CHAPTER VIII
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CHAPTER VIII.
In November, 1871, the notorious Kereopa, who took the leading part in the murder of the Rev. C. S. Volkner, was captured by a body of Ngatiporou near Waioweka, in the Opotiki district. He was delivered up to the Government and was lodged in the gaol at Napier, where he was afterwards tried for the murder, and was executed on January 5th, 1872. While in the gaol he was frequently visited by the Bishop and the Rev. S. Williams. At first he denied his guilt, but afterwards he confessed to the full the actual part he had taken in the tragedy.
The pursuit of Te Kooti having been discontinued after he had been allowed to take refuge at Te Kuiti, in the Maori King's country, there was no occasion for any further warlike expeditions, and the land had rest from war. During the previous seven years the people in the East Coast from Hicks Bay to Mohaka had had much experience of the general unsettlement which is the unavoidable accompaniment of a time of war. It is true that there had been no actual fighting in the district since 1869, but the tidings of Te Kooti's sudden descents upon one place after another in the Bay of Plenty maintained on every part of the coast a feeling of insecurity which was fully justified by his sudden appearance at Tolaga Bay in July, 1870; and the organisation from time to time of expeditions to go in pursuit of the outlaw, with the offer of a reward of £5000 for his capture, had not been conducive to the steady prosecution of the arts of peace. It was a great relief, therefore, to feel that there was at length a reasonable prospect of the people being able to follow their agricultural and other peaceful occupations without fear of disturbance.
The question of land confiscation at Waiapu still remained in the position in which it had been left by the ill-advised action of Major Biggs in 1867; but after the capture of Kereopa Mr. McLean, who was the Native Minister and Minister for Colonial Defence, took an early opportunity of visiting the Ngatiporou with the view of getting the matter settled. He told them that the Government had been very greatly indebted to them for the ready and efficient help they had given throughout the period of the disturbances on the East Coast, and that, in recognition of their hearty co-operation, the Government would forgo any claim to land which had been considered to be forfeited by those of their tribe who had taken an active part with the Hauhaus. Mokena, Rapata and other chiefs replied that they had always told the Hauhaus that their support of Patara would have to be atoned for by confiscation of land, and that they considered it right that the land within the boundaries which they had pointed our, to Major Biggs should be taken by the Government in order that the Hauhaus might have before their eyes the consequences of the course which, they had persisted in. Mr. McLean, however, refused to make any alteration in what he had stated as the decision of the Government, and added that as Te Awanui was the safest landing place for boats on this part of the coast, he would purchase the land adjoining it at a fair price and have it made a public reserve. This was readily agreed to, and the long-standing difference between the Ngatiporou and the Government was settled to the satisfaction of all parties.
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As a large number of the people had been diverted from their usual occupations to take part in the expeditions which had been organised for the pursuit of Te Kooti, and as some months would elapse before they could get back to their old methods of employing themselves, the Government found some work for many of them in making much-needed improvement in the tracks leading from place to place along the coast. Surveyors were directed to lay off what would be passable bridle tracks, and the work was let out at a fair rate of remuneration in small sections to those natives who were willing to undertake it. To many of them this proved to be a great boon, as it not only provided them with a livelihood for the time being, but tended also to bring them back to settled habits of work.
