The Wairau affray
- When
- 17 June 1843
- Where
- Tuamarina
- Reach
- Several regions
An armed Nelson party tried to arrest Te Rauparaha over disputed Wairau land. Twenty-two settlers and at least four Ngāti Toa died.
The magistrate’s party attempted to enforce a warrant on land Ngāti Toa had not sold and the Company could not prove it had bought. A scuffle became a firefight; when Te Rongo, Te Rangihaeata’s wife, was killed, the settlers who had surrendered were killed in utu. Governor FitzRoy investigated and found the settlers at fault, which enraged the settler press and helped cost him the governorship. It was the first serious armed clash after the Treaty.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
Te Rauparaha’s migration to Kapiti
Ngāti Toa left Kāwhia and fought their way south, seizing Kapiti Island as a base that controlled Cook Strait and the trade passing through it.
Kapiti IslandThe Musket Wars
Musket-armed war parties reshaped the map of Māori New Zealand. Perhaps 20,000 died and whole districts changed hands before the fighting burned out around 1840.
The provinces are abolished
Nine provincial governments were swept away and replaced by central government plus counties and boroughs — the shape of local government for the next century.
The Northern War
Te riri Pākehā ki te Tai Tokerau
Hōne Heke felled the flagstaff at Kororāreka four times and sacked the town. The war ended at Ruapekapeka, an engineered pā built to absorb artillery.
Kororāreka and Ruapekapeka