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SECTION 3 EARLY HISTORY OF THE MT WELLINGTON WARD 3.1 POLYNESIAN SETTLEMENT 3.2 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT Page 28

3,0 EARLY HISTORY OF THE MT WELLINGTON WARD

3,1 POLYNESIAN SETTLEMENT

a The present day area of Mount Wellington Ward was prime locality for early Polynesian settlement. The rich estuarine environment, an abundance of the preferred volcanic soils for horticulture, and the proximity of several canoe portages linking the Hauraki an Gulf to the Manukau Harbour combined to make this attractive area for habitation.

Current archaeological theory suggests that these early migrants from Eastern Polynesia initially settled along the coast. As the population increased, areas further inland were utilised. Settlements became more permanent as extensive gardens developed in the fertile volcanic soils surrounding Maungarei (Mt Wellington), Te Apunga o Tainui (McLennan Hills - now destroyed), Otahuhunui (Mt Richmond), Mokoia (adjacent to the Panmure Basin), Mutukaroa {Hamlins Hill) and the Flatrock area {East of Carbine Road).

Later as population grew and there was a need for on protection from marauding tribes, the volcanic cones an the isthmus, ideally suited to fortification, became important aspect of the defence network.

The area was populated by two sub-tribes of the Tamaki Waiohua and later by the Ngati Paoa. Traditional history provides our earliest record of the Tangata Whenua (inhabitants) beginning with the hauling of the Tainui Canoe from the Tamaki River to the Manukau Harbour, thus establishing Otahuhu as the major portage route in the area {Furey 1983. 4). Genealogical links reveal that Otahuhu was occupied by people from the of Whangarei region who came south under the leadership Tahuhu during the 14th century (Sullivan 1981.6). The Page 29

Ngati Tahuhu (descendants of Tahuhu} were still present in the Otahuhu-Te Apunga o Tainui (McLennan Hills) area until the 17th century.

Maungarei (Mt Wellington), one of the most prominent archaeological features of the Ward was inhabited by a larger hapu of the Tamaki Waiohua. It has been estimated that a substantial population (about 2500} was living in this area between 1400 and 1700 A.D. (Holloway 1962}

This citadel was captured by the Ngati Paoa of the Hauraki-Thames region at the end of the 17th century. The Ngati Paoa settled at Mokoia Paa and Maungarei was abandoned.

The Waiohua chief, Kiwi Taamaki dominated the isthmus from his paa on Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill} during the 18th century. A protracted battle in the mid-18th century between the Kaipara Ngati Whatua and the Tamaki Waiohua resulted in the death of Kiwi Taamaki ( at the hands of Tuperiri} and the fall of the Waiohua. Later, a long drawn out conflict between the Ngati Whatua and the Ngati Paoa ended in a peace settlement which gave the Hura, a subtribe of the Ngati Paoa a tract of land which included the Maungarei, Panmure, and Otahuhu districts. Thus, Tuperiri, weakened by years of war, found his sphere of influence diminished.

For a time the Ngati Paoa in Mokoia Paa prospered under their chief Te Hinaki. In 1820 it was recorded the "Mokoia Village" was about a mile long and half a mile broad and the houses were larger and more ornamented than those we had generally observed" (Bagnall 1957 p150-1). Page 30

However, the isthmus was soon under threat from the dominant northern Nga Puhi tribe whose chief Hongi Hika had acquired European weapons. In a fierce battle in 1821 he killed Te Hinaki and destroyed Mokoia Paa. The surviving Ngati Paoa fled.

War with muskets changed the Maori economic way of life. Flax became an important commercial commodity for sale to Europeans and its collection and preparation led to the decline of kumara gardening and the permanent occupation of land. The devastating effects of .two influenza epidemics and incessant ~t ."':t warfare weakened tribal ties with the land as well. Without these ties the land was acquired by Europeans, who were just starting to establish themselves in the colony.

3,2 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT

When Felton Matthew was investigating the Auckland isthmus for the Crown he suggested Tamaki could be the site for the town of Auckland. This of course did not eventuate and European settlement of the area did not occur until the Fencible Villages were established. Panmure was established in 1848 with a contingent of Irish Settlers. Panmure, Otahuhu, Howick and Onehunga formed a line of villages, settled by British Army pensioners and their families, to protect Auckland from possible Maori attacks. The pensioners, specially chosen for their good character and industrious habits, were granted a cottage, an acre of land and the assurance of regular employment to enable them to maintain their families.

