But before the sum of cash was paid the Treaty of Waitangi was signed which resulted in regulations being laid down by the new Government which required an investigation and ratification of all land purchases entered into before the treaty was signed.  As a consequence Kennedy drew up a document recording the original agreement which was signed by all the parties involved in the land purchase.  This document was then submitted in 1841 as a claim to the Land Claims Office for investigation and ratification.

 Kennedy was then informed in April 1843 to appear at a hearing on his claim and which we shall see he was unable to do.

 In his new life at Harataunga from 1839 to 1843 Kennedy had prospered, having built himself a small cutter called the Three Bees and developed a business as a timber merchant.  In the same period his wife bore him three sons, Nehana (Nathan), Honotana (Jonathan) and Joseph (Hohepa).

 After despatching a load of spars on the Pelorus in 1843, Kennedy set out in his cutter for the Bay of Islands probably to appear at the hearing about his claim.  Somewhere on the journey ship and owner disappeared.  Much later it became known that he had been robbed and murdered and his cutter had been scuttled somewhere off the east coast.

 All versions of the affair are sketchy, but it is known that his crew consisted of three timber workers from New South Wales , probably ex-convicts, although it was thought at that time that two Frenchman operating in the area were responsible.

 Joseph Kennedy, who later became a well known citizen of Gisborne, when interviewed about his father's death for the NZ encyclopaedia, stated: "The murderers landed at Tauranga and travelled overland to Hokianga, where they shipped on a vessel carrying spars to Sydney .  Having committed other murders in New South Wales, one [member of the gang] was arrested by the police and confessed this gang had murdered Mr Kennedy and nine other men.  The man who made this confession was hanged".

 Joseph Kennedy did operate a ship out of Melbourne and may have learnt this version while in Australia , but no confirmation can be made of the confession or hanging in Australian records.

 Whatever happened, only one thing is known for certain and that was Kennedy had disappeared forever.

 Katerina Kennedy with her three sons lived on at Harataunga for some time in unrewarded anticipation of their father's return.  But as time passed she realized something had happened to her husband.  For some reason she appears to have left Harataunga, possibly returning to her original people at Tairua.  Her youngest son, Joseph, appears to have gone to live with his father’s brother’s family which ultimately took up residence in Auckland and her two other sons she left in the care of a friend of her husband, Mr Campbell, who was married to a local Maori woman and had two children.

The care arrangement for her children may have initially been intended to be temporary; however, there is no record her having any further contact with the any of the boys and she may well have died.

In the meantime the Land Claims Commission, having advertised the hearing, and discovering there was no appearance for Kennedy, recommended that the claim should not be recognized.  Little is known about the Kennedy family over the next few years.  It is recorded that Joseph ran away to sea at nine years of age at about 1850.  He subsequently became master of his own vessel another nine years later.

Honatana (Jonathan) and Nehana (Nathan) grew up in a largely Maori environment.  They took up small scale farming on their father's land, finding a ready market for produce over the Tokatea hill (1450ft) in the boom town of Coromandel .

 The brothers must have been concerned about their title to the land, because on the death of their foster father in 1859, they approached the District Land Purchase Commissioner in Coromandel, Mr James Preece, asking him to make some enquiries as to the fate of their father's claim.  Mr Preece did send a letter but no reply was given.

THE DISPUTE

  The dispute was triggered by the arrival at Harataunga of several timber merchants in 1861.  They were interested in buying or leasing some mill-able land and the Kennedy block looked particularly suitable.

 But in the course of their enquiries they discovered that the Kennedy brothers claim to the land was somewhat tenuous because a portion of the purchase price remained unpaid.

 As a result, the merchants were able to force the Kennedy brothers into leasing a section of the block by threatening to buy the land off the other owners, or descendants of.  

Of the original owners, only Parakaua was alive, but descendants of the other owners considered that they had inherited the debt of John Kennedy.  The main spokesman for this group was Arama Karaka Tarakawa, a descendant of two of the original owners.

 Arama was reasonably amiable toward the Kennedy brothers, having known them for some years, but at the same time he saw it his responsibility to look after his wife's ancestor’s affairs.

 When this mill was erected in 1863, several of Wikitira's relations became irate because they had not been consulted.  Hori Waipaui, an uncle of Wikitira, seeing that there were a large number of goats grazing on the land, decided to take them as payment for the share due to his ancestor.

 This situation was defused when the Kennedy brothers promised to repay their father's debt, agreed to now stand at £50.  They shortly afterwards paid £10 as an instalment on the debt, but this they borrowed from McGregor and Atkinson, the mill owners, which later we shall see was to be their undoing.

 Nehana Kennedy, who had been the main figure in the dispute, as a result of his brother leaving Harataunga, made several applications to the Land Purchase Office in Coromandel to have his father's claim recognized, but was hampered by his lack of English.

 Early in 1864, being totally frustrated, Nehana informed McGregor that Arama wanted the outstanding £40 and if he did not receive it, the mill would be burned down.  Whether it was Nehana or Arama who would be doing the burning was not clear.

