North Shore Heritage Thematic Review Report ... - Auckland Council

Council erected a plaque on the King Edward Parade foreshore, near Torpedo Bay to commemorate the
arrival of the Tainui canoe.
Typically, the older tribes found themselves in conflict with the newcomers and fortified pa sprang up on
every hill and headland. The Kawarau people generally occupied the north shore of the Waitemata
Harbour and the Ngati Wai the south shore. Other tribes were the Ngati Whatua from Northland and
Ngati Paoa from Thames. As a result of continual warfare the area became largely depopulated by 1750, and
many pa fell into disrepair. The Takapuna area had become difficult to hold because it was easy to attack
and allowed little chance of retreat or escape due to its island-like shape. After a Ngati Whatua defeat at
Tamaki, the Kawerau chief encouraged Ngati Paoa to refortify North Head. They were attacked by Nga
Puhi from Northland, who besieged the pa for several months during the winter of 1793. The occupants
eventually escaped to Waiheke. Once again the area fell into disrepair, with no permanent population
despite the fertility and natural resources it possessed. After Nga Puhi had withdrawn, Ngati Whatua
controlled the Waitemata. 4
The French explorer, D‟Urville, arrived in 1827 and anchored at Torpedo Bay. This event is commemorated
by a plaque on the foreshore near the Naval Museum. The ship‟s surveyor, Lottin, climbed Mt Victoria –
the first European to do so – and reported on the thick bracken and overgrown weeds. He also commented
on the physical signs of warfare from collapsed fortifications, houses and agricultural fields.
With the end of the musket wars a few Maori returned to settle in Devonport, and were living there when
the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. Until 1863 a small group of Maori lived near the swamp at
Torpedo Bay, in an area between Cambridge Terrace and Cheltenham Road. The meeting house was on the
second section east of Cambridge Terrace. 5
An early purchase of Devonport land was that of Lot 8, on the northwest side of Mt Victoria, which was
sold to Te Rangi, a former constable in the Armed Police Force. It was sold six years later to a Pakeha and
it is not known if he occupied the land himself. 6
In the 20 th century, it was not until Maori joined the New Zealand Navy in numbers after WWII that any
significant number of Maori lived in Devonport again. The Navy marae, Te Taua Moana, was opened in
2000 and remains the only marae in Devonport.
The famous Nga Puhi chief, Eruera Maihi Patuone, from Hokianga, lived in Devonport and Takapuna in his
later years and is buried in the cemetery at the foot of Mt Victoria. His life spanned from the early
European visits through to the arrival of missionaries, land wars and settlement. With his brother, Tamati
Waka Nene, he was involved in the musket wars, joining up with Hongi Hika. In 1819 they were allied
with Te Rauparaha in a raiding party (taua) that ranged all the way down to Wellington. Later he
recognised the potential of colonisation and the advantages that trade with Europeans would bring. In
1826 and the early 1830s he visited Sydney to arrange for shipments of spars. 7 In 1840 he was baptised by
the Rev. Henry Williams and was an early signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi. On the North Shore he first
lived on the northern slopes of Mt Victoria and his kainga (compound) was known as Riria, after his late
wife. 8 In 1851 Governor Grey granted him 110 acres between Takapuna Beach and the lagoon by Barry‟s
Point Road. His kainga, Waiwharariki was on the small hill presently occupied by the Assembly of God
church. Eruera Maihi Patuone died in 1872 aged 108. 9 He is remembered in a Devonport street of this name.
4
Devonport Historical & Museum Society.
5
Thomas Walsh, An illustrated story of Devonport and the old North Shore from 1841 to 1924: with an outline of Maori occupation to
1841, Auckland, 1924, 1986 facsimile, p.15.
6
David Verran, The North Shore: An Illustrated History, Auckland, 2010, p.53.
7
Angela Ballara, 'Patuone, Eruera Maihi ?-1872', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, www.dnzb.govt.nz, updated 22 June
2007.
8 Verran, p.22.
9 Devonport Historical & Museum Society.
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