Ōmokoroa from the Air: Alf Rendell and the Unsworth Subdivisions

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

Today, it is difficult to imagine Ōmokoroa Point as it appeared in the early 1950s. Streets lined with homes, holiday houses, reserves and community facilities now occupy land that was once largely open farmland. The Unsworth Subdivisions at Ōmokoroa from the 1950s through to the 1970s, represent an important chapter in the transformation of the peninsula from farmland to a seaside community.

In 2004, Tauranga City Libraries received a donation from Helen Unsworth, containing records, files, plans and hand-coloured photographs relating to her parents' Ōmokoroa subdivisions over the years. These materials provide a valuable record of the area's growth and the role the Unsworth family played in shaping the community that exists today.

Aerial of Ōmokoroa 1956 (hand-coloured photograph by Alf Rendell) - Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries  Photo 21-1307

(The Unsworth farm is across the centre of the aerial photo, showing the new road and its subdivision and butting onto Gerald and Myrtle Crapp's farm on the actual point). 

A Peninsula on the Cusp of Change

Allan and Nelle Unsworth purchased 68 acres on Ōmokoroa Point in 1953, and over the following decades, gradually subdivided the property, creating residential sections. The Unsworth's property originally extended across much of the width of the peninsula, bounded by neighbouring farms and framed by steep coastal land and beaches. It was adjacent to the houses at Ōmokoroa Beach.

When Allan and Nelle Unsworth purchased the farm from Ira and Jean Thomas, their intention was not to create a residential subdivision but to establish a model farm on what was regarded as some of the district's highest-quality farmland. However, circumstances beyond their control changed those plans. In 1954, major slips below the farm damaged the only road providing access to the Point, making it necessary to construct a new road through their property. Permission was subsequently granted to subdivide land along the new roadway. Then, in 1956, the Education Department purchased five acres from the upper part of the farm for the construction of a new school.

Aerial of Ōmokoroa 1956- Photo 21-1305

The new superior stretch of road opened the peninsula to easier access and made new subdivisions more economically viable. What began as a practical response to changing circumstances, evolved into one of the largest private subdivisions undertaken in New Zealand at the time. However, the development attracted the attention of Inland Revenue, which argued that the subdivision profits should be taxed. It was a test case for New Zealand to establish a new legal principle. Allan spent years fighting what he considered an unjust assessment,ending up with the Inland Revenue dropping the case in 1965.

As happened in many coastal communities around New Zealand during the post-war decades, improved roads, increasing car ownership and growing interest in holiday living and retirement, including from overseas, created demand for coastal sections beyond the main urban centres.

Archival records held in Pae Korokī (Ams 259) document this evolving process through plans, financial papers, and promotional material spanning the 1950s to the 1970s. These include detailed survey plans for successive subdivision stages, illustrating how the land was incrementally opened up for development.

 

Subdivision Plans over the years - Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Ams 259

Marketing the Coastal Dream

The Unsworth subdivisions were notable not only for the number of sections created, but also for the sophistication of their marketing. Sections were promoted through newspaper advertising, printed brochures and even screen advertising at Tauranga's Odeon Theatre in Elizabeth Street, stating: "You've seen the rest — now buy the best."  Demonstrating his entrepreneurial spirit, Allan Unsworth also, promoted the subdivision from the driver's seat, using his car as a mobile advertisement to attract potential purchasers.

Reg Ellis and Allan with Reg's Kingfish, 1969 (Helen Unsworth Collection). At 13 Coppelia Avenue, Ōmokoroa Point, new house with farmland in the background and tractor shed on other side of fence. The tractor shed is still in use at the Ōmokoroa Settlers' Hall.

For many New Zealand families, the newly created sections offered a rare opportunity to own a piece of waterfront peninsula living at a time when coastal property was still within reach of ordinary households. The prospect of easy access to the harbour's fishing grounds was a major attraction. Fishing, being bountiful in those days, was a huge drawcard to the area - there was the wharf and a slipway for boat maintenance. 

What set Ōmokoroa apart from many other seaside settlements was Allan Unsworth's vision for the development. He was determined that the area would become a community of permanent homes rather than a collection of holiday baches. To maintain this standard, he encouraged prospective purchasers to build substantial houses and, if that did not suit their plans, he would direct them instead to the more affordable subdivisions emerging at Pāpāmoa at the same time. This approach helped shape the character of Ōmokoroa as a residential community rather than simply a seasonal holiday destination.

