Hawke’s Bay
Te Matau-a-Māui
Pastoral country whose wealth was built on wool and the big sheep stations, and the site of the 1931 earthquake that levelled Napier and rebuilt it in Art Deco.
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5 events in Hawke’s Bay between 1864 and 1988
Pai Mārire spreads
Te Ua Haumēne’s faith, an independent Māori Christianity born in war-torn Taranaki, spread across the North Island and was met with force by the Crown.
TaranakiTe Kooti escapes from Rēkohu
Deported without trial, Te Kooti seized a schooner and brought nearly 300 prisoners home from Rēkohu. Colonial and Māori forces pursued him for almost four years and never caught him.
Gisborne and Te UreweraTe Kotahitanga — the Māori Parliament
Te Kotahitanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi
A Māori parliament met from 1892 to 1902, seeking authority over Māori land and people under the Treaty of Waitangi and petitioning Parliament for recognition.
Waipatu, Hawke’s BayThe Hawke’s Bay earthquake
A magnitude 7.8 quake devastated Napier and Hastings and killed 256 people — still New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake.
NapierCyclone Bola
Over 900 millimetres of rain fell on the East Coast in three days, stripping hillsides and cutting the region off. At least three people died.
GisborneMeanwhile, nationally
10 events that reached Hawke’s Bay along with most of the country. They still shade the map and sit on the timeline above, but they are not Hawke’s Bay’s own history.
New Zealand Settlements Act — raupatu
Te raupatu whenua
The Crown confiscated land from iwi it deemed to be in rebellion (Te Ara estimates 1–1.3 million hectares), including land of neutral tribes and of some that had fought on its side.
The Native Land Court is established
The court converted customary communal title into individual titles that could be sold, and became the main means by which most remaining Māori land passed out of Māori ownership.
Vogel’s public works and immigration scheme
Julius Vogel borrowed heavily in London — £10 million by 1876 — to build railways, roads and telegraph lines, and to bring in about 100,000 assisted migrants.
The provinces are abolished
The nine provincial governments were abolished, leaving central government as the single legislative authority, with new counties in rural areas while towns carried on unchanged.
First refrigerated cargo sails for London
The Dunedin left Port Chalmers with 4,000–5,000 frozen carcasses (sources differ) and reached London 98 days later with the cargo sound. Te Ara notes the voyage is seen as a watershed in New Zealand’s economic development.
Port ChalmersNew Zealand enters the First World War
About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and there were some 41,000 instances of wounding or illness; no other British dominion lost a higher share of its military-age men.
New Zealand declares war on Germany
‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.
The 28th (Māori) Battalion
Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū
A volunteer battalion organised by tribal area fought in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. Its casualty rate was almost 50% above the average for New Zealand infantry battalions.
Britain joins the EEC
Britain had been New Zealand’s great market for lamb, butter and cheese since the first frozen-meat shipment in 1882. Now that market began to close.
The Springbok tour
Fifty-six days that split the country. Protesters occupied the pitch at Hamilton and stopped the game; by the final test, police in riot gear fought crowds outside Eden Park.
Rugby Park, Hamilton