Te Ropiha Moturoa (1790? - 1874)
Below is an online version, from Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 1 (2001), of the biography for Te Ropiha Moturoa, reproduced with the kind permission of his whānau.
Published Text
"Te Ropiha Moturoa". In Nga tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, volume 1. (2001)
Moturoa was one of three brothers who came to join Patukawenga of the Ngati Mutunga tribe to Port Nicholson in 1827. He belonged to the Matehou hapu who had called themselves the Hamua when living in Taranaki. Moturoa was the son of Te Wehenga. His elder brother Te Matoha died in about 1833 in the Wairarapa. Moturoa's younger brother Wi Kingi Wairarapa lived at Pipitea until the 1860's when he moved back to Taranaki. Moturoa had 1 daughter who married a whaler called Wilkinson and went to England.
Moturoa adopted the name Ropiha after his baptism by John Hobbs and he remained a Methodist for the rest of his life. His widow Ramari Hinekarori or Ramari Ropiha was the daughter of Hoani te Matahiwi and died February 1886 at Taranaki. His first wife Ahinga had died in the 1840s. She was Patukawenga's sister.
Moturoa is often mentioned in records dealing with the new settlers to Wellington in the 1840's and was the senior chief at Pipitea Pa and in the subdivision of Pipitea Pa in 1867 he was awarded section number 2 with his wife Ramari and nephew Wereta te Matoha. He held a portion of the Orangi Kaupapa reserve in Tinakori Road and he was awarded 7 acres adjacent to Aro Street in the McLeverty awards in 1848. This area appears on early maps under the name of Moturoa's reserve and was sold by him to John Martin in 1866 for development. He fought on behalf of the settlers against Rangihaeata (1845) and Mamaku (1847). Like Wi Tako, Moturoa was granted payment for lands taken for settlement in 1844. He is listed as one of the hospital visitors by Doctor Fitzgerald in 1848 and was in attendance at the function in Wellington to celebrate the presentation of the Queen's portrait in 1849. He is also mentioned as visiting government officials in Taranaki in the early 1840's. Moturoa was one of eight chiefs to sign the Deeds of Release relating to local land at Pipitea on the 26th February 1844.
The present day Moturoa Street in Thorndon is formed adjacent to his section in the Pipitea Pa and during the 1840's his neat weatherboard house and potato crop were commented on. On the 13th December 1874 Moturoa died and after his tangi was held at Te Aro Pa he was buried in the Bolton Street cemetery.
References:
- Scholefield. G.W. A dictionary of NZ biography. 1940.
- Jellicoe, R.L. The New Zealand Company's Native Reserves. 1930.
- Roberts. J.H. Wesleyan Maori Mission in New Zealand. 1943.
- New Zealand Times, 14th December 1874.
- Maori Land Court. Wellington MB 1H p.208-212.
- Maori Land Court. Wellington MB 1 p.190.
- Maori Land Court. Taranaki MB 3 p.338-352.
- Ward, L. Early Wellington. 1928.
I Te Reo Māori -
I haere mai a Rōpiha me tana taina rāua ko tōna tuakana ki te noho me Patukawenga o Ngāti Mutunga ki Pōneke i te tau 1827. Nō te hapu o Te Matehou rātou, ā, ko Hāmua kē tō rātou ingoa i a rātou i Taranaki. He tama a Moturoa ngā Te Wehenga. I mate tōnā tuakana ki te Wairarapa i te tau 1833. I noho tana taina a Wi Kingi Wairarapa ki Pipitea, tae noa ki ngā tau 1860, katahi ka hoki ki Taranaki noho ai. Kotahi te tamāhine a Moturoa, ā, i moe ia i tētahi kaipatu wēra ko Wilkinson te ingoa, ā, ka wehe atu ki Ingarangi noho ai.
Nō muri i tōnā iriiringa e John Hobbs ka haria e Moturoa te ingoa Rōpiha, a i noho ia hei Wēteriana tae noa ki tōnā matenga. He tamāhine tana pouaru, a Rāmari Hinekarori, a Rāmari Rōpiha rānei, nā Hoani Te Matahiwi, i mate ia ki Taranaki i te tau 1866. I mate tana wahine tuatahi, a Ahinga i ngā tau 1840. He tuahine ia nō Patukawenga.
E ai ki ngā kōrero pupuri e pā ana ki ngā Pākeha tuatahi i tae mai ki Pōneke i ngā tau 1840, a ko ia te rangatira o te pā o Pipitea. I whakawhiwhia ia me tana wahine a Rāmari me tā rāua irāmutu a Wetera Te Matoha ki te tekihana nama rua, i roto i te roherohenga kainga o te pā o Pipitea. I a ia hoki tētahi wāhanga o te tāpui o Oranga Kaupapa i te rori o Tinakori, ā, i whakawhiwhia hoki ia ki ngā eka 7 e noho koaro ana ki te tiriti o Aro, i ngā whakawhiwhinga o McLeverty i te tau 1848. E ai ki ngā mahere, kei raro tēnei wāhanga i te tāpui o Moturoa, ā, nāna i hoko ki a John Martin i te tau 1866 mō ngā whakahoutanga o Pōneke. I whawhai ia ki te taha o ngā Pākeha i ngā pakanga ki a Te Rangihaeata (1845) rāua ki Mamaku (1847). I utua ia, pērā ki a Wi Tako mō ngā whenua nōhanga kainga i te tau 1844. Kei runga tōnā ingoa i ngā rārangi ingoa a ngā manuhiri a Tākuta Fitzgerald i te hōhipera i te rau tau 1848. I puta ia ki tētahi hui whakawhiwhinga o te whakaahua o te Kuini ki Pōneke i te tau 1849. Kei roto i ngā kōrero i kī ana i haere ia ki te kite i ētahi kaimahi a te kāwana ki Taranaki i ngā tau timatanga o 1840. Ko ia tētahi o te hunga rangatira e waru i haina i ngā whakaaetanga tuku whenua e pā ana ki a Pipitea i te rā 26 o Hui-tanguru 1844. Ko ia tētahi i haina i te tiriti o Waitangi i Pōneke, i te rā 29 o Paenga-whāwhā 1840.
E noho hāngai ana te tiriti o Moturoa ki Thorndon, ki tōnā tekihana tawhito i te Pā o Pipitea i ngā tau 1840 i kōrerohia, te rā 13 o Hakihea 1874. Nō muri i te tangihanga i te Pā o Pipitea i tāpuketia ia ki te urupā o Bolton.