 

Cutting from Bay of Plenty Times advertisement for sections being sold by Allan Unsworth in Ōmokoroa - Tauranga City Libraries Ams 259

Alf Rendell's Aerial Vision

A distinctive feature of the Unsworth Subdivision was its innovative use of aerial photography. Renowned Tauranga photographer, Alfred Hugh (Alf) Rendell, captured images of Ōmokoroa at a time when aerial imagery was still relatively uncommon in local real estate promotion. 
 
Allan Unsworth commissioned a series of six small hand-coloured aerial images of the peninsula over the years. These photographs were not merely promotional; each purchaser received an image of the peninsula, creating a personal and tangible connection to their property and the community around them.

 

The Unsworth's homestead, "Kaharoa" (now 61 Ōmokoroa Road) - Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries -  Photo 21-1269

A Lasting Legacy

This combination of careful planning and visual storytelling made the Unsworth Subdivision unique. Today, the surviving plans and photographs provide a valuable record of a formative moment in Ōmokoroa’s development.

Henry Williams and the Herald: Their First Visit to Tauranga Moana

Pilot Bay in the 1800s

Image: John Kinder, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga, 1874, 1937/15/46, Auckland Art Gallery, Toi O Tamaki

On 26th June 2026 the Karuwhā Trust held three events here in Tauranga Moana to commemorate CMS missionary Henry Williams’ first visit. 200 years ago, he arrived on the Herald, a 55-ton schooner captained by Gilbert Mair (senior) [1]. The two of them had helped construct the ship, launched in January 1826, on the beach at Paihia and the prime purpose for its voyage south was to obtain a better food supply for their fellow workers in the north.

Over the next two years Henry and others made at least four visits to Tauranga in the Herald, trading for potatoes.  While here, they were able to broker some peace and bring the good news of the Gospel to this area. They promised to send others to establish a mission station, which did come about in 1835. There were also other voyages undertaken to the Bay of Plenty in the 1830s, but these were in other vessels, as the Herald was unfortunately wrecked (but without loss of life) on the Hokianga bar in 1828. 

 

Dr Samuel Carpenter giving his Karuwhā Trust Lecture 26 June 2026.

Image: Karuwhā Trust

The three events held in June 2026 were very well attended.  The venue for the afternoon lecture by Dr Samuel Carpenter was relocated from the Elms Chapel to the nearby Vintage Car Club rooms to accommodate the demand for ticket sales. This was followed by a short walk to the old mission station and a guided tour for those who were interested in the Te Papa Mission site and its story.

Earlier in the day there had been a mihimihi and karakia at the Mission and Military Cemetery (formerly Otamataha Pā).  In the evening approximately 500 people attended the symposium presided over by Dr Joe Williams at Holy Trinity, where Dr Alistair Reece and others spoke.

Karuwhā Trust Symposium at Holy Trinity, 26 June 2026.

Image: Karuwhā Trust

There have been several previous articles on this website [2] dealing with Henry Williams and his various voyages.  Here I record a few other aspects of his life that I picked up from Dr Carpenter’s lecture and a podcast of an interview with Dr Alistair Reece. 

Henry was born in Gosport, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom in 1792 and rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Following this he became an ordained priest and married Marianne Coldham. In 1823 they were shoulder-tapped by the Church Mission Society to come and help lead the fledgling mission in NZ. They were quite strong and assertive in leadership and the CMS in Pahia began to make headway with the first conversions and baptism of two local Māori in 1830. Henry was strong on the learning of te reo by missionaries and their wives and was very involved in the preparation and signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. He and his brother William were largely responsible for the translation of the New Testament.

Henry Williams and te Kawenata Hou

Left image: Frontispiece, The Early Journals of Henry Williams. Pegasus Press Christchurch. Right image: Title page, first edition New Testament | Kawenata Hou.  https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/1st-Edition-New-Testament-Maori-1837/32152870474/bd

Henry and Marianne had 11 children. One son established Te Aute College, another was a parliamentarian, and a third was appointed a magistrate in the Native Land Court. Two daughters married other missionaries — Octavius Hadfield of Kapiti and Christopher Pearson Davies.  The latter was another connection with The Elms Te Papa. C. P. Davies and his family lived and worked there for seven years.

