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Nelson Historical Society Journal, Volume 06, Issue 01, 1996

7. 1839 and 1841: The New Zealand Land Company:

page 7

7. 1839 and 1841: The New Zealand Land Company:

The next major milestone in Kehu's life followed the arrival of the New Zealand Land Company in late 1839 and the beginnings of the development of the Company's Nelson settlement 18 months later. An immediate and urgent task of the advance guard of Company agents to Nelson, led by Captain Arthur Wakefield, was to survey the districts to establish the boundaries of the separate land blocks for allocation to the waves of settlers who were expected to follow within a few weeks. In order to expedite the surveys, Maori labour was hired to assist as chainmen, and track and line cutters, to cut and supply survey pegs and marker posts, and to provide information about the districts and to act as guides. Kehu was employed in these latter roles: in 1842 he was hired from Panakenake and Poria by Thomas Brunner who was one of the surveyors initially assigned to the Motueka districts and hinterland. 9 Kehu's knowledge of the inland localities of the Motueka and Moutere valleys, and the inland districts of Tapawera, Motupiko, Korere and neighbouring districts was invaluable, and he spent several months with Brunner's survey team in these parts.

From this point on in his life, Kehu appears to have enjoyed considerable freedom, although the influences of Christianity, the establishment of British law among Maori following the Treaty of Waitangi, and the colonial ways of life had by now somewhat diminished the worst vicissitudes of slavery. Kehu seems to have spent much of his time between surveying 'contracts' living at or near Nelson, sometimes in the homes of people like Brunner. His relocation to Nelson may have been prompted by his marriage to a woman who was a runaway slave from Te Iti, another of the Rarua chiefs of Motueka (and close relative of Poria and Panakenake). At some point in this period Kehu must have become a Christian of Wesleyan persuasion, 10 and possibly he learned to read, at least the book of Scripture which he treasured.