Hokianga Historical Society

30/12/2025

03/09/2025

20/04/2025

Sunday afternoon at the Museum.
4th May at 2 pm
Nau mai haere mai

Local historian Paul White will be speaking about his recently published hapū history, Te Iringa a Tūpoto.

Presentation followed by questions and afternoon tea.

01/04/2024

Photos from the Veda Lane McKay collection featuring children from the Waima Native School. The Hokianga Historical Society has two small photo albums donated by Veda Lane McKay when the HHS was closely affiliated to the Rāwene Library. The albums belonged to Veda’s mother, Sister Edith Janie Goodall, who was a Methodist deaconess at Waima, 1916–1919. She resigned to marry T. Percy Lane of Rāwene.

07/03/2024

Elizabeth Ann Martin nee Chapman
(1849–1917)

Martin, Elizabeth Ann, Kohukohu, domestic duties, freehold, lots 21 & 22, block X

Elizabeth Ann was the only daughter of Auroroa Matilda Pāheke/Pāhihi and one of Hokianga’s earliest settlers Scottish born Alexander Chapman. She was born in March 1849. Elizabeth had a half-sister Rora on her mother’s side. Pāheke may have originally come from Taranaki. In 1857 Alexander took Elizabeth to Scotland, they returned to New Zealand in 1858.

Elizabeth married Captain George Martin on 30 September 1865. George, who was ten years her senior, was the son of John Martin and Kiriora from the Hokianga Harbour heads.

Elizabeth and George lived at Ōmāpere where he had taken over from his father as the Hokianga Harbour pilot-master. The couple had at least 12 children, Leila Aurora Matilda born 1869, Rachel Catherine ‘Kitty’ born 1871, Mary Jessie born c1872, Juanita born 1875, John Chapman born 1876 who died as a baby, Emma Somerville born 1877, Elizabeth Ann ‘Rose’ born 1879, Alexander Chapman born 1880, Helen Clara Susan born 1883, Georgina Virginia ‘Mabel’ born 1885 and John Antony born 1886. A tragic accident occurred in 1877 when five year old Mary Jessie was playing on the beach in front of their home at Ōmāpere. She dug a hole into the sandbank and it collapsed and smothered her. She was dead when her mother found her.

Elizabeth’s father Alexander lived with the family at Ōmāpere for the last 20 years of his life. They were a much-loved family, well-respected in the community.

Elizabeth died, aged 68, on 1 May 1917 in Rāwene. George died on 22 July 1936. They are buried at Ro Iho Urupā, Pākanae.

Please let us know if you have anything to add to Elizabeth's story.

23/01/2024

Catherine Bridget Baker (later Shelford)
(1872–1933)

Baker, Catherine, Rangiahua, domestic duties, residential

Catherine Bridget Baker (known as Kate) was born in 1872, the first daughter of John (Hone) and Maria Baker nee Bowyer. John was Ngāti Rauawe from Tāheke/Waima and Maria was of Ngāpuhi descent through her maternal grandmother Kamukamu. Kate’s father Hone, died aged 52, in 1883 when she was just 11. Kate was 21, the legal age for voting in 1893.

On 19 November 1895 Kate, aged 24 and Wiremu (William) Shelford, aged 25, were married at the registrar’s office in Rāwene. Wiremu had whakapapa to Taranaki through his mother Iritana Te Raihe Te Paenga Mukai. Kate and Wiremu had two children, William Edward Baker believed to have been born about 1898, and Rita about 1899.

On 24 January 1900 William died, aged just 28, after sustaining fatal injuries when a tree fell on him while bush felling at Kaihu. He was buried in the Rangiāhua Cemetery. On 10 March a concert was held in the Waikaraka Hall, Kaihu, in aid of the now widowed Kate. The hall was well filled for a concert of piano solos and songs. At the conclusion a dance was held.

More tragedy was to befall Kate. She was living at Rawhia when her five year old son William died in 1905. In 1913 her daughter Rita died. By 1911 Kate had moved to Kaeo where she was the housekeeper for her brother-in-law William Whitehead after her sister Mary left him and their seven children. Kate looked after the Whitehead family for some years, moving to Rangiāhua by 1914 and then to Kohukohu.

Catherine was living in Kohukohu when she died, aged 61, in 1933. She was buried in the Rangiāhua Cemetery. Her sister Mary joined her in a double plot in 1943.

Does anyone have any more information about Kate? Please comment if you do.

22/01/2024

Mary Brennan
(1852–1943)

Brennan, Mary, Taheke, domestic duties, residential

Mary and Edward Brennan had five sons, James, Edward, William, Thomas and David. The family settled on land at Punakitere, and the boys attended Punakitere School. They helped their father on the mixed dairy and sheep farm and eventually took over the running of it.

When the three were called up for service in February 1917 Mary’s husband Edward, a conscientious objector, defiantly faced up to the Auckland Military Service Board on their behalf and announced that ‘none of his sons would be going to the front’. When the three brothers Edward, Thomas and James appeared before the board at Rāwene the following week, they lodged an appeal on the grounds that they were the sole support of their parents and the dairy farm needed all three of them to successfully carry it on. Mary was at the hearing and gave her support for their appeal. The appeal of James was allowed, but that of Thomas was dismissed, and Edward’s was also dismissed subject to a medical examination.