Notes

[1] The shipwright, not the soldier. See https://wdc.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/4929

[2] These are all by Dr Trevor Bentley and can be found at
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-karere-messenger-and-paihia.html
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-active-and-rev-henry-williams-1832.html
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2021/09/arama-karaka-pi-and-taeopa.html
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2019/04/during-morning-walks-over-mount.html
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2019/06/early-european-vessels-and-visitors-to.html
https://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-schooner-trent-and-major-thomas.html

Sources

Karuwhā Trust information online: https://www.karuwha.org.nz/
Dr Samuel Carpenter: I am Henry, lecture and article, 26/6/2026
Dr Alistair Reese podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3mu9FvxYCQRMc5ZECo66a4
Voyages of the Herald: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_(1826_ship)
Wendy Davies, descendant of Henry William and Christopher Pearson Davies

F is for a Fisherman’s Priest

Fishing off the Town Wharf, Tauranga, 1960s. Tauranga Museum 0005/20/1194

Childhood memories of casting homemade handlines from local wharves, or from rocks on the harbour’s edge are shared by many. A national survey conducted in 2024 by MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) reported that approximately half of all recreational fishing takes place along the northeastern coastline of the North Island. This will come as no surprise to Bay of Plenty residents. 

A home-made fishing handline. Tauranga Museum 0092/25

Less expected, perhaps, is the role recreational fishing, especially big game fishing, has played in promoting Tauranga to the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, the lure of catching swordfish, marlin and mako sharks off Tuhua (Mayor Island) attracted the rich and famous to Tauranga, including international bestselling author Zane Grey and Lady Yule, who was at one time the richest woman in Britain. 

 Zane Grey's yacht, the "Fisherman", alongside the railway wharf Tauranga. First visited in April 1927. Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 04-576

Although big game fishing had already enticed international visitors to Tauranga, it was the arrival of the Lerner Expedition in January 1939 that firmly placed the region on the world stage. Led and sponsored by wealthy Americans Michael and Helen Lerner, the expedition's stated aim was to collect specimens of New Zealand marine life for the American Museum of Natural History. Yet the Lerners were also avid big game anglers, and fishing for recreation formed an important part of their visit. Later that year, Michael Lerner established the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), which helped shape modern sport fishing worldwide.

A souvenir of the Lerner Expedition. Tauranga Museum, 1101/06

This fish bat, used to stun or kill the expedition’s catch, is also known as a fishing priest – a name that alludes to its role in administering the 'last rites’. It is signed by all the members of the Lerner Expedition and was given to the donor’s father, Keith Gifford, who served as Secretary of the Big Game Club on Tuhua and accompanied the Lerners throughout their three-week visit. 

A very independent woman

Yatton Park from above, 2026.  Mansel Street is at extreme top-left corner.  The site of the original homestead, above the bend of the Waimapu Stream, is entirely covered by trees. Image: Google Maps

During the Victorian era, intrepid female explorers defied strict societal expectations of domesticity, travelling the globe for adventure, scientific discovery, and personal freedom. Mary Kingsley explored west African jungles and swamps, Isabella Bird the explorer and travel writer rode 800 miles over the Rocky Mountains, while the artist Marianne North ventured to all of the continents and her collection of botanical art is housed at Kew Gardens in London. Another woman, this one Irish-born, Lucy Mansel travelled to New Zealand prepared to break in the land and farm, accompanied by six of her nephews.

As well as her sense of adventure, the family background may also have led to a desire to leave England as her brother and later her sister did, for their father Robert Mansel, who was the Lieutenant Colonel of the 6^th Inneskilling Dragoons, was the first of several illegitimate children fathered by General Robert Manners and his common-law wife Mary Ann Goodchild. Mary was the daughter of a coachman so not of the same class as her partner. Manners never married and died aged 65 in 1823 in London but had lived at Bloxham Hall in Lincolnshire.

Lucy Mansel heard of George Vesey Stewart’s Katikati settlement in New Zealand from a friend and decided to take a big step and emigrate. She was unmarried and, on the Northumberland in 1884, brought with her six nephews: Charles, Herbert, William and Harold Mansel, sons of her brother Robert, and Clement and Robert Dowell, sons of her sister Mary Dowell [1].  She had been caring for Herbert since he was five years old. On arrival in New Zealand, she decided against settling in Katikati with the other Stewart people and instead bought an established farm on the outskirts of Tauranga. It was Yatton, the 320-acre property formerly owned by John Chadwick [2].

Miss Lucy Mansel (centre, holding a dog) and her young relatives, October 1899. Herbert sits in front.

Image: Te Ao Marama Tauranga City Libraries 09-003

Miss Mansel, as she was known in those more formal days, extended the existing house at Yatton to one with eight bedrooms and also built a large barn that was used for balls and other social occasions.  The domestic buildings were built on a high point overlooking the estuary. She was a very strong supporter of the Anglican Church, helping to fund-raise for the new church of St George’s at Gate Pa, and was the only woman on the building committee. She donated the font for the new church. Lucy made the Methodist Sunday School children welcome each year for their annual picnic at her farm after their short voyage up the estuary from Tauranga to the landing at Yatton.  The barn provided shelter if there was poor weather. 

