battle hill

Articles

War in Wellington

  • War in Wellington

    In 1846 fighting broke out in the Wellington region when Ngāti Toa chief Te Rangihaeata backed local Maori opposed to European settlement in Hutt Valley. The campaign claimed few lives but effectively ended Ngāti Toa resistance in the region.

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  • Page 7 – Political prisoners

    Te Rauparaha became one of New Zealand’s first political detainees when he was seized during the fighting in Hutt Valley in 1846.

Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, north of Wellington, was the site of a clash between Ngāti Toa and British troops in 1846. After a period of Māori resistance to New Zealand Company attempts to buy land, Crown forces besieged the hilltop pā of Ngāti Toa chief Te Rangihaeata for several days. Te Rangihaeata and his depleted forces escaped north. He spent the rest of his life at Poroutawhao, near Levin.

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