Whitford

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Originally written in 2005.

Whitford

Summary

Summary of archaeology and history of Whitford in East Auckland.

Material by Kate Hill with additional material by Simon Bickler. Source: Clough, R., K. Hill and S.H. Bickler. April 2005. Whitford Bypass: Archaeological Assessment. Prepared for Manukau City Council.

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History

History The following history is adapted from Clough et al. 2005 with original sources of information listed in the references.

Maori History

The Tangata whenua at Howick, Pakuranga, Whitford and surrounding areas, are known as Ngāi Tai or Ngāti Tai. They are descended from the crew of the Tainui canoe, led by the commander Hoturoa and tohunga Rakataura, who settled throughout the Tamaki region some 25 generations ago (Te Warena Taua in La Roche 1991: 27-28).

Initially, the Tainui landed near Cape Runaway on the East Cape, but they subsequently journeyed northwards into the Hauraki Gulf. Once there the leaders decided to explore the west coast on the other side of the isthmus. En route, a small group of these migrants decide to stop off at the western end of the Tamaki estuary where they intermarried with local inhabitants to found the tribe known more commonly as Ngāi Tai (Stone 2001:13).

Through their ancestral linkages the people of Ngāi Tai have land interests that ‘…extend from Kawau Island in the north to Tirikohua in the south … Traditionally, their interests also extended from Aotea (Great Barrier Island) in the east to the Manukau Harbour in the west’ (Te Warena Taua in La Roche 1991: 27).

Having established a distinct rohe or tribal area of considerable size, the Ngāi Tai centred on their ‘heartland … close to the western shores of the northern Hauraki Gulf” (ibid.) – an area with which they still retain close spiritual and emotional links despite having had their land base whittled away since European colonisation. Today the tribe is centred around Umupuia and the marae of Whatapaka with numerous tribal members living throughout South Auckland (Te Warena Taua in La Roche 1991: 27-28). According to La Roche (1991:194) there were three major fortified pā in the area, behind the present Whitford Quarry and rubbish dump, in the Maungamaungaroa and on the Turanga-Maungamaungaroa peninsula.

The Fairburn Purchase 1836

Whitford is situated more or less at the centre of the northern boundary of the Fairburn Purchase, the extent of which is described as follows: Beginning at “the Dragging Place at Otahuhu”, the boundary line ran south-east to Papakura, then towards modern Clevedon, thence down the Wairoa river to Umupuia, up the western shore of the Hauraki gulf to the Tamaki river and thence to Otahuhu, where it ends (Stone 2001: 167). Described as ‘…by far the largest pre-Treaty land “purchase” in Hauraki to be validated by the Land Claims Commission’ (L.Cotterall quoted in Monin 2001:84), the Fairburn purchase, known as ‘Tamaki’ in Old Land Claim file – OLC 589-90 (Tonson 1966:50), came into being as the result of peacemaking attempts by missionaries. According to Stone (2001:165) the missionaries mistakenly believed that the underlying reason for the instability of the Tamaki region was the competition between Waikato and Thames tribes for the large area of relatively unpopulated borderland later incorporated in the ‘purchase’. Henry Williams argued that the territory should be ceded to missionaries and held in trust as a buffer between the contending parties, thereby removing any immediate obstacles to peace (Tonson 1966:51; Stone 2001:165). However, the main reason for sparse settlement of the area was regional instability resulting from almost two decades of musket wars (Stone 2001:165) and a fear, held by Hauraki Māori, of conflict with Waikato tribes from the Manukau Harbour (Monin 2001:81). There were, in fact, not two but many rival claimants for the territory, including Ngāi Tai (Stone 2001:165).

On 22 January 1836, William Thomas Fairburn, a lay catechist with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), attended a peacemaking meeting at Puneke, on the Tamaki River, between the Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Tamatera, Waikato and Ngāti Te Ata (La Roche 1991). As a result, the deed of sale for this huge block of land, originally calculated as being 40,000 acres , was ‘…signed by thirty-two chiefs …and witnessed by Henry Williams, two other Pakeha and one Māori’ (Stone 2001:167).

The land was acquired by a series of payments, almost exclusively in trade goods such as blankets, pipes, adzes, tobacco, garden implements, clothing etc, valued at £907.17.6 (Stone 2001; Tonson 1966). Having purchased this vast acreage, Fairburn now found himself in conflict with the CMS for the scale of his acquisition (Monin 2001). So, on 12 July 1837, Fairburn signed an agreement promising to return one-third of the block back to its Māori owners once the boundaries had been surveyed (Stone 2001).

