On this day, 182 years ago, William Hobson, representing the British Crown, Hōne Heke Pōkai and over 42 rangatira signed the Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi on the 6th of February 1840. Each signing was followed by a handshake and greeting from Hobson, “He iwi tahi tatou” (We are [now] one people). About half of the signatories on the 6th of February had also signed the Declaration of Independence in 1835. By September 1840, approximately 500 other Māori, including thirteen women, had put their names or moko to the document. In October 1840, a copy of the treaty – both the Māori text and the official English text, was sent to the Colonial Office in London. Many Māori believed a sharing of authority would enhance chiefly mana and Aotearoa would be protected from acquisition by other foreign powers. A kawana (governor) would control Europeans, especially those buying land and the treaty would bring settlement, and with it both more markets for essential Māori services and desired trade goods.
Te Rā o Waitangi is an important day for my whānau. My ancestor Gilbert Mair visited Aotearoa twice before settling in Kororareka/Russell in 1824 at the age of 25. He was described as “Much respected and had a great trade.” In 1835, he was given the contract to erect a church in Russell, known as Christ Church. The price was £260, plus £1.12 for a lock and paint. His son Robert, my great-great-great grandfather, was born in Paihia in 1830. He spoke fluent Te Reo and served in the public sector for many years, including as a Licensed Interpreter for the Native Land Court, and the Clerk for the Whangarei District Council. In 1914, he gifted the fourteen-acre property he lived on for 78 years to the Whangarei District Council, known as Mair Park. In 1859, Robert gifted the land in which Whangarei Anglican in Whangarei was built and assisted in building the church, which opened in 1861.
Photo: Paihia by Sian Mair.