 Miss Lucy Mantel and her boating party on the Waimapu, October 1889.

Image: Te Ao Marama Tauranga City Libraries Photo 09-004

Lucy Mansel was also a committee member of a group of Tauranga women who organised the gift of a photograph album for Mary, Duchess of Cornwall, later George V’s Queen, on the occasion of the Royal Visit in 1905.  It was an album of Tauranga and district photographs by Tauranga’s leading photographer Mary Humphries.

As well as having her nephews working on the farm, she also accommodated farm cadets from England as G.V. Stewart and some of his Katikati settlers did. She never married and left the farm to her nephew Herbert Benbow Mansel, the five-year-old whom she had brought up. It was this legacy to Herbert that prompted Lucy’s niece, Mary Constance Dowell, to contest the will that Lucy had signed in 1910.  Her claims of her aunt’s fading mental facilities and encroaching blindness were disputed by George Maltby, lawyer; Reverend Eric Rice, vicar; Dr Budenell her doctor; Walter Baigent, accountant; and nephew Herbert Mansel.  In light of the information from these men Mary Constance withdrew her objection to the granting of probate.

It is from Herbert’s submission that the family stories are revealed. Robert Mansel and his wife, parents of Herbert and his brothers, retired from the Royal Navy where his rank was Commander, to farm in Africa where he died in 1872. When he married in Tauranga, Herbert built another house on Yatton for his future family, adjacent to Lucy’s. His parents had taken four of his siblings to Africa. Herbert was 17 when he arrived in Tauranga and totally dependent on his aunt. During her lifetime Lucy gave Herbert part of Yatton in trust for his children and helped him financially, including help with the education of his children. Lucy also told him she would leave him the remainder of the Yatton estate. By 1914 she had sold any remaining property in England and brought the money to New Zealand. Lucy’s eyesight did get worse but she lived until 1916. She died in Auckland and is buried in Tauranga’s Anglican cemetery [3].

Subdivisional map of Yatton, May 1919.  Image: Te Ao Marama Tauranga City Libraries Map 20-230

Lucy’s sister Mary Mansel married George Dare Dowell of the Royal Marines.  He won the Victoria Cross during the Crimean War. It was his sons who had travelled to Tauranga in 1884 with their Aunt Lucy. Following Dowell’s retirement, the couple moved to New Zealand until his death in August 1910. His wife died 6 weeks later.

Family military tradition emerged again when the First World War broke out and three sons of Robert Charles Mansel and his wife Beatrix enlisted.  George Victor and Robert Charles Mansel returned home after the war but Herbert Pengelly Mansel died in Palestine from malaria.  Although he is buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery [4], his memorial can be found in St George’s Church, Gate Pa.

Both images: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.  
At right: AWNS-19160727-45-25; at left, photo by Janes Bruce Ringer, 3003-2914

References

[1] Rorke, Jinty, entry in Dictionary of NZ Biography 1993: Lucy Mansel

[2] Bay of Plenty Times, 4 April 1941: see Papers Past, National Library. Viewed 16/05/2026.

[3] Will of Lucy Mansel, Archives NZ. Auckland Probates IE48341583. Viewed 17/05/2026.

[4] Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database.

 

A Journey Across the Pacific: Samoan Migration to New Zealand

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

Image of Virginia Marshall (nee Williams). Taken when immigrating from Apia Samoa to New Zealand on the Matua in 1946 or 1947.

Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 13-1177

 

Among the treasured collections of Tauranga’s Pae Korokī archive is a photograph of Virginia Marshall (née Williams). Taken during her journey from Apia, Samoa, to New Zealand aboard the Matua in the late 1940s. While simple in appearance. This image captures a powerful story of migration, resilience and change. [Virginia M...Pae Korokī]

For many Pacific Islanders in the post-war years, travel to New Zealand represented both opportunity and uncertainty. The voyage itself was not an easy one. Ships like the Matua carried passengers across long distances, often in crowded and basic conditions. Space was limited, privacy scarce, and comfort minimal. Seasickness, unfamiliar routines and the challenges of life at sea made the journey physically demanding.

Beyond the practical difficulties lay deeper emotional challenges. Migrants left behind their homes, families, and cultural foundations. Carrying with them hopes for a better future. For some, English was not their first language, which created barriers in communication both during the journey and upon arrival. The uncertainty of what awaited them in New Zealand employment, housing and social acceptance added another layer of tension.