In the 1840s Fairburn’s Purchase was examined by the Land Claims Commission and eventually he received a number of grants totalling 5,495 acres, slightly less than one seventh of his original purchase. However, the ‘disallowed’ parts of the purchase did not automatically revert to the Māori owners but became ‘Surplus Land’ at the disposal of the Crown. By 1854, much of the land between the Tamaki River and what is now Howick had been taken up by European settlers (Te Warena Taua in La Roche 1991; Tonson 1966; Stone 2001).

Though various tribal groups claimed certain areas within the Fairburn Block, Ngāi Tai claimed ‘mana’ over the entire area. As a result the Crown, represented by Land Purchase Officer John White, moved to complete the sale by paying the ‘Chiefs of Ngāti Tai Tribe’ £500 on 21 February 1854.

Ngāi Tai who then numbered under 100 people maintained their old kāinga at Maraetai – Umupuia and on the eastern side of the Wairoa River inland to Otau (Te Warena Taua in La Roche 1991: 36).

Origin of the Name Whitford

The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names (1975:589) claims that Whitford is named after the owner of a local flaxmill, but then proceeds to give a more lengthy explanation for the alternative version in which: George and William Trice, the first European settlers, were taken over the track across the Turanga by the chief Te Moananui. The stepping stones across the stream were white, and so Whitford was located at the white ford.

Māori name: Waikoupa. No translation can be given, but one might suspect that it could be a corruption of whakaupa: lit. to delay, prolong, or satisfy.

Although the Dictionary gives no sources, the latter version correlates with that of A.E. Tonson (1966:167) in his introduction to the chapter on Whitford. The Trice brothers travelled to Auckland by cutter, in the early 1840s, having rejected the Hutt Valley as a suitable place to settle and set up camp near the end of Clifton Road. In 1843, they purchased a 600 acre block now known as Clifton Point and built their home there. A Norfolk pine, one of two brought to them by Bishop Selwyn, marks the spot where the brothers lived for 60 years (Tonson 1966).

Alan La Roche (1991:194) has come up with four versions of the origin of the name, two of which are variations on the Reed Dictionary’s first alternative. Mr Richard Whitford, the owner of the flax mill at Waikoupa, also acted as the postman delivering mail to the settlers. According to one of Whitford’s descendants, the locals were so grateful to him for this service that they named the area after him (South Auckland Courier - Eastern edition, 25/9/1974:3).

A letter to the Howick and Pakuranga Times in August 1972 (in ASB, June 1972-:268), from a group of residents, stated that this was not the case and that the name was changed from Turanga Creek to Whitford because mail was being incorrectly delivered to Tauranga. The name Whitford, they claimed, was taken from L.D. Nathan’s Whitford Park.

L.D. Nathan’s vast property was initially listed as ‘Whitefoord Park’ in Wises Post Office Directory for 1875-6, but by the time it went on sale for subdivision in 1903 it was known as Whitford Park (AWN 19/11/1903:45). Going by the Wises Directories, it would appear that the name change took place around 1883 when the listing for Turanga Creek says ‘see Whitford’. Twenty residents are listed under the latter in that year. The origin of the name remains controversial.

Development of Township and Surrounding Area

The early settlement of Whitford was concentrated on and around Allotment 115, in the Parish of Pakuranga which had, on 14 February 1855, been granted to Thomas Williamson for the sum of £40 (LINZ, CG 1958). Consisting of around 80 acres, the property, bounded on the north by Turanga Creek, was divided into ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ portions bi-sected by a public road later known as Whitford Park Road. Two months later Williamson conveyed the entire block to John Hill, settler, for the same price (LINZ, 5D, 314). Subsequently, in December 1858, Hill sold to Alexander Kennedy, a banker, (LINZ, 6D, 841) who already had interests in the area.

In 1869 Kennedy sold Allotment 115, along with numerous other sizeable Whitford properties, to David Nathan (LINZ, 22D, 881). Some of this land, known as the Kennedy Block, had been acquired by Kennedy, Manager of the Union Bank of Australia, in December 1853. Consisting of some 1,387 acres, this land comprised Allotment 132, Parish of Pakuranga and Allotment 26, Parish of Maraetai. On 30 June 1854, Kennedy sold 520 acres to the Rev. Vicesimus Lush and leased the balance to Robert Baillie Lusk for a period of nine years. Kennedy is shown as owner on maps published in the mid-1860s (Figure 5). Lush later resold to Kennedy who, in 1869, sold to the Nathans who, subsequently, developed Whitford Park and their famous ostrich farm on the site (La Roche 1991:195).

