My Account
Kawau Island has long provided historians with rich material and interesting stories. The reminiscences of Thomas Harris (1854-1932) give a fascinating account of the relationship between a friendly Maori chief, the Governor of New Zealand and the children growing up on Kawau in the mid 19th century. It all began in 1845, when Mr A.T. Harris arrived on Kawau to manage a store for the company mining manganese. Within a year, the ship Augustine brought Cornish miners, carpenters, bricklayers and their families to work the copper deposits on the island. In charge was Captain Ninnis who came with his wife, six children, a governess, a doctor and domestic servants. Their home was the house that was later enlarged to become Mansion House.
The mining venture was short-lived and as the influx of population had come so the exodus followed, leaving just four families living on Kawau. Thomas Harris spoke of the isolation of this time and the threat of attack by war canoes. His father continued to farm and run the store, trading with passing ships. A friend to the family was Chief Patuone, a signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi, who offered them protection. The pakeha children were welcome at the village on the nearby mainland and enjoyed eating potato and kumara and sometimes shark and stingray. Patuone was skilled in traditional medicine and cured dysentery and healed the children’s sores. Gifts of European clothing were passed on by the old chief who preferred Maori attire although he was sometimes seen in the uniform of an officer of the Grenadier Guards. He considered Sir George Grey his friend and he was often consulted by the government on matters of policy. When he died at Takapuna, in 1872, he was given a full ceremonial military There was no certainty about his age but he maintained he was with Ngapuhi in the Bay of Islands when Captain Cook’s Endeavour came in November 1769 and if so, he must have lived more than 100 years.
The day the HMS Sandfly brought Sir George Grey to view Kawau was recalled by Mr Harris. The Harris family stayed on as employees of the new owner and were soon joined by 16 men and their families. Kawau was once again a busy scene as the house and garden were transformed. It was already a place of great natural beauty and the introduction of exotic plants and animals made it a unique botanical and zoological domain. Thomas Harris remembered the zebra arriving on the Dido and emu on the steamer Wonga Wonga.
For the children of Kawau, there was now a school, the teacher being Peter MacDonald who had first come to Kawau in the mining days. It could be imagined that the children lived in a wonderland but Sir George Grey’s diary entries record the deaths of several babies and children proving life was not always easy for the families. Mansion House when completed was a show place and house guests included many distinguished guests. It was Thomas Harris who directed the gentlemen to the best places to hunt deer and wild pigs while the ladies enjoyed the gracious lifestyle and were served tea on the lawn.
Further information
Regarding the column published in the December issue, a member of the Robertson family, who remembers the journey from Huntly to Warkworth in 1929, is sure the car was a Model A and that it was loaded on to the coastal vessel Omana from the long wharf which then stood at Waiwera. It is always interesting to hear first-hand experiences from our older readers. We always strive for accuracy.