These journeys were also shaped by the political context of the time. Samoa was under New Zealand administration and movement between the islands and the mainland was influenced by official processes and restrictions. Migration was not always straightforward and many travellers navigated complex systems as they relocated.

Yet, despite these challenges. Such journeys were acts of courage. The photograph of Virginia Marshall represents more than a moment on a ship it reflects a pivotal transition in a person’s life and echoes the broader story of Pacific migration.

Today, images like this remind us of the strength and determination of those who crossed oceans to build new lives, enriching communities like Tauranga in the process.

Sources:

Pae Korokī - Tauranga Archives Online, Photograph of Virginia Marshall née Williams

---

 

Written by John Atafu, Heritage and Research Team Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries

 

Another new book from Trevor Bentley

 

Between 1864 and the early 1900s, Tauranga Harbour was not merely a backdrop to the district’s maritime history; it was the engine of it. Every local and visiting waka, schooner, cutter, barque, scow and steamer entering the harbour brought with them people, cargo, news and hope. During Tauranga’s Anglo-Māori War years (1864-1872), British battleship-troop carriers brought military occupation, violence, colonial officials, dispossession and despair.

While Tauranga’s early history is one of ships, it is also a history of the people who built them, sailed them, loaded them, anxiously watched them disappear over the horizon and joyously welcomed their return. This eight-part study casts light on Pākehā and Māori ship builders, their owners and their captains, on British and Māori fighting men, immigrant-settlers, merchants, labourers and visiting travellers, missionaries and officials.

The book restores their stories to the harbour and invites readers to see Tauranga not simply as a place on land but as a place defined by water - by tides, sandbanks, reefs, channels, and the vessels that once threaded among them. It is a reminder that our harbour has always been a gateway, a theatre of cross-cultural encounters, a workplace, a saltwater highway, a hazardous seaway and a home.

Racing from Tauranga to Auckland with cargoes of perishable goods, the Tauranga owned schooners Hope and Fortune arrived within a few hours of each other on 2 February 1866.

As many readers know, Trevor is a member of the society and an active contributor to this blog. His books and blogs explore Tauranga’s as well as New Zealand’s social, maritime and military history with a special focus on the Pākehā and Māori men and women who crossed cultures voluntarily and as captives. Dr. Bentley is the author of ten previous history books.

Book details

Early Maritime Tauranga: A History of Vessels, Visitors, Residents and Events, Volume II, 1864-1900s.

Author: Trevor Bentley

ISBN: 978-0-473-77735-7

Soft cover, 486 pages

RRP $39.99

Publisher: Kererū History Books.
https://www.kereruhistorynz.co.nz/

Image credit

Dawson, Montague. ‘The Orange Schooners,' from Ramsey, L.G.G. Montague Dawson, R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A., The Greatest Sea Painter in the World, F. Lewis, Leigh-on-Sea, England, 1970: 43, no. 179, plate 39.

Into the depths we go - delvings into collections management

 

Pharmaceutical bottles from the 107 Wharf Street archaeological dig, Tauranga Museum Collection. 
Photo: Jen Copedo

When someone asks me, “What do you do for work?” I honestly struggle to answer the question in a few words. The role of the Collections team at Tauranga Museum is so varied that it’s near impossible to put into a small cluster of words. 

Last week I was studying up on what a ferroequinologist is (someone who studies/loves trains if you too are interested), and this week I am sorting through archaeological material from the 107 Wharf Street dig from 2018. 

And by sorting, I mean selecting, cleaning, and researching the material for our collection. This work is a crucial aspect of collection management because in understanding the provenance of the object, we can better tell the story it represents. 

There is something thrilling about delving into archaeological material, I find it magical to be able to handle something that was used or touched by someone hundreds of years earlier. I often feel as if I am standing next to those people, with a temporal wall separating us. I have also learnt more about bottle shape and colour than I thought I ever would. For example, did you know that blue bottles often held poisons or medicines? I would hate to think of those two being mixed up. Often the poisons had the embossing “Not to be taken”…but what if you couldn’t read? 

Working behind the scenes at Tauranga Museum is an absolute privilege. I am constantly reminded that the world is so much bigger than my own, and my job gives me the extraordinary opportunity to connect with the past and better understand how our ancestors lived.

Written by Jen Copedo, Collections Lead at Tauranga Heritage Collection

Vivien Edwards – a life to celebrate

 I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived [1].

Photo: Beth Bowden

Those who come to this website for quality writing and research are always in good hands if the article that piques their interest is the creation of Viv Edwards, an occasional contributor since 2011.  Viv died on 9 June 2026.