The extensive holdings of the Nathans, totalling some 2,656 acres, can be seen in a map attached to Certificate of Title No. 155/25 issued in 1908 and DP 4431 (Land Information, New Zealand). The subdivided township of Whitford, as drawn in 1903, can be seen on DP 4432 (LINZ).

Farming and Other Industries

Having cleared the land, which was heavily forested with kauri trees, other early settlers proceeded to make a living from ‘…selling firewood, …wheat, oats, hay, butter and cheese for the Howick and Auckland markets [and] … flax for the Whitford, Clevedon and Auckland mills’ (La Roche 1991:210). Some farmers supplemented their income by selling kauri gum to be used in the manufacture of varnish. The timber from the felled trees was used to construct houses and schools in the area and for boat building (ibid.:205).

Another important industry in the Whitford area in the 19th and early 20th century was that of charcoal burning. Because of the poor quality soil, this industry was another way that farmers in the area could make some extra cash. Charcoal was made using kilns constructed in the British and European tradition and, in New Zealand, ‘…was used for black-smithing, tin-smithing, charcoal stoves, irons, paints, water purification and brick-making’ (La Roche 2000).

Around 1904 the Whitford Creamery was built to meet the needs of dairy farms in the district. Milk was carted to the factory to be separated and the skimmed milk was taken home again (South Auckland Courier, 22/12/1965:4). Later it became a butter factory which operated until around 1927 (La Roche 1991). The factory’s first manager, Mr Richard Dowden, was an Auckland accountant who had purchased a farm at Whitford. With help from a well known Papakura Jersey cattle breeder, Dowden learnt the butter-making process and, subsequently, won awards both locally and in England. On his return the management was taken over by Mr Alfred Bertram, who ran the factory until the introduction of home separation brought about its closure (Tonson 1966).

Sources

Published Sources

• La Roche, Alan, 1991. The History of Howick and Pakuranga, Whitford, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches and Surrounding Districts. Auckland, Howick and Districts Historical Society (Inc.).
• La Roche, Alan J., 2000. The History of Charcoal Burning at Whitford. Monograph No.2. Manukau City, Howick Historical Village.
• Laxon, W.A., 1966. Steamers Down the Firth. Auckland, W.A.Laxon.
• Monin, Paul, 2001. This is My Place: Hauraki Contested 1769-1875. Wellington, Bridget Williams Books.
• Stone, R.C.J., 2001. From Tamaki-Makau-Rau to Auckland. Auckland, Auckland University Press.
• Tonson, A.E., 1966. Old Manukau. Onehunga, Auckland, Tonson Publishing House.
• The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names (1975), A.W.Reed.
• Wises Post Office Directory : 1875-6, 1883.

Unpublished Sources

• Bickler, S.H. and R. Clough. 2004. Archaeological Assessment of 315 Whitford Rd, Whitford. Unpublished report.
• Clough, R., K. Hill and S.H. Bickler. April 2005. Whitford Bypass: Archaeological Assessment. Prepared for Manukau City Council.
• Historic Places Trust file - Bdg. 328 – William Granger’s Brick villa.
• New Zealand Archaeological Association site records referred to in text (as per 260-R11 on Historic Places Trust Computer)
• NZAA R11 /1427) Brickworks
• NZAA R11/2149) the White Ford
• NZAA R11/332 Midden
• Land Information, New Zealand (LINZ)
• Crown Grant Book, CG 1958.
• Deed Books: 5D, 314; 6D, 841; 22D, 881;
• Certificate of Title No. 155/25.

Maps and Plans

• DP 4431; DP 4432 (overprinted as 4208A);DP 8689.
• Manukau Central Research Library – Plan showing Whitford Park Estate subdivision 1905 (ref: 1.0000126125335)
• Manukau Library website “Manukau’s Journey” Records: 354, 3208.
• Manukau City Council Operative District Plan, 2002, Vol.1.

Newspapers and Periodicals

• Auckland Weekly News (AWN ) 19/11/1903:45
• Eastern Courier, Howick Pakuranga Section, 7/5/1980:1.
• Howick and Pakuranga Times, 12/7/1972 (in Auckland Scrap Book, June 1972-, p.268)
• Howick Post, 18/10/1961:1
• New Zealand Herald, 30/4/1957:12
• South Auckland Courier (Eastern edition) 22/12/1965:4; 25/9/1974:3
• Hattaway, Rev. R.,1981. The Murders at Turanga Creek, An account of the tragic happenings at Whitford in 1863, in Auckland - * Waikato Historical Journal. No.39, September 1981.
• Hattaway, Rev. R.,1984. Granger’s Whitford Brick and Tile Works, in Auckland - Waikato Historical Journal. No.44, April 1984.

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