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Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake

Te Ati Awa leader Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake's refusal to give up his land at Waitara led to the outbreak of the Taranaki War. In later life joined the pacifist community at Parihaka

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Today in History

11 February

1864 Charles Heaphy recommended for VC

Recommended for rescuing a soldier while under fire, Heaphy was eventually awarded the VC in 1867 - the only one awarded to a member of the colonial forces serving in New Zealand. Heaphy was the only colonist VC because the colonial forces were supposed to be ineligible for it.

As draftsman and artist with the New Zealand Company, Heaphy is principally remembered for his reconnaissance survey up the west coast of the South Island and investigations of a site for the establishment of Nelson. The 1846 journey by Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy was one of the most arduous in the history of New Zealand exploration, the pair journeying from Nelson down the Buller and the West Coast to Arahura over 560 days.

As Chief Surveyor to the General Government, at Auckland, his main task was the surveying of land confiscated at the close of the New Zealand Wars.

Image: Charles Heaphy