Elsewhere on this site you can find her characteristically modest explanation for her self-taught skills in reporting the past: “History sparked my interest, after finding an old Hospital Board report on the 1918 influenza epidemic, while nursing at Auckland Hospital. This led to several articles, talks and researching other topics.” 

Vivien was always one for understatement.  Her output over her lifetime was prodigious.  She never seemed to stop working.  As a mature student, she graduated B. Sc in biological sciences, a disciplined achievement for the working mother, by that stage, of two sons.

Nurses graduation. Staff nurse V.S. Edwards, Tutor nurse E. Hereford (2/2). Published 29 September 1964. 

Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo gca-7396

Her first and early career as a nurse culminated when she became a nursing tutor.  Some of her alumni were at her memorial service, and spoke warmly of her abilities to communicate technical information in a way that never lost sight of the human dimension.  She adapted that to many different subject areas in her lifetime.

For instance: she was the author of "Winkelmann: Images of Early New Zealand" (Benton Ross, 1987) and "Battling the Big B: Hepatitis B in New Zealand" (Dunmore Publishing, 2007). The two books could not be more different.  The first is a beautiful art hardback in large format, dealing with nineteenth-century challenges of photography.  It met the technical challenges of twentieth-century book production so well, it won the 1988 Book of the Year prize in that category.  The second is a contemporary account of health reform efforts led by Dr Alexander Milne.  His work is much cited in on-line journals but it takes 27 Google search listings before Viv’s work shows up.  Hers is not a scientific report; it is an eye-witness story – a ‘first draft of history’ - of just how hard it was to deal with an unacknowledged epidemic [2].  

Book of the Year award, 1988. Photo courtesy of Trevor Hoff

After leaving nursing in 1984 Viv made her living as a freelance writer for over 20 years, working for trade and professional magazines such as NZ Forest Industries Magazine, NZGP (the periodical for general practitioners), Management, NZ Business, The Transportant, Pharmacy Today, Safeguard, Her Business, NZ Pine International, Sea Spray, Bits and Bytes, Uno (Waikato and Bay of Plenty), and the Shed.  Every article was clipped and meticulously filed - in scrapbooks; her early journalism pre-dated the World Wide Web although she was quick to see its benefits and adapted fast.

Blogs for Tauranga Historical covered things that caught her fancy.  You can search for her articles on -

• Oliver Macy Quintal (July 2011).  Pursuing this early lawyer’s past took her and her partner Trevor to find his grave on Norfolk Island.
• Hannibal Marks, Harbourmaster (July 2014).  One of the many maritime tragedies of Tauranga’s past: he drowned here.
• Tauranga Hospital’s Roof Garden (Feb 2019).  Viv took the photos to illustrate this article.  Her eye for colour and form is evident.

She also wrote a personal memoir of her nursing days for the Historical Review [3].  A 50-year history booklet written for New Zealand Lumber, 'History in Motion: Evolution of the NZL Group 1949-1999”, was aptly named; history never stood still for her.

Perhaps her most telling achievement was the long effort to publish the story of Mary Sutherland, the first woman forestry graduate in the world. At some point in her magazine-article work she opened a long-ignored filing cabinet at the Forest Institute and discovered a trove of papers relating to Mary.  Although her memorial plaque is in Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest, Viv knew there was more to explore.

Viv and an as-yet unidentified companion at Mary Sutherland’s memorial, c. 2011. Photo courtesy of Trevor Hoff

For several years she researched and wrote Mary’s story.  A Path Through the Trees was published in 2020 and in 2021 won the Ian Wards Prize “for making substantial imaginative and exemplary use of New Zealand archives and records.”

This is a fitting accolade for Vivien’s professional competence.  She had advanced bibliographical skills; she was a capable indexer; she was also a warm and insightful interviewer whose personal communications gleaned information that otherwise would never have come to light.  Before the internet, before and during the advent of the personal computer, she had a knack for the research process and collecting and managing large amounts of information.

She was also a tiger for the truth, who doggedly pursued her hunches.  Mary Sutherland first saw the light of print in 2011, as an entry in the Tauranga Library’s 2011 Memoir and Local History Competition.   If Trees could Talk: the Whakarewarewa Redwoods was the title of the essay [4].  It was to be a long time before the book itself showed up. For this and all these other reasons, Tauranga Historical can be very proud of her.

