A line in the bush - war in Wellington

Hutt Valley NZ war sites map

Land Claims Commissioner William Spain's 1844 decision on the New Zealand Company purchase resolved nothing. Ngati Rangatahi and Ngati Tama refused to leave the Hutt Valley, and were now regarded as trespassers.

In March 1844 Spain visited the Ngati Tama chief Te Kaeaea at his pa, Maraenuku (near the current Boulcott Golf Course in central Lower Hutt). Te Kaeaea and his people were cutting a line in the bush ‘according to the directions of [Te] Rauparaha’ in order ‘to divide between the lands of the European and our own.’ Te Kaeaea insisted that Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata had refused to agree to the boundaries set by Spain for the New Zealand Company. To reinforce this point, by the end of May Te Rangihaeata was camped in the upper Hutt Valley with 500 followers.

Te Rangihaeata

Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata were now divided over continuing Maori occupation of the Hutt Valley. When the two chiefs met at Otaki in March 1845, Te Rangihaeata accepted that the matter now rested with Ngati Rangatahi, Ngati Tama and the government. But he also made it clear he would not allow the iwi to abandon their claims in the Hutt. He sent word to Ngati Rangatahi that he would support them if they were attacked by the Europeans.

Te Kaeaea maintained his position at Maraenuku. In early 1846, with the Northern War with Hone Heke and Kawiti at an end, the new Governor, George Grey, turned his attention to the Wellington region. He arrived with soldiers and two navy vessels. Grey met Te Kaeaea, who promised to withdraw his people from the Hutt Valley once they were compensated for the 300 acres of potatoes they had growing there. Grey was adamant that there would be no discussion of compensation until Ngati Tama had actually left.

George Grey

Grey then met the Ngati Rangatahi leader, Kaparatehau. Once more the issue of compensation was raised. Once more Grey made it clear that no negotiations would take place until the land had been cleared.

By late February Ngati Rangatahi and Ngati Tama had left the valley. Immediately settlers began to take possession of the land. Maraenuku was destroyed and the village's chapel and urupa (cemetery) were desecrated in the process. Incensed by these actions, Ngati Rangatahi and Ngati Tama returned to the disputed land and attacked settlers' property.

Fort Richmond near Hutt River

Some of Te Rangihaeata's warriors took part in the plunder and looting of settlers' property. Grey sent troops to the area and a number of forts were built. In March 1846 a company of the 96th Regiment repulsed a Maori attack at Taita, prompting Grey to declare martial law. The British positions in the Hutt were strengthened in anticipation of an escalation of the situation.

Richard Taylor, a missionary from Wanganui, had arrived in late February to try to negotiate a settlement. He had helped persuade Ngati Tama and Ngati Rangatahi to leave the valley. Following the settler occupation of the abandoned land, Te Kaeaea informed Taylor: 'I thought the word of a Governor was sacred, but now I see that he too is worth nothing in the eyes of his own people’. Taylor received a similar message from an angry Te Rangihaeata, although the chief also said that he had written to Kaparatehau ordering him to return any property looted from settler houses.

Te Rangihaeata told Taylor that the situation would be resolved if Kaparatehau was given some land. He urged Taylor to inform Grey of this fact. Te Rangihaeata was reluctant to meet Grey himself as he had heard that the Governor planned to arrest and hang him for his role in the Wairau incident. He stressed that he had no desire to fight.