Mary died in Rāwene Hospital on 1 August 1943 aged 92. She was buried in the Punakitere Settlers Cemetery at Tāheke. She was survived by her husband and two sons James and Edward. Her husband Edward died three months later and was buried with Mary. The Brennans continued to live in the area for many years.

Profile of Mary Brennan for 'Te Mana Pōti: Hokianga women on the 1893 electoral roll.' We would like to know more about Mary, who her parents were and where she was born. If you have anything you would like to add to this profile please comment.

18/09/2023

Annie Beazley nee Maxwell
(1855-1913)

Beazley, Annie, Motukaraka, domestic duties, residential


Annie Tweedy Maxwell was born at Ararimu in 1857, the youngest child of James Maxwell and Mary Stevenson. Annie's parents were from Ayrshire, Scotland.

Just after Annie’s birth her father was killed in a fall from his horse. Her mother remarried in 1860 to John Quigley. John and Mary had three children together. Annie spent some of her childhood living in Thames with her mother Mary, stepfather John Quigley and younger half siblings Thomas and Julia (later Clendon).

In 1876 Annie married William Henry Beazley, a bushman of Herd’s Point (Rāwene). They had a family of 11, Alice Mary born 1876, Maxwell ‘Max’ born 1879, Beryl born 1881, Valentine Roy born 1884, Jervis Faulkner born 1886, Julius Menzies born 1888, Agnes Elizabeth ‘Beth’ born 1890, William ‘Bill’ born 1892, Olive Bertha born 1893, Charlie Evalyn ‘Edna’ born 1895 and Annie Marjorie born 1900.

They lived up the Te Huahua valley in a house (since burnt down) which is remembered for having a well in the kitchen. The original section was 20 acres and they gradually added to the acreage until they had a sizable farm.

Annie is known to have been a person with a strong personality, quiet, but kindly and cheerful. She was a regular church attender. Annie also worked as the local midwife.

Annie died, aged 56, on 15 June 1913. She is buried in the Motukaraka Settlers’ Cemetery beside her mother. Her obituary describes her funeral procession:
…as her cortege left the house, the coffin was saluted by the Motukaraka girl scouts, drawn up in line, their staves tied with black ribbon. Two boy scouts acting as path finders in front of Rev. W. H. Edgell headed the sorrowful procession to the cemetery. All along the path the natives had strewn broken branches of green, as a token of their respect and sympathy.

As part of a project which started in 2018 to mark Suffrage 125 (125 years since New Zealand women were able to vote) Hokianga Historical Society researchers Heather Martin and Claire Kaahu White have been putting together the profiles of the 154 Hokianga women who were on the 1893 Bay of Islands Electoral Roll. This will be published as a book in 2024. We are grateful for the research conducted by Barbara Wyley and Olwyn Ramsey who wrote up several Hokianga women in 'Far North Women of the 1890s' - ngā mihi ki a kōrua. In preparation for publication, we will be sharing the profiles on our Fb page to give families a chance to have input. We look forward to any feedback, including corrections, that you may have.

12/09/2023

Annabella Webster nee Gillies
(1828-1895)

Webster, Annabella, Hokianga, domestic duties, residential

Iwi: Ngāpuhi
Hapū: Ngāti Toro

Annabella, who was also known by the Māori version of her name, Hanapara was born in 1828 in the Bay of Islands. She was the daughter of Hihe and Colin Gillies, one of the Scottish ‘mechanics’ who arrived on the Rosanna in 1826.

Annabella’s father went back to sea when she was still a child. He died at sea as the result of an accident. Before leaving Colin Gillies had entrusted her care to John Edmonds one of the CMS Mission staff, however it came to the attention of her mother’s family that she was being mistreated. They removed her from the household and took her to the Māngungu Mission where she was cared for, educated, and met her future husband.

Annabella received a gift of land ‘Arairiri’ on the Wairere Creek from her uncles Tipene and Hone Ri on the occasion of her marriage to Scottish born William Webster, an early settler and good friend of the Mission. They lived on that land and ran a water-powered sawmill there.

Annabella and William were married on 10 March 1851. He was 12 years older than her. The marriage register lists him as ‘trader’ and her as ‘half-caste’. Their mixed-race marriage was not unusual for Hokianga settlers but to outsider Captain Joliffe with whom they had dinner soon after their marriage, it ‘was as primitive and curious a group as I have seen in a long time.’

Over the next 15 years Annabella and William had six children, Jane, John, George Gillies, William Andrew and in 1864 twins Annabella Mary and Alexander James. The household was bilingual, and Annabella kept in touch with her whānau Māori.

Their life revolved around the Mission until 1855 when Rev. John Hobbs retired to Auckland.

In an article in the New Zealand Herald her husband William recalled that in 1862 Annabella won several prizes at the Auckland Horticultural Show, a first for her peach jam and for her Cape Gooseberry jam and two ‘extra prizes’ for her grape jam and clarified honey.

