Manawatū-Whanganui
The Whanganui River carried people, trade and conflict long before there were roads, and the inland bush was among the last country in the North Island to be opened to settlement.
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11 events in Manawatū-Whanganui between 1821 and 1995
Te Rauparaha’s migration to Kapiti
Ngāti Toa left Kāwhia and migrated south, seizing Kapiti Island as a base that controlled Cook Strait and the trade passing through it.
Kapiti IslandHutt Valley and Whanganui campaigns
Fighting over disputed New Zealand Company purchases spread through the Hutt Valley in 1846 and up to Whanganui in 1847. Governor Grey had Te Rauparaha seized in a dawn raid and held without charge.
Hutt ValleyThe Wairarapa earthquake
At an estimated magnitude 8.2, the most powerful earthquake recorded in New Zealand lifted the southern end of the Remutaka Range by more than 6 metres and raised Wellington’s shoreline out of the sea.
WairarapaPōtatau Te Wherowhero becomes the first Māori King
Te Kīngitanga
Iwi across the central North Island raised a king to hold land, halt sales and deal with the Crown as an equal. The Kīngitanga continues today.
NgāruawāhiaPai Mārire spreads
Te Ua Haumēne’s faith, an independent Māori Christianity born in war-torn Taranaki, spread across the North Island and was met with force by the Crown.
TaranakiTītokowaru’s campaign
Riwha Tītokowaru won a run of victories with a much smaller force and drove the colonial army back towards Whanganui, then in February 1869 his army fell apart at Taurangaika before the colonial assault.
South TaranakiTe Kotahitanga — the Māori Parliament
Te Kotahitanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi
A Māori parliament met from 1892 to 1902, seeking authority over Māori land and people under the Treaty of Waitangi and petitioning Parliament for recognition.
Waipatu, Hawke’s BayThe North Island Main Trunk line is completed
Prime Minister Joseph Ward drove the last spike at Manganuioteao, formally opening the railway between Auckland and Wellington.
ManganuioteaoThe Rātana movement rises
Te Hāhi Rātana
Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana built a church and then a political movement that campaigned for the Treaty of Waitangi to be honoured.
Rātana PāThe Tangiwai railway disaster
A lahar from Mount Ruapehu struck the rail bridge over the Whangaehu River minutes before the Wellington–Auckland express reached it. The bridge gave way under the train and 151 people died.
TangiwaiThe Pākaitore occupation
Pākaitore
Whanganui iwi occupied Moutoa Gardens for 79 days, claiming the site had been set aside from the original land purchase. The town divided sharply, and it ended peacefully.
Pākaitore, WhanganuiMeanwhile, nationally
8 events that reached Manawatū-Whanganui along with most of the country. They still shade the map and sit on the timeline above, but they are not Manawatū-Whanganui’s own history.
The Native Land Court is established
The court converted customary communal title into individual titles that could be sold, and became the main means by which most remaining Māori land passed out of Māori ownership.
Vogel’s public works and immigration scheme
Julius Vogel borrowed heavily in London — £10 million by 1876 — to build railways, roads and telegraph lines, and to bring in about 100,000 assisted migrants.
First refrigerated cargo sails for London
The Dunedin left Port Chalmers with 4,000–5,000 frozen carcasses (sources differ) and reached London 98 days later with the cargo sound. Te Ara notes the voyage is seen as a watershed in New Zealand’s economic development.
Port ChalmersNew Zealand enters the First World War
About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and there were some 41,000 instances of wounding or illness; no other British dominion lost a higher share of its military-age men.
New Zealand declares war on Germany
‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.
The 28th (Māori) Battalion
Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū
A volunteer battalion organised by tribal area fought in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. Its casualty rate was almost 50% above the average for New Zealand infantry battalions.
Britain joins the EEC
Britain had been New Zealand’s great market for lamb, butter and cheese since the first frozen-meat shipment in 1882. Now that market began to close.
The Māori land march
Te Rōpū Matakite o Aotearoa
Whina Cooper, aged 79, led a month-long hīkoi from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament under the slogan ‘not one more acre’.
Te Hāpua