References

[1] David Thoreau, Walden; or Life in the Woods, Ticknor and Fields,1854. At the memorial service my eulogy concluded with a fuller passage from this work, which can be found at https://www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/walden-or-life-woods

[2] The book is now out of print but can still be borrowed from Te Whatu Ora’s library in Tauranga.

[3] Historical Review, Vol 70, No. 1, May 2022: Vivien Edwards, Nursing at Tauranga in the 1960s

[4] https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/20049

162 Years On: The Māori Rifle Pits of Te Ranga

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

Around 6.45am, Sunday the 21st June, I arrive at Joyce Road and pull into the last space available in a small carpark to my left. Rain continues to fall as I hastily exit my car and offer a quiet “mōrena” to the koro standing nearby. In a soft tone, he replies, “mōrena, dear,” as he readjusts his gumboots and shuts his boot, and together, in the darkness, we silently make our way across the road to Te Ranga Reserve. There is something in that brief exchange, simple, unassuming, that settles into me as we walk. In the hush of the early morning, with rain falling and senses heightened, I become aware of the space between us not as distance, but as connection: between generations, between memory and lived experience, between those who carry the weight of this place differently but walk it together all the same. His presence is steady, familiar with this whenua and what it holds. Mine is quieter, searching, trying to understand what it means to stand here not just as a visitor, but as uri.

For me, it is my first time attending a service like this for the battle at Te Ranga. As a direct descendant of tūpuna involved in the conflicts of Te Ranga and Pukehinahina, I feel the weight grow heavier with every step I take, not oppressive, but grounding, drawing me closer to something I am only beginning to fully comprehend. For the koro walking beside me, this is likely not his first, and most certainly will not be his last. There is a quiet knowing in the way he moves, as though each step is guided by memory, by obligation, by remembrance. As we draw closer to the southern edge of the reserve, the sound of karakia emerges in the distance. As the sky begins to lighten, I recognise my whānaunga, standing by the cairn, his voice anchoring the moment as those arriving quietly come together nearby. And as the kaumatua and I cross this tapu space to join them, I begin to understand that this place is not simply land, it is layered with story, with loss, with enduring presence.

Five kilometres south, inland from Gate Pa lies this historical battle site.[1] The conflict, premature in its onset, became the final stand-off between Tauranga iwi, their allies, and the government’s military forces. For defending iwi, the landscape of Te Ranga offered a naturally defensive position for the construction of rifle pits. A sketch of the area in 1864 mirrored its narrow, level ground, constrained by ravines to the west and east.[2] (see Figure 1). The north-facing rifle pits stretched across the narrow isthmus, making an approach from the rear near impossible without deadly consequence. In retrospect, I find myself wondering, had Māori been better positioned in their preparations, might tactical advantages such as these have changed the outcome entirely? The potential for this fortification to have inflicted a deadly repeat of Pukehinahina was not lost to the military in published reports. One such account described details of the pā’s already sophisticated formation, despite its unfinished state.

“….the shortest and clearest mode of explaining the position will be by imagining the capital letter A to be the piece of land, bounded at the apex and two sides by gullies, with the road from the Gate Pā leading to the base. The transverse line in the letter will admirably represent the traversed rifle-pits, which in the course of a single night had been carried, semicircularly, for a distance of from 160 to 170 yards, three feet or more in depth, and two feet in width. The earth had been thrown on the south side of the pits, preparatory to forming the parapet, but the works had not been sufficiently advanced to give the latter any precise form, when the soldiers appeared on the ground. The rebels continued working at the pits, deepening and widening them, whilst the skirmishers were favouring them with occasional shots. A number of posts had been placed in the ground on the right side, and rails were found laid in front of the pits, measured to the requisite lengths, with a good supply of supple-jack for wattling. It was thus evident the gallant colonel had not made his dispositions for the assault one moment too soon, for, in all probability, in another day the fence would have been put up; and, from the number of hands engaged in the work, great progress would also have doubtless been made with the parapet...”[3]

Various records of old that I skim over show conflicting numbers of Māori killed and buried in the defensive trenches they themselves dug. Journals of the Deputy Quartermaster General in New Zealand records 108[4] Māori were buried there, another account noted 120[5] whilst Private George Alfred Crabbe’s first-hand account says 125 were buried in total.[6] Even if the exact number of those buried at Te Ranga remains uncertain, the weight of that loss is undeniable. For iwi, it was not only those who fell, but the extinguishing of a generation of rangatira and the loss of future generations whose paths also ended there. 