Historian Alexa Whaley noted that Annabella was an independent thinker, confident and very involved with handling the family finances and decision making. She noted that:

By the late 1880s their children had married and left home and she was a grandmother many times over, with families in Auckland to visit when she could. Although William was not politically active he was a Justice of the Peace and had a strong ethical sense which she shared, so when the chance came to be enfranchised alongside him, she did not hesitate to get her name on the electoral roll… Annabella Webster died two years after voting in that first election, on 16 May 1895 aged 67. Although twelve years older, William survived her for another nine years.

Annabella’s youngest daughter, her namesake but known by her second name Mary was a leading and influential advocate for women, involved in many organisations including Plunkett, the War Relief Association, YWCA, the National Council of Women and in 1919 she was part of a deputation that visited Sir Joseph Ward to urge the passing of a law to enable women to stand for parliament.

Annabella died at her home at Te Mata and was buried in a family plot at Māngungu.

As part of a project which started in 2018 to mark Suffrage 125 (125 years since New Zealand women were able to vote) Hokianga Historical Society researchers Heather Martin and Claire Kaahu White have been putting together the profiles of the 154 Hokianga women who were on the 1893 Bay of Islands Electoral Roll. This will be published as a book in 2024. In preparation for publication, we will be sharing the profiles on our Fb page to give families a chance to have input. We look forward to any feedback, including corrections, that you may have.

07/09/2023

As part of a project which started in 2018 to mark Suffrage 125 (125 years since New Zealand women were able to vote) Hokianga Historical Society researchers Heather Martin and Claire Kaahu White have been putting together the profiles of the 155 Hokianga women who were on the 1893 Bay of Islands Electoral Roll. This will be published as a book in 2024. In preparation for publication, we will be sharing the profiles on our Fb page to give families a chance to have input. We look forward to any feedback that you might like to give.

Helen Archibald nee Menzies
(1847-1914)

By Barbara Jean Harding – Sister Isabelle Harding S.M., granddaughter.

Helen, known as Ellen, was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland on 28 November 1847 , the daughter of Daniel Menzies and Janet Hatton. She had at least two sisters, Catherine ‘Kate’, Jeanie, Janet and two brothers, John and David.

When she grew up Ellen became a dressmaker, moving to Glasgow to work for some years before emigrating to New Zealand to join her brother David. Their sister Kate also emigrated.

Ellen lived in the Victoria area of Auckland where she set up as a dressmaker. Her brother, David was a stone mason by trade. He worked on several of the stone walls around Auckland. David Menzies encouraged other young Scotsmen to come and join him, one of whom was William Archibald.

Ellen and William were married in Auckland in 1883. As she was nearing 36 years of age and he was in his early twenties, Ellen removed her age from the marriage certificate.

Their first children, Jessie and John were born in Auckland. In 1886 the family moved north. They were assisted settlers who were offered land in the Motukaraka-Kohukohu area.

Young John took his first steps at Rāwene while the family waited to move across the harbour to Rangiora where William had purchased land above the timber mill. He built their house overlooking the mill site. This is where their three other children were born, Isabelle Helen, Kate and William. Isabel was the first child born to the group of assisted settler families.

William had bought the farm because the gorse already growing there had reminded him of Scotland. Thenceforth he fought a losing battle to control it.

Ellen’s skill as a dressmaker was much in demand. In addition, she sold supplies to the sailors from the timber ships that serviced the mill, especially hand-churned butter and fresh vegetables from her garden. On one occasion the Chinese cook from a visiting ship demanded ridiculously low prices. Ellen was taken aback until she discovered that her youngest daughters had been ‘playing shop’. They were suitable scolded!

Ellen was a thrifty and shrewd business woman which was just as well as William enjoyed his wh**ky. George Harding, Ellen’s future son-in-law, told another story of her thriftiness: he and his brother Jim had caught a particularly large snapper for which they hoped to get a guinea. But they offered it to Mrs Archibald who, without waiting to wrangle over the price, took the fish and thrust a half-crown into their hands!

Ellen was noted for her hospitality, and many a homesick sailor boy found comfort in her kitchen. The stories of their adventures may have influenced their youngest son William who eventually became a sea captain.

Appreciating her children’s need for education, Ellen sent the elder ones by foot into Kohukohu for school, but when the first Motukaraka District School opened in the early 1890s the children were sent there instead to make up the numbers. As the roads had not been built the children walked around the beach. Isabel was not physically strong, having had rheumatic fever, and was the only one required to wear shoes to school. She would hide them in a flax bush. One day the children, to their horror, could not remember which bush it was, so Isabel went home barefoot to face the storm.

William and Ellen were devout Presbyterians who passed on a love of the scriptures to their offspring.

Ellen died on 7 November 1914 and is buried at Kohukohu. She left a legacy of resourcefulness and industry, honoured by her descendants. She was my grandmother, and I am proud of the characteristics she passed on to me through my mother.

Photo: The Archibald family, Helen, John, Jessie and William

Originally published in ‘Far North Women of the 1890s’ by Olwyn Ramsey and Barbara Wylie.