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Maori Deeds of Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand: Volume One
Preface
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Preface.
| 1. | This first volume of Maori Deeds contains only those of the late Province of Auckland, and the succeeding volume will comprise those of Taranaki, Wellington, and Hawke's Bay. The deeds of land purchased in the South Island will be found in the "Compendium of Official Documents," compiled by Alexander Mackay, Esq., Native Commissioner, and published by the New Zealand Government in 1873. |
| 2. | We would observe that the series of deeds now published, though very imperfect as to number, is still as complete as circumstances would allow. Many deeds, already in existence, have never yet been lodged in the General Crown Lands Office, according to order; many others, after having been deposited and registered, are constantly being withdrawn, for reference, by the various Commissioners and local land officers of the colony; whilst it is supposed (especially in reference to deeds of older date) that some of them may have perished in the wreck of the "White Swan" in 1865, or at the burning of the Government House in Auckland in 1848, in a part of which the Native business was transacted and its archives kept. Our only resource, therefore, was to copy such deeds as were available at the time, showing by the Index what numbers were missing, and leaving them to be published hereafter, if required, in a supplementary form. The last deeds copied bear date of June, 1875; since when, many others have been registered in the Crown Lands Office, but too late for insertion here. |
| 3. | The copies here given, and which after much labour of revision have been duly certified as true and correct, contain all the errors of the originals, whether of dates, words, spelling, syntax, or punctuation; so that, to the Maori reader especially, some of the sentences in several deeds will appear too erroneous to have been correctly copied—even many of the proper names being spelt variously in the same conveyance. |
| 4. | Where a plan of the purchase is given on the margin of the deed, or affixed to it on a separate sheet, the letter "P" in the Index will point out the fact, and a lithographed copy of the same will be found in the corresponding volume of Plans which is now being published with this. |
| 5. | The initials "C.L.O." mean the Crown Lands Office, Wellington, and the No. indicated stands for the red ink number which has been in use since 1873. "O.C." in the same column means Office Copy—i.e., when the document given has been transcribed from the official registers in the Native Lands Office, in the absence of the originals. |
| 6. | The actual or estimated area has been taken either from the deeds themselves, the maps of survey and public reports, or from computations supplied by Major Heaphy, V.C., or Mr. Commissioner Tole of Auckland, with the understanding that, for want of the scale adopted, the approximate areas are in many instances not to be depended on. |
| 7. | The amount given does not represent the price of the land, but only the sum or instalment acknowledged in the deed to which the item refers; and many of the payments for the same block will be found in Part II., amongst the "Deed Receipts." |
| 8. | The "Deeds of Gift" for scholastic or Mission purposes are so few in number that they have all been printed together as Part III., and inserted at the end of this volume, although not belonging entirely to the Auckland Province. |
The succeeding volumes of deeds and plans are now in progress, and will be published as soon as the other urgent demands of the Government Printing Office will allow.
Wellington,
8th May, 1877.
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