Waiuku

History

Māori history

thumb|left|The [[Waiuku River, an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour has traditionally been an important transportation link and source of food for Tāmaki Māori ]]

The Manukau Harbour has been settled by Tāmaki Māori since around the 13th or 14th centuries. Tāmaki Māori of the southern Manukau Harbour traditionally used the food resources of the harbour, collecting shellfish such as cockles, sea urchins and kōura, and fished species including snapper, kahawai and parore. The portage was the preferred route, due to the unpredictable seas of the west coast. Ngāti Kahukōkā's main centres were Puketapu on the Āwhitu Peninsula, Tītī, near modern-day Mauku.

In the 17th century, Ngāti Kahukōkā were led by Te Ata-i-Rehia, granddaughter of Huakaiwaka, the eponymous ancestor of the Waiohua, a major confederation of iwi of the Tāmaki isthmus and South Auckland areas. Te Ata-i-Rehia was gifted land after Ngāti Kahukōkā were helped in conflicts by Waiohua. The iwi were also known by the name Te Ruakaiwhare, referencing the taniwha guardian of the Manukau Harbour, Kaiwhare, who looked over the tribe.Then took name from Te Ata I Rehia. Upon her death, the iwi took the name Ngāti Te Ata, making Te Ata-i-Rehia the eponymous ancestor of the iwi. After the death of Tapaue, the couples' son Pāpaka secured Waiuku for Ngāti Te Ata. By 1700, Te Awaroa / Te Pae o Kaiwaka Pā had been established as a defensive fortification on the eastern banks of the Awaroa Creek, surrounded by a forested swamp. Ngāti Tamaoho, an iwi closely related to Ngāti Te Ata, began to have a presence on the Āwhitu Peninsula and southern Manukau Harbour by the 18th century.

Musket Wars

By the early 19th century, the southwestern Manukau Harbour and Waikato River mouth was a densely settled area, where interrelated hapū, Ngāti Te Ata, Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngāti Tiipa and Ngāti Pou, had established kāinga. In March 1822, a Ngāpuhi taua (war party) led by Hongi Hika attacked the Āwhitu Peninsula settlements. While Ngāti Te Ata successfully repelled the attackers at Waiuku, most members of Ngāti Te Ata fled the area for safety, with only a small number remaining for ahi kā (visible occupation land rights).

Early colonial era

thumb|The [[Kentish Hotel is one of the earliest buildings established in Waiuku, built in 1851 or early 1852]]

thumb|1883 Old Waiuku Court House

The first Europeans to live in the area arrived in September 1836, when Robert Maunsell chose Moeatoa as the location of the first Manukau Harbour Christian Missionary Society station. The Maunsells moved to Port Waikato in the following year, where they established the Te Kohanga Mission. By the late 1830s, Ngāti Tamaoho chief Ēpiha Pūtini began envisioning the Waiuku area as a planned European settlement, which would facilitate trade between the Manukau Harbour and the Waikato River. Ngāti Te Ata used the Waiuku portage to transport goods to the Manukau Harbour, until the Government funded the construction of a bullock track between the Waiuku and Awaroa rivers in the late 1840s. The hotel quickly became the focal point for the new settlement of Waiuku, and Ahipene Kaihau, rangatira of Ngāti Te Ata, was a close confidant of Governor George Grey, who regularly invited to stay at Waiuku. In 1856, five European families settled to the east at Mauku, and a church called St. Bride's was established for the village. Mauku was the first European settlement visited by the first Māori King, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, after his coronation in 1858.

One of the founders of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Waiuku in the 19th century was Captain Sir John Makgill. Makgill arrived with his family in Waiuku in 1882 and established a farm called 'Brackmont' at Taurangaruru. He eventually increased his holdings there to about 2500 acres, and also bought land at Ōrua Bay. Sir John Makgill died at Brackmont on 14 November 1906. His wife was Margaret Isabella Haldane, sister of Lord Haldane, and their eldest son was George Makgill who spent most of his adult life in Scotland, becoming 11th Baronet of Makgill on his father's death. One other son John E Makgill continued to farm at Taurangaruru, while another Robert Haldane Makgill was a key figure in the development of New Zealand's public health system. He was one of the country's first district health officers, at a time when central government took on greater responsibility for public health. He was to play an important role during the 1918 influenza pandemic and its aftermath, notably as 'the chief architect' of 'the most useful legacy of the 1918 influenza pandemic': the 1920 Health Act.

Invasion of the Waikato

In 1861, Governor George Grey ordered the construction of the Great South Road further into the Waikato, due to fears of potential invasion of Waikato Tainui. On 9 July 1863, due to fears of the Māori King Movement, Governor Grey proclaimed that all Māori living in the South Auckland area needed to swear loyalty to the Queen and give up their weapons. Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south before the Government's Invasion of the Waikato. Small numbers of people remained, in order to tend to their farms and for ahi kā. Most Māori who lived south of Auckland felt they had no choice due to their strong ties to Tainui and Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, and were forced to flee to the south.

Immediately prior to the war, the government constructed the Mauku Stockade near Waiuku. On 23 September 1863, a skirmish began at the Māori village of Tītī near Mauku, and nine European soldiers were killed. September saw a number of skirmishes between Ngāti Tamaoho and related hapū and the Mauku Company of Forest Rifles, led by Daniel H. Lusk.

While considered a "friendly" iwi by Grey during the war due to Grey's relationship with Ahipene Kaihau,

Waiuku township suffered as a trading post after the invasion, as Māori produce from the Waikato and Manukau were no longer sent through Waiuku. A canal scheme was proposed, that would link the Waikato River to the Manukau Harbour, but plans for the canal never progressed.

Growth of Waiuku township

thumb|The port of Waiuku along the Waiuku River, circa 1911

In 1868, Edward Constable constructed flax mills at Purapura and Waipapa, which led to Waiuku becoming a centre for the flax trade in the 1870s. Between 1870 and 1900, Waiuku, Karaka and the Āwhitu Peninsula became major centres for the kauri gum industry.

Waiuku developed as a town when refrigeration made dairy farming financially viable in the late 19th century. Dairy pastures were developed to the south at Otaua and Aka Aka in the late 1880s. Development of the area was slow, in part due to the shallow port on the Waiuku River hindering ships at low tide. In 1901, oyster reserves were established along the Waiuku River,

The first great Waiuku fire occurred on 28 August 1916, which destroyed many of the shops and offices to the east of Queen Street. The fire leads the Waiuku Town Board to proclaim that areas of central Waiuku could only have new buildings constructed from brick or masonry. This led to the port of Waiuku no longer being used; with passenger services to Onehunga ceasing in 1925, and shipping ceasing a few years after. Within a few years, the railway was no longer financially viable, as local residents preferred to use roads. Passenger rail services to Waiuku were replaced by buses in 1948, and goods trains cease using the Waiuku branch line in 1967. A spur to the steel mill (detailed below) was opened in 1968, saving the line from being closed entirely.

In 1939, Ngāti Te Ata land southwest of Waiuku was requisitioned by the Department of Public Works, in order to protect land against coastal erosion, and to establish the Waiuku State Forest. and from 1969 began harvesting ironsand from requisitioned Ngāti Te Ata lands along the Waikato River. and residence for many New Zealand Steel employees.

Demographics

Stats NZ describes Waiuku as a small urban area, which covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².