Puhuriwhenua

12/05/2009 Steve Austin
The Story of Puhuriwhenua - The Earth Shaker, and the ownership of the Wairau

Referring to a deed signed on 21 March 1840, F W Unwin of Sydney wrote a letter Sir George Gipps, Govenor of New South Wales. In his letter he claimed legal ownership of the Wairau Plains, in New Zealand. The letter is in the collection of Archives New Zealand, Wellington, and refers to an early ‘agreement'.

‘Robullah [Te Rauparaha] and other chiefs of the Middle Island of New Zealand ... and John Blenkensop (sic) ... in consideration of One Eighteen pounder piece of Cannon by the said Blenkensop ...

exchanged

... all that piece or parcel of land or ground ... at the head of Cloudy Bay in New Zealand comprising the whole of Whyrow Plains .. together with etc.'

The letter goes on to state that John Blenkinsopp was the master of a whaling vessel which belonged to Messrs Campbell and Collins of Sydney, and that he made the purchase as their agent, and according to their directions.

Unwin's letter does not describe the fraud which surrounded the ‘purchase'.

The Marlborough Daily Times, of 16 January 1901, recorded John Guard's account of the cannon. His father brought the cannon from Sydney in 1833. The Maori Chief, Nohorua (eldest half-brother of Te Rauparaha) agreed to accept the cannon in payment for the right to occupy Kakapo Bay as a Whaling Station. During the temporary absence of Nohorua, the cannon was stolen by Blenkinsopp, and was used in an attempt to purchase the Wairau. The cannon was called Puhuriwhenua - the Earth Shaker.

Captain John Blenkinsopp was married to Heni Te Huahua, daughter of a Ngati Rarua rangatira. While he was stationed at Cloudy Bay, he traded a ship's cannon for access to wood, and water, for his ship. In 1833, Blenkinsopp wrote a contract to formalise the arrangement.

Te Rauparaha signed the agreement believing what he was told by Blenkinsopp. The way that he signed the agreement was with a detailed drawing of his distinctive, unfinished facial moko. This document is also in the collection of Archives New Zealand.

‘ ... Blenkinsopp had actually worded the document to state that it was a deed of sale whereby he assumed the ownership of the whole of the Wairau Plain. On discovering this subterfuge, Te Rauparaha tore up his copy of the paper and declared that the contract was ended.

In any event Blenkinsopp had compounded his double dealings by spiking the cannon so that it could not be fired by Te Rauparaha's warriors. Blenkinsopp's copy of the ‘agreement' surfaced when it was acquired by William Wakefield from Heni Te Huahua who had been so afraid of Te Rauparaha's anger that she fled the South Island to a refuge in Northland'

-Hilary and John Mitchell, Te Tau Ihu o te Waka, Volume 1, p.287-288.

By 1833, when the ‘agreement' was signed, Te Rauparaha hasd been in possession of the Wairau for five years. It was acquired for his tribe, Ngati Toarangatira by conquest from Ngai Tahu occupiers. In this he was assisted by Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa allies.

The strategic importance of the land has been described as enormous. This was because of the resources of the Wairau, which included great supplies of kumara from extensive kumara cultivation in the region.

Blenkinsopp went back to Sydney and raised a loan of two hundred pounds based on his copies of the fraudulent conveyancing document. The detailed moko signature of Te Rauparaha assisted in making the contract appear credible. Blenkinsopp died shortly afterwards, and the claim was taken up by his creditor, Mr Unwin, who was unsuccessful in having the ownership of the Wairau transferred into his own name.

It was about 1839 when Colonel William Wakefield, brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, paid Blenkinsopp's Maori widow three hundred pounds for a copy of the Deed.

On the basis of this document, and another transaction they believed they had negotiated with Te Rauparaha in 1839, the Wakefields claimed the Wairau for the New Zealand Company, and began making arrangements to sell the land to their prospective settlers, who were promised large blocks of land at cheap rates.

Oliver Stead, Art Icons of New Zealand, p. 29

All this formed the background to the Wairau Affray of 1843.

Today, the cannon that was part of this early drama sits, quietly in a garden setting, at the entrance to the Marlborough District Council building in Blenheim.

About Steve

Steve joined the Museum in 2006 to lead the Museum into its next phase of development. Steve graduated in Art History, Music and History. He has a first class honors degree in History.

 

After lecturing at Christchurch College of Education for ten years, Steve worked in Wellington at the City Gallery before moving to The Dowse, and later the Nelson Provincial Museum.

 

Steve is currently working on two books. The first is on early Chinese settlers in New Zealand. His other project is on New Zealand photographer Thelma Kent, who was active in the 1930s.