Fencibles proved to have a very stabilizing influence on the otherwise unco-ordinated settlement of Auckland. During the 1852 and 1861 gold rushes, when colonists were being lured away from Auckland, the Fencibles Page 31 remained, bound by their terms of enlistment. 'They became, therefore, the most valuable class of settlers the Province of Auckland', (Holloway ever imported to I 1962 p.168) and it was on this firm stock that Panmure was founded.

It was a sound community of families with a common background, common interests and a common purpose, based on the security of owning their own houses located on fertile land, and the assurance of a steady if small income. They were ready to take an interest in local government under the leadership of their commanding officer, Colonel Haultain, and the principal landowners whose farms clustered about the settlement. In 1863 Panmure applied to be made a District under the Highways Act of 1862. Until then, as a Hundred, and as a Ward of the Borough of Auckland, it was responsible for little more than the discouragement of squatters, the impounding of straying cattle and the control of noxious weeds. Then on 5 January 1863, the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, Robert Graham, (a ratepayer of the district) declared the Highways Act, 1862, to be in full operation within the District of Panmure.

The District comprised an area encompassing approximately the Mount Wellington Ward and the Borough of Ellerslie as they are today. It contained only 103 landowners, whose holdings totalled approximately 3,680 acres.

The first Highway Trustees were Theodore M Haul tain, who had been Councillor for Panmure Ward in the Borough of Auckland and had represented the Hundred of Panmure on the Auckland Provincial Council , John Kerr, George Leech, Robert M Ryburn and William O Hamlin. John Kerr was also a warden of the Hundred of Panmure, which continued to function on an income from the Provincial Page 32

Government, spent almost entirely on road-making.

The Development Act of 1863, which had authorised the raising of a loan for development work, including a bridge over the Tamaki, had been followed on 3 February 1864, by a further Act, known as the Tamaki Bridge Act, to enable the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland to expend a sum not exceeding 15,000 pounds on the bridge. The iron structure with a 40 foot swinging span to allow the passage of vessels up to Otahuhu was opened on· 24 February 1866.

On 5 January 1865, exactly two years after Panmure was constituted a Highways District, the District as such ceased to be. In its stead, the Village of Panmure and the land immediately surrounding it was constituted a Township and a separate District was made of the outlying rural area, to which the name Mount Wellington was given for the first time.

On 1 January 1883 the Road Boards Act 1882 came into force and all Highways Districts then in existence were re cons ti tu ted as Road Boards . The Mount Wellington District then became the Mount Wellington Road Board.

Early in 1906, a loan of 5,000 pounds was floated to supply the Ellerslie end of the district with water and a special rate of ld in the pound was struck on all rateable properties in the Ellerslie subdivision which were to benefit from the supply. This special rating led to Ellerslie becoming an independent Town District in 1908.

The 'concrete bridge' was opened by the Right Honorable W F Massey in 1916 after wartime shortages had held up progress. Faults in material or construction, perhaps Page 33 due to difficulties of the time, reduced its efficient life to barely 40 years.

In 1945 the Department of Housing Construction launched its scheme for the district, a scheme so extensive that it was heralded as the charter of a new city. It was to house more than 30,000 people within the 2,000 acres bounded by Riddell Road on the north, the Ellers lie Panmure Highway on the south, the railway on the west and the Tamaki River on the east.

By 1952, when the Road Board made application for Borough status, the population had increased to 7,500.

The application was granted by an immediate and unanimous decision on 12 February 1952. In granting it, Judge Goldstine said that the urban character of the District, as evidenced by its continuing development, had convinced the Commission that it should have the benefit of the Municipal Corporations Act.

Formal installation of the first Mayor and Councillors of the Mount Wellington Borough Council took place on 14 July 1952.

The ratepayers of Panmure on the advice of the Local Government Commission, finally voted in favour of the merger with the Borough of Mount Wellington.

The Order in Council uniting the two bodies was gazetted on 19 May 1955, and came into force the following day. Page 34