"History of Park Moa bones, flints adzes and and ovens indicate that, centuries before the coming of the Pakeha, Maori Park was a dwelling place of Moa-hunter Maoris.
Fishing from Dashing Rocks, shell fish on the beach, and birds as Wash- dyke lagoon made it an ideal camping place for sunshine and plenteous food supply. Following on their footsteps, later genera- tions of Maoris continued to live at this spot. 2 The Maori name for the park was Te Upoke a Te Rakai Tau- wheke, given in honour of a famous Ngai Tahu chief.
War- fare against the Ngati Namoe brought to the Ngai Tahus a series of defeats. Rallying his tribe, Te Rakai Tauwheke led them from victory unto victory until their enemies were van- quished. Hither he or a descen- dant lived here, and Te Weka street is an abbreviation of his name. Virtue Avenue was a stream in which was a large waterhole from which. both Maori and Pakeha had the right to draw water. *, The waterhole was named Ponuiahine, a maiden in the Mangarara canoe which brought to New Zealand lizards, dogs, | birds and insects: Because she beheld the magic dog of Tara- whata without having her eyes veiled she was changed into a rock in the sea.
When the whalers came in 1848, they also made use of Maori park and it was at Dashing Rocks, where the Moa-Hunter Maoris used to fish, that they made their look-out for whales. Te Rehu, the Temuka chief, had a house there and his son Tarawhata, also a chief, grew, in Beverley gully, vegetables for the whalers. Te. Rehu was probably ‘the descendant of the great chief Te Rehu, a leader of the Ngai Tahu invasion of the South Island. Bishop Selwyn, first man to make a recorded visit through Canterbury, tells how he arrived at Dashing Rocks on the evening of January 15 1844, where he met Te Rehu and his wife, who were living there, and here the Bishop baptised their grandchild.
From Maori Park, Bishop Selwyn gives the first written description of Timaru. He wrote: ‘‘To the north-west lay a blazing raupo swamp; to the north the high mountains beyond the vast plains of Waiateruati, with only one clump of trees to arrest the eye; to the south-west the gentle grass slopes bore away towards the deserted whaling station Timaru”. At the same place, Te Rehu and Tarawhata met, in 1848, Walter B, D. Mantell, who bore the ominous Public Service title of ‘Commissioner for the Extin- guishment of Native Titles in the Middle (South) Island.” He succeeded in arranging the pur- chase of 30 million acres of land for something like £5,000. In fairness to Mantell it should be said that he spent a good deal of his later life in unsuccess- fully trying to induce successive Governments to give the Maoris a more just land deal. In 1944 Parliament agreed to pay £10,000 a year for 30 years to the Ngai Tahu Trust Board in settlement of their claim. Reserve Mantell records in his diary: “19 October (1848) Fine Morn- ing. Very early set out for Te Upoko a Te Rakaitau Wheke (Maori Park) where Tarawhata had remained. Found that his cultivations (Beverley gully) were the most valuable part of the bay. At his request I laid out the reserve (20 acres) further north, the natives aban- doning the present gardens and huts. Right to the waterhole at Ponuiahine (Virtue Avenue) In’ the bay, we found a trader’s boat hauled up waiting for a wind to Otakou, the native crew com- fortably camped under the sail.” Tarawhata had good reason for wanting to set aside Maori Park as a reserve. It was a vantage point for fishing, both at Wash- dyke lagoon and in the open sea.
To the Maori, tradition was part of his religion, so they wanted to preserve this part because of historic associations. The railway, opened in 1875, took four acres of the reserve, leaving 16 acres which was used by the Maoris for camping purposes up. to the time of living memory. In 1926 it was sold to Timaru City as a reserve, for which the Maoris received £8,000. Had they withheld this land, they could now obtain about £1000 for an eighth of an acre section, Allowing £8,000 for expenses, the land would have brought them £120,000. They should have remembered their own proverb— “The blanket wears out, but the land remains” Open Space When, in 1857, Captain Woollcombe came to Timaru as harbour master, magistrate, registrar of births, marriages, and deaths, he bought Ashbury, the property adjacent to Maori Park, and the Misses Woollcombe told me they used to play there. To have tea at Ashbury was to experience the elegant graciousness of the Victorian area. Mahogany and walnut furniture, Persian carpets lace tablecloth, silver service, Royal Worcester china, and the charming. Misses. Woollcombe them- selves looking like delicate Dres- den figurines.
They used to deplore the fact that the founders of Timaru did not set aside reserves. Right from its start, Timaru has been starved for open spaces. Excepting Maori, Ashbury, and West End Parks, there is not a reserve between Alexander Square and Marchwiel Park. No city or town in New Zealand has such ignominious distinction Within five minutes from the centre of the city, Auckland has Mount Albert Park; Wellington, . Lindsay, Bowen Street Reserve; Christ- chureh Hagley Park; Dunedin, the Queen’s Gardens. Smaller towns have similar reserves close to the town centre. Stimulating Port development means in- creased population. It looks as though an already congested city might have to cope with a popu- lation twice this size. Maori Park is the only hill-erest space we have.
A stimulating walk is to cross Maori Park, then over the footbridge spanning the railway viaduct and peer over the cliffs at the long Pacific rollers from far- away Chile, dashing themselves into foam at your feet. Try this for yourself one winter day when a southerly wind is blow- ing, and breathe into your lungs the exhilarating salt-tanged gusts _ that swirl around you. The Mayor of New York, John appointed one of America’s most brilliant Jand- scape gardening experts to re design Central Park. The millionaire imsurance magnate, | Huntington Hartford, offered a substantial sum for the building of a public restaurant in the park. The offer was declined by the expert because, he said: ‘“‘A park should be an open space, uncluttered by buildings.” - William Vance, Maori Park - Most Historic Place in Timaru (10 Jun 1967). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 07/06/2023, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2085
Red Map. Plans of Native Reserves in Canterbury - Caroline Bay, Native Reserve 8 - 10 chains to 1 inch (1:7920), Item Code:R25179855 - https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/IE40916334