Colonial accounts, however, like that of Lieut. General Fiennes Colvilles, reveal actions that underscore a profound cultural dissonance in their attitudes toward the fallen. He who led the storming party on the left side of the rifle pits, later wrote to his parents describing how he cut a lock of hair from ‘head chief’ Rāwiri Puhirake’s head immediately after he fell. He further described how the sudden assault prevented any return for the fallen, who lay in rows near the rifle pits through the night until they were buried the following day.[7] Other voices linger over the scene, the stillness after the violence, and the cautious concealment of tupāpaku within the battlefield’s trenches. Crabbe, a participant in the battle described chief Puhirake as having been "laid by himself, wrapped in a blanket and positioned at the head corner of the trench", with others buried en masse nearby.[8] Fifty years later in 1874 at the request of Rawiri's people, his remains would be exhumed and reinterred in the shaded grounds of Mission Cemetery, traditionally known to his people as Otamataha Pā (see Figure 2.).

In the aftermath of this skirmish, accounts suggest that the range of arms used by Māori in the trenches was relatively limited, yet still of notable significance. The weaponry used by warriors at Te Ranga was vividly illustrated by Horatio Gordon Robley, a settler-soldier whose artistic ability employed him to capture pivotal moments during these conflicts.[9] These items, aptly deemed taonga in today’s terms ranged from close combat weapons such as the patu (short hand-held club), and toki patiti (short handled steel headed hatchet) to the taiaha (long tongue-headed spear) and the deadly tewhatewha (long club-like spear).[10] These relics bore witness to a final act of resistance against overwhelming colonial force, yet, in hindsight, the spirit and momentum of that resistance did not end with their deaths. Beyond these physical remnants is a powerful legacy of those who fell where they fought and those who escaped their pursuers and sought refuge in the darkness of nightfall. 

The mounds that once defined their resting place have levelled with its surrounds over the decades. With the passing of both Māori and Pākehā who knew its whereabouts, the site has become elusive, its presence now obscured by the very earth they fought to defend. What was once a place of urgency and violence now appearing as unremarkable pasture, shaped by the same contours that once influenced the battle on that fateful day 162 years ago.This place however, still holds its memory. Beneath the soil and sand lie traces of hurried digging and lives lost, marks of moments that reshaped Tauranga’s history and carried lasting consequences for mana whenua across generations. But there they rest, returned to Papatuānuku, held within her and within us, and remembered through collective memory.  For those like the kaumatua and I, who move through this place with quiet awareness, Te Ranga is not silent. The echoes of struggle, loss, and resilience remain in the whenua, carried through the kōrero we share so they are not forgotten, and ensuring those who fell here are always present in place and story. 

Māringi ngā roimata mā koutou, okioki atu rā hei whetu mārama i te pō nui, te pō roa, te pōtangotango, moe mai e ngā rangatira, i te aroha mutunga kore o te Atua, mō ake tonu atu, kei wareware tātou.

            Piper Andrew Graham at the 160th Commemoration of the Battle of Te Ranga, with the hapū flags behind him, representing tūpuna who 

            fought there. Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries Photo 24-188 

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[1] Battle of Te Ranga., (Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage). https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/battle-te-ranga

[2] Te Rangi, N.Z. Rough sketch of ground occupied by rebels on 21st June 1864 / by Lt. Warburton ... sketched on day of action.  Te Rangi. N.Z. Rough sketch of ground occupied by rebels on 21st June 1864 by Lt. Warburton, R.E. Sketched on day of action - Heritage Maps - Kura

[3] Sydney Mail (NSW:1860-1871) Sat 16th July 1864, p.7, ‘Latest from the Rebel Position’. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166657204

[4] Journals of the Deputy Quartermaster General in New Zealand : from the 24th December, 1861, to the 7th September, 1864, p.122, https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/rarebooks/id/14250

[5] Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) , Mon 11 July 1864, Page 3, BATTLE OF TE RANGA. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/150463632

[6] Crabbe, George Alfred, 1840-1905, Land wars history, Māori culture, fauna/ flora/ reptiles, and sketch of Orākau pā. Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries: https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/74775

[7] Letter to his parents, Tiaki IRN: 802248 Tiaki Reference Number: MS-Papers-11967-1, MS-Group-2403: Colville, Fiennes Middleton (Sir), 1832-1917: 1864. https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.802248

[8] Crabbe, George Alfred, 1840-1905, Land wars history, Māori culture, fauna/ flora/ reptiles, and sketch of Orākau pā. Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries. https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/74775

[9] Maori arms taken at Te Ranga fight, New Zealand, 21st June 1864 [picture] / by Major General H.G. Robley. URL: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140441624/view

[10] Tauranga Campaign: Images of arms: Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries. https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/10327