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Kiwi of the Week
John Ormsby
John Ormsby was born in 1854. His father was European. His mother was of Ngati Maniapoto.
The 1880s were a time of growing conflict between King Tawhiao and Ngati Maniapoto leaders such as Rewi Maniapoto. King Tawhiao refused to negotiate with the government until it had dealt with land grievances. Rewi and Ngati Maniapoto, however, favoured a compromise. The government was willing to make some concessions, as it wanted to build a main trunk railway line across Ngati Maniapoto territory.
The Native Committees Act 1883 gave Ngati Maniapoto an opportunity to engage with the government. The Act provided for Maori committees which might assist the Native Land Court in its judgments over land title. Other Maori, bitterly disappointed that the committees had no real power, did not support them. But Ngati Maniapoto tried hard to make their committee work.
Ormsby was the first chairman of the Kawhia committee, which was by far the most successful. Although still a young man, Ormsby was chosen because he was a highly skilled speaker, and able to deal with Europeans.
In 1884 Ormsby also took part in the so-called 1885 Kikikihi agreement. The government wanted land for the main trunk railway. In return for Ngati Maniapoto cooperation it offered a number of concessions to Ormsby and the other Ngati Maniapoto chiefs – it would give the Kawhia committee more power, reorganise the Native Land Court to remove its worst excesses, and allow Maori to keep ownership of minerals. Perhaps most importantly, Maori would not be charged rates on their lands until it was in production or under lease.
This led to a further rift with the King movement. This agreement is considered to have been a success in the short term, but the Native Land Court was not significantly reformed and later had the some negative impacts on Ngati Maniapoto land tenure and land ownership as elsewhere in the country.
In 1886 Ormsby became an assessor of the Magistrates Court, and a Native Land Court assessor. In 1920 he rejoined the Kingitanga, and became an adviser to the King Te Rata. He died in 1927.
