Images and documents
akm.collections.documents_title
Documents
Catalogue
Catalogue
Object Type
Name/Title
Rangi Mawhete - Papers
Primary Maker
Date
1870s-1980s
Physical Description
Level of Current Record
Parent
Public Access Text
Photographs transferred to Pictorial collection. [Location: Print File; Call No. PH-1996-1]
Published materials in Maori transferred to Oceanic Languages Collection, materials in English transferred to Book Collection.
Some family heirlooms were auctioned by Webbs. [see Webbs catalogue, 27-28 March 1996]
Subject Notes
Rangi Mawhete, the son of William Moffatt (1838?-1880) and his second wife, Emiri Mokena, was baptised William Arthur Moffatt. Mawhete was closely related to Wanganui, Muaupoko, Ngati-Apa, Upokoiri, and Hamua tribes through his mother. Emiri Mokena was the granddaughter of Wiremu Kingi Te Aweawe, a Rangitane chief. Her uncle Te Peete Te Aweawe, whose monument is in the Square in Palmerston North, had welcomed the Pakeha, and was presented with a sword of honour and a flag in recognition of his loyalty during the land wars of the 1860s.
Mawhete was active in the Labour Party for many years and contested the Western Maori seat in 1922 and 1925. He became a Member of the Legislative Council from 1936-1950. Mawhete married Kathleen McGlone and of their three sons, William (1918-? ) served with the King's Squadron as a Lancaster bomber pilot, Joseph (1920-1945) was a Spitfire pilot who was killed in action, and Alan (1924-? ) served with the 28th Maori Battalion. William Moffatt snr. had come to NZ as a young man and after trying his luck unsuccessfully on the Thames goldfields, he had made his way to upper Wanganui, living among the Maori, and helping them to build several flour mills. After the wars of the 1860s, the King Country was closed to Pakehas but Moffatt, despite being warned, returned and was killed near Taumarunui. Moffatt's life and death was used by C.R. Browne in his novel, Maori witchery, published in 1929.
Last Update
09 Apr 2024
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