From the time of Sir G. Grey's first period of office as Governor, assistance had been given from public funds to schools for Maoris which were carried on by missionaries of the Church of England, of the Wesleyan body, and of the Roman Church, the Governor himself manifesting great interest in the work. After the inauguration of responsible Government a sum of £7000 had been voted annually for the purpose of giving greater efficiency to the schools of the various missions, regard being had to the number of pupils and the character of the work done. One of the fruits of the Waitara war was that several of these schools had been altogether extinguished, and that there was no near prospect of their being resuscitated, but now that peace had been restored a new departure was made by the Government. Schools were to be set up in Maori settlements, a stipulation being made that the Maoris in each case should set apart a site, of about two acres and be responsible for half of the cost of the buildings and of the teacher's salary. The Hon. Colonel Russell was appointed to take such steps as were necessary to bring the scheme into operation. He travelled through all parts of the North Island in which there was any probability of his meeting with a favourable reception; and, though his efforts did not achieve the success which had been anticipated, a beginning was made and much valuable experience was gained, which was afterwards turned to good account. The scheme had been somewhat crudely devised, and was in need of considerable modification and development before it could be expected to work smoothly. One instance will serve to illustrate this. At Paremata, in Tolaga Bay, on the right bank of the river (the place which is now called Hauiti), Apirana Topi, a man who had had very scanty educational advantages, but could read and write his own language, and knew something of simple arithmetic, was much, concerned that the children of his kainga should be growing up in absolute ignorance, and, in the absence of any one better qualified than himself, got the children together to the number of about 60, and proceeded to give them regular instruction on week days and Sundays to the extent of his own acquirements. This had been going on for some time before Colonel Russell came on the scene, and this circumstance was a good omen for the successful inauguration of the new scheme. The prospect of a good school with a qualified teacher was very acceptable to the people, but they were somewhat disappointed when they were told that they must hold themselves responsible for half the cost of the necessary buildings and for half of the teacher's salary, as there was no immediate prospect of their becoming possessed of the funds that would be needed. They had recently spent
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what money they had at command in the erection of a weatherboard church, and some of them suggested that possibly the church might be used also as a schoolroom. The Colonel hastily fell in with this suggestion and told them that the department would provide a residence for the teacher on the understanding that the church should be used as a schoolroom. The majority, however, were not agreeable to this, arrangement and wrote shortly afterwards to the Department to say that the church would not be available, and to ask that a schoolroom should be built as well as a teacher's residence, but this request was not granted. A small two-roomed building was erected for the teacher, and Mr. Parker, a young man who had been employed in a printing office in Napier, was appointed to the post. Mr. Parker began his work bravely, but under great difficulties. The only building available was a badly-lighted whare which would hardly accommodate the children seated on the opposite sides of two long tables. After a few months the little cottage took fire, owing to the faulty construction of the fireplace, and was burnt to the ground. Mr. Parker and his wife took refuge in a room on the opposite side of the river, and the school was much disorganised. The people on the left bank of the river, who up to this time had ignored the school, now began to profess interest it in, and were urgent that new buildings should be erected on their side of the river. The question was left to the decision of a local officer who did not consider the convenience of the majority of the children, and for whose benefit the school was to be erected, and as the people on the left bank had some money in hand and were prepared to contribute £50 towards the cost of the buildings, he decided the question in their favour. After the new buildings were erected the attendance rapidly fell off owing to the difficulty of getting the children ferried across the river, and the community which had been most eager to have the school were thus to a great extent deprived of the benefit of it. Schools were opened in other parts of the district, but the condition that the Maoris should be responsible for half of the cost, was not always, I believe, insisted upon, and at a later period it was altogether abandoned.
The state of unsettlement which had so long prevailed had been very unfavourable for church work among the people, though the native clergy had on the whole used their best endeavours to cope with the difficulties by which they were beset. On the discontinuance of military service drunkenness and other forms of immorality became distressingly prevalent, some of the leading men being conspicuous for their flagrant disregard of moral restraint. This trouble, moreover, was aggravated by the reckless way in which licences for the sale of spirituous liquor were issued to Maoris as well as Europeans. In 1873 there were no fewer than eleven licensed houses on the coast from Hicks Bay to Tolaga Bay inclusive. The Europeans resident within those limits at that time did not number more than 50 or 60, and the liquors, which were of questionable quality, were sold in many other places besides the houses actually licensed. There was very little demand on the coast at that time for accommodation for travellers, and only three or four of the houses licensed made any attempt to provide for it. The immediate responsibility for this state of things rested with the Resident Magistrate of the district, who was prepared to issue a license to anyone who would pay the regulation fee, alleging as his reason for this that the trade could not be shut out, and that therefore he considered it better that the trade should be carried on under license
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than by stealth. At a meeting of the Native Church Board in that year held at Whareponga this was the principal subject of discussion, with the result that a numerously signed petition was forwarded to the Minister of Native Affairs, who remarked, on the receipt of it, that a petition was not of much value because it was a matter of no great difficulty to get any number of people to sign a petition for or against anything.
When the Reverend Samuel Williams was moved from Otaki to Te Aute chiefly at the instance of Sir George Grey, a promise was made by His Excellency that, in addition to the land which was set apart for the support of a school for Maoris, a substantial grant would be made by the Government for the erection of the necessary buildings and for the purchase of stock. Sir G. Grey returned to England shortly afterwards and the promise was never fulfilled. The school was therefore practically in abeyance until the Rev. S. Williams had greatly improved the property and was able to borrow money on his own responsibility for the erection of buildings. The buildings were ready for occupation in the course of the year 1872, and the school was opened for boys in the beginning of the following year. Pupils attended this school from all parts of the East Coast. The Bishop had long been anxious that something should be done for the education of Maori girls. The re-opening of schools at Waerenga-a-hika seemed unlikely to be possible for many years, but by the aid of personal friends in England he was enabled to raise sufficient money to erect a building on a site which he had acquired in Napier. The now well-known Hukarere School was opened in this building in 1875. In the meantime the Waerenga-a-hika estate was let by the trustees until the accumulation of the rents received should justify their proceeding to build and open a school.
