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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Parengarenga

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Parengarenga.

Parengarenga is the most northerly settlement in the Colony of New Zealand, with the village of Kapo Wairua in the shadow of Maungapiko at the eastern extremity of Spirit's Bay. Almost all the country north of Tekao was controlled or owned by Mr. Samuel Yates (“King of the North”) whose sheep and cattle ran over about 150,000 acres of land. Mr. Yates died on the 14th of September, 1900, and his property is now owned and controlled by his widow, Mrs. Samuel Yates. Cape Maria Van Diemen lighthouse is situated on an island twenty miles distant of about seventy acres in extent, which was presented to the Government by Mr. Yates. The district produces the very best mutton and beef, fish, oysters, game of many sorts, excellent pork, and the choicest fruits, to say nothing of about a hundred cases of gum per week. There are also some valuable mineral resources. In fact Parengarenga is a little kingdom in itself. The population consists of about 150 natives and about 200 Europeans, 150 of whom are Austrian gum-diggers. The first settler was Mr. James Busby, who was sent from Sydney on behalf of His Majesty, William IV., to represent British interest in then little known New Zealand. He bore the title of British Resident, equivalent in these days to that of colonial governor. He was succeeded in 1840 by the late Mr. Owen who in conjunction with Mr. Graham was the first gum-buyer in the Colony. The country when it was first visited by Mr. Samuel Yates in 1853 consisted mostly of titri fern, and scrub, but no grass; now, however, there is no scarcity of excellent feeding and grazing ground. The estate includes 68,000 acres at the North Cape station, stocked with sheep and cattle, and is, geographically speaking, bounded by three oceans. On the West Coast for sixty miles there is a succession
Mr. G. Yates.

Mr. G. Yates.

of grand hills, at back of which is a well watered district of over 10,000 acres of level pasture relieved by undulating country. In sheltered values and stretches of flats. In the immediate vicinity of the head station sowing and ploughing have been carried on with the most gratifying results. There is
Mr. Yates' Homestead, North Cape.

Mr. Yates' Homestead, North Cape.

page 608 a leasehold of about 82,000 acres, the whole of which is an extensive gum county, which, it is estimated, cannot be worked out for many years. For nearly forty years now it has yielded on an average 400 tons of gum annually and shows no signs of exhaustion. The gum passes through the hands of Mrs Samuel Yates. On the run there are about 2000 head of cattle, mostly Herefords, and over 8000 sheep, including Shropshires and half and full bred Merinos. These produce on an average 600 calves and three thousand lambs annually, and by careful weeding out and judicious sales and importations
Mr. L. Yates.

Mr. L. Yates.

the breed is being gradually improved. The Herefords find the best market, and used to be driven overland to Whangarei, Kamo, Kaitohe, Oruru, and so on to Auckland, but stock can now be shipped direct by the s.s. “Glenelg.” Some 2000 acres of the land have been ring fenced. During the busy season there is always a small army of station hands and shearers. The homestead station, “Paki,” is the residence of Mrs. Yates' manager, and is eight miles from Parengarenga; the soil here is best suited for the growth of rattail and poa brownie grasses. A good deal of sandy and swampy land has been reclaimed in this vicinity. The celebrated Maori Chief, Hongi Keepa, was killed on this station about sixty years ago, and from the number of skulls and variety of bones found on the west coast, it is evident that the country round about was the scene of many a hard fought battle. The southern boundary of the property is the old native track, which has never been surveyed, and runs for about forty or fifty miles to the harbour. In addition to the traces of gold and silver, coal, iron, copper, and manganese are also found. There is a nice little church in the district capable of holding 150 persons, which was built by Messrs. Bell and Sons, and paid for by the natives; a Maori minister has officiated since 1871. Steam communication is maintained direct weekly with Auckland, by the steamer “Glenelg,” and there is also a telephone and post office station.
Cattle Mustering, North Cape Station.

Cattle Mustering, North Cape Station.

Te Reinga.

Te Reinga.

Mr. Samuel Yates, who acquired the Parengarenga property in 1863, was born in 1829, in London, where his father was a well-known solicitor. The subject of this sketch was educated in Liverpool and Paris, and on the completion of his studies, at the request of a number of his relatives who lived in New Zealand, came to this Colony by the ship ‘Monarch,” in 1852, and started a general store business in Mongonui in 1853, which he carried on for ten years. The business was afterwards bought by Mr. R. M. Houston, M. H. R. Mr. Yates went to Parengarenga in 1862 with the idea of stopping there for six months, but he remained there till he died in September, 1900, lamented by all who knew him. His widow now owns thousands of acres of land, and practically has a monopoly of the gum trade in the immediate district. She carries on a large general store and in the sorting establishment employs five hands. There are about 300 diggers on the fields, including Austrians, other Europeans, and natives, and the entire output, amounting to about 400 tons annually, passes through Mrs. Yates’ hands, her principle being to take delivery on the field. The gum is chiefly of the better class, there being very little poor stuff. The opinion is that the fields will not be worked out for thirty, possibly a hundred years. The homestead, which was erected in 1863 and completed about ten years ago, consists of a fine one-storey building,
The Late Mr. S. Yates.

The Late Mr. S. Yates.

page 609 45 feet by 18, with eleven rooms, three small residences occupied by employees, stables, outhouses, and a boarding-house belonging to the property. There are forty acres of excellent paddocks adjoining the houses. Butchering is done on the premises for the accommodation of the whole establishment. Mr. Yates was a gentleman of culture, and a thorough French scholar, and took great interest in art societies. He was personally acquainted with the late Emperor Louis Napoleon, and saw him a prisoner in 1814. The Emperor presented Mr. Yates with his autograph, which his family still possesses. In 1887 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the Stout-Vogel Government.

Mr. Hemi Taitimu, sometime Maori Missionary of Parengarenga, first engaged in mission work in 1890, and exerted much beneficial influence among his own people. He was instructed by the late Rev. Joseph Matthews, and advanced the mission work in the district, where he was highly spoken of by natives and Europeans alike, as a sincere and indefatigable labourer in the good cause of civilisation. Mr. Taitimu died, much lamented, in October, 1900.

Rev. Hemi Taitimu.

Rev. Hemi Taitimu.

Yates, Mrs. Samuel, Gum Buyer, Runholder and General Merchant, Parengarenga, Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Auckland agents, Messrs. L. D. Nathan and Co. Telegraphic address, “Yates, Parengarenga.”

Mrs. Yates.

Mrs. Yates.

Mrs Yates' Mustering Station, Tapotupotu.

Mrs Yates' Mustering Station, Tapotupotu.

Evans, Edward, Storekeeper, etc., Te Kao. Mr. Evans was born at Mangatete in 1873, and has spent the greater part of his life in Awanui. In 1896, he took charge of his father's store at Te Kao, where the gum [gap — reason: illegible]rade alone soon eclipsed the business done by Mr. Evans at his other branch stores.

Mr. Timoti Puhipi (Timothy Busby), Pukepoto, is one of the immediate descendants of the old Busby family. He was born at Te Rarawa in 1830, and when he was baptised at the age of ten years, had the honour of having Governor Hobson for his godfather. Mr. Puhipi saw many tribal disturbances in his day, notably one at Oruru, when the Tararawa and Ngapuhi tribes became engaged in actual warfare, and it was a question of supremacy between the north and the natives of the southern portion of the island. He was appointed a native assessor, but resigned in 1888, when he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in the Northern Maori electorate for the House of Representatives. Mr. Puhipi is a prominent chief of the north, and his immediate relatives were parties to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.