taranaki

War in Taranaki 1860-63

• 

  In March 1860 war broke out between Europeans and Māori in Taranaki following a dispute over the sale of land at Waitara. It was the beginning of a series of conflicts that would dog Taranaki for the next 21 years, claiming the lives of several hundred Maori and Europeans and leaving deep scars that persist to the present day.

  Read the full article

• Page 2 – Pressure on Māori land

  As the non-Māori population of New Zealand grew during the 1850s, Māori faced more pressure to sell their land to these new settlers.

• Page 3 – The Waitara offer

  Wiremu Kingi's opposition to the Crown's attempts to purchase land near the mouth of the Waitara River in north Taranaki in 1859 led to the outbreak of war in March 1860

• Page 4 – Fighting begins

  The opening shots of the Taranaki war were fired at Kīngi's new pā, Te Kohia – also known as the ‘L’ pa because of its shape – on 17 March 1860.

• Page 5 – Puketakauere

  On 27 June 1860 the British suffered a heavy defeat near Waitara. The Te Atiawa chief Hapurona had strengthened defences on the twin pa sites of Puketakauere and Onukukaitara,

• Page 6 – A change in tactics

  The arrival in August 1860 of Major-General Thomas Pratt heralded the development of a new strategy to break the cordon that encircled New Plymouth.

• Page 7 – Stalemate

  After a year of war, Governor Gore Browne still saw little likelihood of victory in the near future. A truce was arranged on 18 March 1861.

• Page 8 – The second Taranaki war

  On 12 March 1863, 300 men of the 57th Regiment evicted Maori from the land they had occupied at Tataraimaka, 20 km south-west of New Plymouth.

• Page 9 – Further information

  Links and books for further reading about the Taranaki wars

Tītokowaru's war

• 

  In the 1980s James Belich argued that Tītokowaru’s war had become a ‘dark secret’ of New Zealand history, ‘forgotten by the Pākehā as a child forgets a nightmare’. For Belich, Tītokowaru was ‘arguably the best general New Zealand has ever produced’.

  Read the full article

• Page 2 – Early years

  Tītokowaru’s commitment to missionary Christianity was showing signs of strain by the 1850s as a Māori nationalist movement emerged.

• Page 3 – The year of the lamb

  Tītokowaru proclaimed 1867 as ‘the year of the daughters … the year of the lamb’. His efforts for ‘reconciliation and peace’ were quite remarkable, given the events of the

• Page 4 – The war begins

  In March 1868 Tītokowaru authorised a muru (punitive plunder) against Pākehā involved in the confiscation of land at Ketemarae (Normanby).

• Page 5 – Turuturumōkai

  In the pre-dawn darkness on Sunday 12 July 1868, 60 of Tītokowaru’s warriors led by Haowhenua bypassed the large colonial force at Waihī Redoubt and struck at nearby

• Page 6 – Crisis of confidence

  News of Te Kooti’s assault on Matawhero in Poverty Bay a few days after the defeat at Moturoa raised serious questions about the Armed Constabulary’s ability to protect

• Page 7 – Taurangaika

  Taurangaika measured 140 m across at its widest point and was without doubt Tītokowaru’s ‘most formidable fortress’.

• Page 8 – A return to peace

  In late 1869 Tītokowaru had his third conversion to peace, after which his relationship with Te Whiti and Tohu Kākahi of Parihaka strengthened.

A frontier of chaos?

• 

  In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents.

  Read the full article

• Page 6 - The Harriet affairThe rescue of Betty Guard and her two children from Ngāti Ruanui in the spring of 1834 involved the first use of British troops on New Zealand soil.

Regional rugby

• 

  The passion and parochialism of provincial rugby has helped give the game a special place in New Zealand’s social and sporting history. Read brief histories, highlights and quirky facts about each of New Zealand's 26 regional rugby teams.

  Read the full article

• Page 12 - Taranaki rugbyHistory and highlights of rugby in the Taranaki

New Zealand's 19th-century wars

• 

  War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Tens of thousands of Māori died in the intertribal Musket Wars from the 1810s to the 1830s. There were fewer deaths during the New Zealand Wars (1840s-1870s) between Māori and the Crown, but the consequences were still dire for many tribes.

  Read the full article

• Page 5 - End of the New Zealand WarsThe New Zealand Wars ended in 1872. European settlers prevailed through weight of numbers and economic power. By 1900, New Zealand was a settler society, with Māori pushed out to