The changes in the district which were consequent upon the recent troubles soon became very evident. The land taken by the Government at Wairoa in 1867 was surveyed at once, and sections at Marumaru, as already stated, were awarded to military settlers who were disturbed in the following year by Te Kooti's appearance in the district. A village was also laid off at Te Kapu, which was named Frasertown after Major Fraser. Land on the left bank, of the Waiau extending some distance towards Waikaremoana had been awarded to the friendly natives of Nuhaka, Mohaka, Wairoa and Heretaunga, who afterwards received a sum of £12,000 in lieu of it, and it was then opened up by the Government for settlement. After the purchase of land at Turanganui in 1867 the township of Gisborne was surveyed and the first sale of sections took place in 1870. Sites at no great distance from the river were soon occupied and built upon. Military settlers were awarded sections on the inland side of Waerenga-a-hika and the village settlement of Ormond was laid off nearby. Up to the time of the disturbance very little of the land in Poverty Bay had been parted with by the natives and it had been a matter of some difficulty to induce them to give any Pakeha a lease, though there were indications in 1865 of a likelihood of this reluctance being overcome, at least in some parts. Some of the confiscated land about Patutahi was awarded to the friendly natives who had assisted the Government in the military operations on this coast, but a compensation in money was afterwards substituted for the land, which was then made available for settlement.
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In 1870 Dr. Nesbitt, who had been Resident Magistrate at Maketu, came to Gisborne in the place of Mr. Atkinson, who had returned to New Plymouth. It was a boon to the small community to have in the place a medical man, who, though largely occupied with Magisterial duties, was not unwilling to give professional help in cases of serious sickness.
Among early needs was a school for the children, and the committee which was appointed to take the necessary steps for the erection of a school-room (for which in those days the local residents were responsible), considered the site of the present main school in Derby Street "too far out of town," and preferred an education reserve at the intersection of Childers Road and Lowe Street. On this site an unpretentious building was erected and Mr. W. D. Lysnar having been appointed teacher with the concurrence of the inspector of the Auckland Education Board, the school was opened in February, 1872. The scale of fees to be paid by the parents was one shilling a week for the younger children up to eight years of age, and two shillings for those who were above that age, some reduction being provided for in the case of parents who should be able to satisfy the committee that they were unable to pay the prescribed fee.
The census which was taken in March, 1874, gave the European population of Gisborne as 552, and that of the surrounding country as far as it was then occupied as 615. On the plan of the township a section was marked as a reserve for a hospital, but, in order that it should be utilised, it devolved upon the small community to take such steps as they might find to be possible. The need was emphasised in 1875 by the fact that two old men without means were struck down with paralysis. It was necessary that something should be done without delay to provide accommodation for the two men. On one of the public reserves ten small cottages had been erected by the Government for the reception of emigrants, and these were then unoccupied. The two paralytics were placed in one of these cottages with an able-bodied man to attend to them. Soon afterwards a second of the cottages was moved up and the two were added to in such a way as to make provision for a small number of patients. Subsequently, as the population increased, more up-to-date accommodation was provided.
As Charitable Aid Boards had not then been instituted a Benevolent Society was formed with a working committee of a few ladies, who were assisted by the several ministers of religion resident in the town. Needy cases were thus provided for.
In November, 1875, Gisborne was brought into close contact with the outside world by the completion of the telegraph line from Napier.
Permanent provision for the spiritual needs of the rapidly-increasing European population was a matter which involved more difficulty. My own duties included frequent visits to Waiapu and Hicks Bay on the north and to Wairoa and Mohaka on the south, so that my work in Gisborne and the neighbourhood was very intermittent; the Bishop, however, made a point of spending as much time in the district as his other duties allowed, and Mr. Lysnar was appointed by him to hold services as lay reader whenever there was no clergyman available. Towards the end of 1872 a Roman Catholic priest, whose name I am not able to recall, came to take charge of the members of his own church, and in 1873 the Rev. W. Hevingham Root came to be pastor of the Presbyterian members of the community.
