Paratene Te Manu

 

Ngāti Wai (? – 1897)

Iwi map - Paratene Te ManuIWI / HAPU AFFILIATIONS

Paratene Te Manu was the son of Kau Te Awha of Ngāpuhi. Paratene Te Manu was one of 14 Māori who visited England aboard the Ida Ziegler in 1863. The party met Queen Victoria, appearing before her in traditional garments. They travelled under the patronage of the New Zealand government and William Jenkins, a Wesleyan lay preacher from Nelson.1 Te Manu performed karakia for the group during their sojourn.2 In a statement written by Paratene Te Manu after their return from London he makes some observations, and explains how he got to go to England and how he survived the long sea trip to London:

I never heard Jenkins name nor saw him until January 1863... I met Jenkins and Chasley outside the study. The study is the Māori name for the Māori office where the Native Department is held and where Governor Grey mets the natives... Jenkins himself...said... Is it pleasing to you to go with me to England and this was the first of my answers to him... What have I to do there? Jenkins answered to see England and to look about.3

Te Manu did not give an answer saying he had to consult his people. The next day he met Jenkins again at the 'study' and Jenkins pressed him for an affirmative answer, suggesting he should bring his wife. Te Manu's wife was deceased so he considered it a cruel joke. On his way home that evening Jenkins asked him again for his consent and Te Manu said maybe. Jenkins persistence paid off and Te Manu agreed to go. The 14 Māori passengers travelled to England in the cargo storage area and Te Manu stated it was dreadful:

I had three shirts, two pairs trousers, one coat, one cloak, a summer coat and one pair of stockings. I had two blankets of my own and one I bought out of Jenkins money. Don't ask me about the sheets for I had none. A pair of trousers was my pillow... None of our Englishmen came and had prayers with us, neither did any of our Pakeha's read the bible to us. We went to service when it was held on Sunday for the soldiers. Everyday I read prayers in Māori and read the Bible. I brought books with me. We were allowed by sufferance to walk on the people deck; it was objected to but we persisted.

Jenkins provided the group with food that they were not used to and they felt the effects of a lack of fresh food.

Te Manu had a home on Hauturu (Little Barrier Island) from which he was evicted in 1896 because the island had been sold. He died at Ngunguru in Northland and was reported to be over 90 years old.4

 

NM

  1. Steven Oliver, 'Pomare, Hare fl. 1863 - 1864; Pomare, Hariata fl. 1863 - 1864', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007, accessed 3 March 2010.
  2. Gottfried Lindauer and James Cowan, Pictures of Old New Zealand: the Partridge Collection of Māori Paintings, (Auckland, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1930).
  3. MS Papers 0075-030, John White 1826-1891, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
  4. 'Death of an old Native', Bay Of Plenty Times, vol XXIV, 13 January 1897, p 2, Papers Past, accessed 3 March 2010.
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  • Hannah Wellington-Mirko - Ngāti Takapari tōku hapū me Ngāti Wai tōku iwi

    At 11am on 3 April 2013

    Ae, tautoko to korero kiritopa.Paratene was of Ngati Takapari o Ngati Wai and donated land for Ngunguru school, and i have heard korero that yes it was often sitting amongst the akonga observing in delight.Kia ora, very proud to be an uri of Paratene Te Manu.

  • Paula Morris - Ngati Wai

    At 10am on 11 July 2012

    Paratene Te Manu made only one trip to England, in 1863/64. He didn't travel with Hongi Hika, Waikato, and Thomas Kendall to England in 1820. (They were presented to George IV on November 13th of that year, not long before they returned home.) I did a number of years of research into Paratene's life (and this painting by Lindauer!) when I was working on my novel, RANGATIRA. I've found nothing either in NZ or the UK to support the stories of earlier visits to England to meet either George III or William IV. Certainly, Paratene never mentioned it himself. Paratene's own history of his life can be found in Cowan's PIctures of Old New Zealand, in which he cites his various taua as a very young man in the 1820s; his conversion to Christianity in the late 1820s or 1830s, when he took the baptismal name of Paratene (Broughton); and the trip to England in 1863, when he met Queen Victoria.

  • nelson - nga puhi (ephraim aka hako aka te moananui a kiwa)

    At 9pm on 27 June 2012

    Hey my name is nelson paynter my tupuna tanumeha te moananui first wife was raukura i was wanting to know if henare te moananui is related to Tanumeha and if there is a link to tareha of ngati rehia

  • Kris MacDonald - Ngātiwai/Te Whānau a Rangiwhakaahu

    At 1pm on 24 July 2010

    Kia ora; Paratene Te Manu aka "Pari Otene" was the son of Tautai, a brother to Kau Te Awha. They were of the Ngati Takapari and Ngati Toki hapu of the iwi of Ngatiwai - not Ngapuhi. His grand father was the great chief Rangitukiwaho, of whose dog skin cloak he wore when he visited King George IV with Hongi Hika in the 1820s. Te Manu was one of Hika's fighting lieutenants and joined his war parties and raids to Waikato, through Te Arawa and the east coast where he said he developed a taste for hunting "long pig". He visited England a second time in later years in a "performing" Maori party with Jenkins where he me Queen Victoria and were the exotic fascination. On hs return from England he was passionate about education and he and his cousin Henare Te Moananui donated land to build Ngunguru School on the Tutukaka Coast. He was often seen sitting amongst the school pupils.

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