Mata Pekamu Tamatuhiata, Alive in 1874
Below is an online version, from Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 4 (2007), of the biography for Mata Pekamu Tamatuhiata, reproduced with the kind permission of her whānau.
Published Text
"Mata Pekamu Tamatuhiata". In Nga tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, volume 4. (2007)
Mata Pekamu, also known as Martha Beckham or Mata Pekamu Tamatuhiata, was the daughter of Akatohe and Tamatuhiata. In the Native Land Court record she is also called Tuhawaiki in a whakapapa given by her close relative, Ruakere Moeahu.
Her mother, Tamatuhiata, was the sister of Kawana Hiangarere of Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Kura. Kawana Hiangarere was the father of Wi Tamihana Te Neke who signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Waikanae on 15 May 1840. Mata through her father was of Taranaki iwi. She came south on the heke of those iwi to Waikanae and then carried on later, to Te Aro Pa at Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She had an older brother Patara Runga who died without issue.
Mata, with her mother and other Taranaki iwi, was living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara before at least the large Te Atiawa body of the heke Tama Te Uaua came from Te Uruhi in 1833/34. As the Tama Te Uaua heke under the leadership of Te Wharepouri, Te Puni, Rauakitua and others trans-migrated through Poneke on its way to the Wairarapa, it appears to have been joined by some of the whanau who had reached the harbour at an earlier date.
Tamatuhiata, also known as Te Rununga, was one of those who went on the heke to the Wairarapa and she, along with one of the sisters of Te Wharepouri, was drowned while Taranaki whanui were in the Wairarapa.
Mata Pekamu was married to the whaler George Ashdown who was one of thirteen pakeha whalers and traders of Nga Motu who took part in the Battle of Otaka, 1830. These men included Billy Bundy, John Agar Love, Dicky Barrett, William Keenan, Joseph Phillips and others, many of whom married Maori women. George and Mata Ashdown had five children. They were George, Maraea (Mrs. Guard), James David, Sarah (Mrs. Clegg) and Ellen or Helen (Mrs. Wilberforce). George Ashdown predeceased Mata and she subsequently married Tamati Te Wera of Te Aro.
Mata was included in the original ownership of Te Aro Pa when that case came before the Native Land Court in Wellington in 1866. She was given a Crown grant to allotment No. 23. Arama Karaka of Ngati Haumia, Taranaki iwi, gifted this land to Mata, in a will. She was present when the sale of sections 89 and 90 Town of Wellington took place in 1874 and had interests in Te Aro Pa section 23, New Zealand Company Tenths, Ngatitara, Oeo and Cape Survey District.
In the Taranaki lands, her children succeeded to the interests of her brother, Rakautauri. In the Wellington Tenths lands, her children succeeded to Hohepa Te Matewai of Ngati Taeri who was in the Pipitea succession lists.
References:
- Judge Ward MB no. 35, p. 258 ; Judge Ward MB no. 36, p. 5-9, 21
- Taranaki MB no. 3, p. 162- 171, 179, 180-191, 193-194, 217-218, 348
- Wairarapa MB no. 1, p. 1-2, 11-12
- Wellington MB no. 2, p. 44-45, 153 ; Wellington MB no. 8, p. 49 ;
- Wellington MB no. 9, p. 33-34, 42 ; Wellington MB no. 14, p. 127- 128
(MB = Minute Book)
I Te Reo Māori -
Ko Mata Pekamu, arā ko Martha Beckham rānei ko Mata Pekamu Tamatuhiata, te tamāhine a Akatohe rāua ko Tamatuhiata. Kei ngā rekoata o te Kōti Whenua Māori ko Tuhawaiki tētahi atu ingoa ōna e ai ki tētahi whakapapa nā tana whanaunga tata nā Ruakere Moeahu i tātaki.
Ko tana whaea ko Tamatuhiata, he tuahine nō Kawana Hiangarere o Ngati Mutunga me Ngati Kura. Ko Kawana Hiangarere te pāpā o Wi Tamihana Te Neke nāna i haina Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Waikanae i te 15 o Mei 1840. Nō Taranaki a Mata ki te taha o tana pāpā. Ka heke mai ia i ngā heke ki Waikanae kātahi ka heke ki te pā o Te Aro ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ko tana tungāne ko Patara Runga i mate uri kore.
I Te Whanganui-a-Tara kē a Mata, tana māmā me ngā iwi o Taranaki e noho ana i mua i te heke nui o Te Atiawa i te heke Tama Te Uaua mai i Te Uruhi i te tau 1833/34. I te hekenga Tama Te Uaua i raro i ngā rangatira Te Wharepouri, rātou ko Te Puni, ko Rauakitua mā ki te Wairarapa mā Poneke, te āhua nei i hono atu ētahi anō whanaunga kua tae kē noa atu ki Pōneke i mua atu rā.
Ko Tamatuhiata, i mōhiotia hoki ko Te Rununga, tētahi i te heke ki Wairarapa, ā, ko rāua ko tētahi tuahine o Te Wharepouri, i toremi i a Taranaki whānui i te Wairarapa.
Ka moe a Mata Pekamu i te kaiwhaitohorā a George Ashdown tētahi o ngā kaiwhaitohorā kaihokohoko pākehā nei o Ngā Motu i tū ki te pakanga ki Otaka i te tau 1830. Ko aua tangata ko Billy Bundy, John Agar Love, Dicky Barrett, William Keenan, Joseph Phillips mā, nui tonu rātou i moe wahine Māori. Tokorima ngā tamariki a George rāua ko Mata Ashdown. Ko George, Maraea (Mrs. Guard), James David, Sarah (Mrs. Clegg) me Ellen arā Helen (Mrs. Wilberforce). Ka mate a George Ashdown i mua i a Mata ka moe tāne anō ia ko Tamati Te Wera o Te Aro.
Ki ngā rekoata a te Kōti Whenua Māori ki Pōneke i te tau 1866 ko Mata tētahi nōna ake nei te pā o Te Aro. Ka tohaina e te Karauna ki a ia ko tētahi wāhi ki te pānga whenua nama. 23. Nā Arama Karaka o Ngati Haumia, o Taranaki, tēnei whenua i wīra ki a Mata. I reira hoki ia i te hokotanga o te pānga 89 me te 90 Taone o Pōneke i te tau 1874, ā, nōna hoki he pānga ki te whenua 23 i te pā o Te Aro, ki tā te New Zealand Company Tenths, ki Ngatitara, ki Oeo, ā, ki te rohe hoki o Cape Survey District.
Ko ana pānga whenua i Taranaki, ka riro i ana tamariki ngā pānga whenua o tana tungāne o Rakautauri. Ki Ngā Tekau o Pōneke, ka riro i ana tamariki ngā pānga whenua o Hohepa Te Matewai o Ngati Taeri i tuhia ki ngā rārangi tuku iho mō Pipitea.