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There had been some delay in the procuring of sites for churches owing to the dispute between the General and Provincial Governments as to which of the two had the right to dispose of the sections in the township. Under ordinary circumstances land acquired by purchase for the Crown was under the control of the Provincial Government. The site of Gisborne, though not confiscated, had been acquired during the disturbed time and while discussion was in progress as to the boundaries of land which was to be confiscated. The General Government, being short of funds, took charge of Gisborne as though it had been part of the confiscated land, while the Provincial Government very naturally maintained its claim. The question was ultimately decided in favour of the Province of Auckland. The practice in the province then was that, in the case of a new township, sections were set apart in suitable positions and applications were invited from the various religions bodies to be sent in by a definite date, when priority of choice would be decided by lot. The site having been settled it was not till November, 1873, that the Anglican community took definite stops for the erection of a church. Mr. Kells, architect, of Auckland, was instructed to prepare plans, but before these were ready he was prostrated by a serious illness, from which his recovery was slow. Owing to the delay thus caused the work was not taken in hand till August, 1874, but the building was finished early in the following year, and was consecrated on April 11th, as the Church of the Holy Trinity. Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining clergy for the newly-settled districts, but in August, 1874, the Rev. J. Murphy undertook the duty at Gisborne for three months, and afterwards for a further period, but he resigned the post before he had held it for six months. Shortly after his departure the Rev. Edward Williams was licensed to the cure. In the same year, 1875, the Rev. William Lambert was licensed to the charge of the Wairoa district, but the cure became vacant again at the close of 1876.
Up to 1865 the population of the Diocese of Waiapu comprised very few Europeans, the provincial district of Hawke's Bay not then having formed part of it. There then had been four annual sessions of the Diocesan Synod in which the proceedings had all been conducted in the Maori language, all the Synodsmen and several of the clergy being Maoris, and possessed of very little knowledge of English. Subsequent to that date great changes had taken place. The Provincial District of Hawke's Bay, in which there was already a considerable European population, was transferred from the Diocese of Wellington to that of Waiapu, and European settlers in no small numbers were taking up sections of the lands of which the Government had taken possession at Tauranga, Opotiki, Poverty Bay and Wairoa. It was evident that the European population would soon be largely predominant, and that the English element must prevail in the Synod, though the licensed native clergy would necessarily be members of it. The circumstances in which the Diocese was placed and the irregularity and uncertainty of the means of conveyance from distant parts, made the assembling of a legitimate meeting of the Synod a matter of considerable difficulty. The Bishop, however, did summon the Synod to meet at Napier on 13th of August, 1872. The licensed clergy in the Diocese then numbered sixteen, of whom nine were Maoris, and of the selected Synodsmen there were thirteen. For a valid meeting of the Synod it was necessary that, besides the Bishop, there should be a quarter of the licensed clergy but not fewer than four, and one quarter of the Lay Synodsmen, but not fewer than
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seven. The Synod met on the appointed day, five of the clergy and eight or nine of the laity being present. None of the clergy from the northern part of the diocese attended, and the one representative of the Bay of Plenty was a Napier layman. Meetings of the Diocesan Synod were held in the three following years, but without any of the clerical members from the northern part of the Diocese, though laymen resident in Napier had been elected to represent the northern laity.
The Bishop was disabled by a paralytic stroke on Lady Day, 1876, the fiftieth anniversary of his first landing at the Bay of Islands in 1826. Two months afterwards, as there seemed to be no prospect of his recovery, he forwarded his resignation to the Primate.
At this time the Rev. E. C. Stuart, who, after twenty-five years ofmissionary work in India, had been obliged to leave that mission on the score of health and was then on a visit to his brother in Sydney, was requested by the committee of the Church Missionary Society to visit the New Zealand Mission and to report to them on its conditions and prospects. After going the round of the various stations in which work was still being carried on, he settled at Auckland, the work having been assigned to him of training Maori candidates for the ministry.
The Diocesan Synod was summoned to meet in the following September. The fact that a clergyman had to be elected to be Bishop of the Diocese assured a good attendance of members. The number of licensed clergy in the Diocese was now twenty-five, and of these seventeen attended, including five of the Maori clergy. The lay members numbered eighteen, and of these only one was absent. The election of a Bishop, however, was not accomplished until the following year, when the Rev. E. C. Stuart received the unanimous vote of the Synod, and was consecrated at Napier on Sunday, the 9th of December, 1877. Bishop Williams had been confined to his bed for about a month before the consecration of his successor, and had been suffering a great deal from neuralgia. On Monday he was able to see the new Bishop and to express his gratification at what had now taken place, giving him at the same time his blessing and presenting him with a Maori Bible. On Friday the visiting Bishops paid him a farewell visit, all being much affected. His mind being now at rest the neuralgia, which had been so troublesome, had now altogether left him, and his strength failed gradually until he passed to his rest on February 9th, 1878.