 As Coromandel had been almost evacuated as a result of the Maori Land Wars in 1863 and most European settlers were still nervous, McGregor complied.

 Having paid the outstanding portion of John Kennedy's original purchase price, McGregor and Atkinson now felt that they owned a share of the property and decided to persuade Nehana and his brothers to enter into a written agreement over the matter.  But Nehana was adamant that no agreement could be made until the original title had been recognized.  With this, McGregor went to Auckland and persuaded the Land Claims Commissioner to finalize the matter by holding an enquiry.  On his return he convinced Nehana the claim would soon be settled and that they should enter into an agreement for sale of a portion of the block.

 But this agreement only served to further confuse matters.  Nehana and Honatana accepted £50 as a preliminary deposit, while McGregor saw the agreement as being final.  To make matters worse, McGregor died several months later, leaving a wife, Hohipaia Ngapuhi and eight children, and the agreement was misplaced in the confusion.

 On the 22 October 1866 Resident Magistrate, Mr James Mackie, conducted a hearing to finalize the dispute.  He had previously attempted to contact either the original owners or witnesses to John Kennedy's purchase, but all were dead, including by this stage, Te Parakaua.

 Apart from the events that have already been mentioned, two important facts came to light at the hearing.  The first was that, even though the outstanding purchase price had been paid by McGregor and Atkinson, they, in the eyes of Arama's group had not received title to the land.  The second fact being that Nehana was in debt to McGregor and Atkinson to the tune of £11.

 On the evidence given, the Magistrate ruled that the land be divided into two blocks, 88 acres going to McGregor and Atkinson and 154 acres to the Kennedy brothers. Although the brothers had received the larger block, it was rough hill country in comparison to the choice 88 acre block.

The Magistrate also ruled that McGregor's share should be held in trust for the half caste children, but it was subsequently discovered that McGregor's share in the mill was minimal and it was the sleeping partner, Mr Cruickshank who ended up owning the 88 acres.

 The dispute was almost settled, when, as a result of hearing the outcome, Joseph Kennedy who was absent from the hearing, decided to lodge a protest.

Through a lawyer, he wrote to the Land Claims Commissioner complaining that as well as not having received any of the money from the sale of the 88 acres, he had never been consulted on the matter.  He also protested the fact that Mr Cruikshank had received a large share, having never even seen the land.

 Joseph's protests were dismissed with the excuse that he had an ulterior motive for making them, gold having been discovered in the area.  For better or for worse the dispute had ended.

   EPILOGUE

 For the Kennedy family, the contact period had meant a scattering or a dislocation from their original roots.

 Joseph had already become established in the world of the European.  He became Gisborne's first Harbour master in 1874 and shortly thereafter was a partner in a substantial shipping business.

 

Nothing is known about Honatana, although he may well have joined Joseph in the shipping business.

For Nehana, the journey was in the other direction.  He stayed at Harataunga for several years.  But after his wife, Hera Kaimanu (of Ngati Whanaunga), died probably in a flu epidemic in 1870, he left the area for ever.  His two children, Mere (Mary) and Pokai (Joseph) were adopted by his wife's sister, Mere (nee Kaimanu) Davis, and he drifted south, eventually becoming a member of the Ringatu religion and living at the Waioeka Pa where he died in 1931.

 

POSTSCRIPT

 This essay  was largely based on information I had when I wrote in in 1976 and it now requires some corrections, or possibly a statement saying that is currently under revision in the light of fresh information. 

 

For example, my statement that Jonathan went off with Joseph is just a guess.  The only reason I said this was that he seems to have suddenly dropped out of the picture in the course of the claim file.  Whether he left Kennedys Bay, or died, is not known.

 

As regards my statement that Katerina was of Ngati Maru was based on information in the death certificate of Joseph (Pokia) Kennedy's death certificate.  This was the only son of Nathan Kennedy who died without issue.  Nathan Kennedy death certificate states his tribal affiliation as Ngati Rua which is of Whakatohea.

 

When I started my research I thought Katerina was affiliated to the tribe at Harataunga who were Ngati Tamatea, but when I read the land claim file their was no mention of her name and, to add to this, the file clearly stated that the orphan boys went were brought up by the Campbell family.  If Katerina had family in Kennedy Bay you would expected the the custom of "whangai" would have occurred and fact that it did not only reinforces my view that she was not closely connected to Harataunga.  Another factor that should be born in mind is that in 1839 the musket wars were still progress an most of Coromandel had been deserted because of the fear of Ngapuhi.  In fact, one of the reason that many pre-treaty sales of land took place was that the presence of a European in area tended to bring some protection as they were seen as a means of introducing trade and stability, which seened to have been recognised by all sides in during the musket war period.

 

                                                                                                Nga mihi,

                                                                                  Colin Wilson.

                                                                           Left:   Mary Cowley (nee Kennedy) daughter of Nathan Kennedy

                                                                           Right: Clara Wilson (nee Cowley) and Grandson Colin Wilson circa 1950

Photos courtesy of Colin Wilson

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