(1883–1915).

International lawn tennis champion.

A new biography of Wilding, Anthony Frederick appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Wilding was born at Opawa, Christchurch, on 31 October 1883, the son of Frederick Wilding (1852–1945) a Christchurch lawyer, and of Julia (1852–1934), a daughter of Alderman Charles Anthony, Mayor of Hereford. In October 1902 Wilding left New Zealand to attend Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1905. In the following year he was called to the English Bar at the Inner Temple, and qualified as a barrister and solicitor of the New Zealand Supreme Court in 1909. In 1911 he entered Henderson, Craig, and Co., woodpulp merchants, and later became a director of the Victor Tyre Co., Great Britain.

An outstanding tennis player, Wilding won the New Zealand Handicap Singles when he was 16, and represented his university in 1904–05. He won the following Wimbledon titles: Doubles, 1907–08, 1910–11, 1914; Singles, 1910–13; Mixed Doubles, 1914. He represented Australasia in the Davis Cup, and was in winning teams of 1907–09, and 1914. He won the New Zealand Championship in 1906, 1908–09. He also took these English covered-court titles: Singles, 1907, 1910, 1913; Doubles and Mixed Doubles, 1907–08, 1910, 1913. In addition, Wilding won the following national and international titles: Scotland, 1904; Europe Doubles, 1905; Riviera, 1906, 1911; Victoria, 1909; South Africa, 1910; Brussells Exhibition, 1910; and the Olympic Bronze Medal, Stockholm, 1912. His most successful year was in 1913 when he won the three World Championships Singles titles: Lawn (Wimbledon), Hard Court (Paris), and Covered Court (Stockholm). He toured America in July-August 1914. In New Zealand and in England Wilding often partnered F. M. B. Fisher, who was later to represent this country at Wimbledon and in the Davis Cup.

Shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914 he became a valued member of the Army Intelligence Corps. He was killed at Ypres on 10 May 1915.

Anthony Wilding was a fine sportsman ranking among the greatest of tennis champions, a position he won for himself by following a rigorous training schedule. In 1912 he published On the Court and Off, a collection of his tennis reminiscences.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• On the Court and Off, Wilding, A. F. (1912)
• Captain Anthony Wilding, Myers, A. W. (1916).

(1889– ).

Educationist.

A new biography of Wild, Leonard John appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Leonard John Wild was born at Oraki, Southland, on 28 October 1889 and educated at Southland Boys' High School and Otago University. Entering the teaching profession in 1911, he was science master at Marlborough High School for three years, and in 1914–15 science master at Wanganui Collegiate School. During the next five years he lectured in chemistry at Lincoln College, and in 1921 at Christchurch Teachers' Training College. With the founding of the Feilding Agricultural High School in 1922, he became its first headmaster, raising its standard and repute to a distinguished level. He retired from this post in 1946 and, two years later, became Pro-Chancellor of the University of New Zealand. He has been associated with several cultural and social organisations and was for a term president of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand and an honorary life member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. His publications include Soils and Manures in New Zealand (Sixth edition 1960), Experiment in Self Government (1938), The Head's Letters to School (1938), Life and Times of Sir James Wilson of Bulls (1953), and The Development of Agricultural Education in New Zealand (1952). He delivered the first Hilgendorf Memorial Lecture in 1946; and in 1957 was awarded an honorary D.Sc. by the University of New Zealand, having graduated M.A. in 1910 and B.Sc. in 1913. In 1946 he was awarded O.B.E., and C.B.E. in 1952.

(1857–1934).

Father of aviation in New Zealand.

A new biography of Wigram, Henry Francis appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Wigram was born in London on 18 January 1857, the son of William Knox Wigram, a barrister (and a great grandson of Sir Robert Wigram, First Baronet, who had been an eminent merchant), and of Mary, née Pomeroy. He was educated at Harrow, later joining the staff of the Bank of England. In 1885, at Isleworth, England, he married Agnes Vernon, daughter of Harry Eden Sullivan, and in the same year ill health caused him to emigrate to Christchurch, New Zealand, where he soon directed his energies into business. He founded Wigram Brothers, maltsters and bricklayers, and, in 1887, the Canterbury Seed Co., which he guided throughout his life as chairman of directors. He was on the boards of the New Zealand Refrigerating Co., the Christchurch Brick Co., Ward and Co. and, from 1897, was chairman of directors of the Lyttelton Times, in which he had acquired the controlling interest on the death of the Hon. William Reeves.

In 1900 Wigram entered public life as chairman of the Jubilee Celebrations Committee of Canterbury Province, and in 1901 served as a commissioner for the visit of the Duke of Cornwall and York. During the Boer War he played a leading part in local patriotic movements. He was elected Mayor of Christchurch, unopposed, in 1902, and succeeded in bringing the adjoining boroughs of Linwood, St. Albans, and Sydenham within the city, and in this sense he may be regarded as the first Mayor of greater Christchurch. He introduced the electric tramway system and also proposed the installation of a high-pressure water supply for the city; but this, which required a loan of £100,000, was rejected by the ratepayers. Wigram owned one of the first motorcars seen in Christchurch and became first president of the Canterbury Automobile Association. He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 22 June 1903, serving two subsequent terms until his resignation on 12 October 1920. He was president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce (1912–13), and during this period secured a substantial reduction in freight charges on the Lyttelton-Christchurch railway.

Late in 1908 Wigram visited England where the exploits of such pioneer aviators as the Wright Brothers, Farman, Bleriot, and Curtis had captured the public imagination; and, although he had never seen an aeroplane in flight, he was impressed by the possibilities of aviation. In these years of intense international rivalry, Wigram was among the few who realised the potential value of aircraft for military and transport purposes. After giving unqualified approval to Sir J. G. Ward's “Dreadnought” offer, Wigram suggested (in the Address in Reply debate in 1909) that, as New Zealand had always prided itself upon being in the forefront of progress, it might perhaps be sound policy to encourage aviation. Members were not impressed, so he attempted to raise popular enthusiasm through the newspapers. He wrote a letter to the Christchurch Press in which, after outlining the advances made in aeronautics, he mentioned the significant point that the cost of airships and aeroplanes was considerably below that of conventional armaments or ships. Although editorial comment admitted that there was much in Wigram's arguments, it was felt that, so far as New Zealand was concerned, the country's isolation would provide an adequate defence. Discouraged by these opinions, Wigram made no effort to popularise aviation during the next four years.

He revisited England in 1913, and friends took him to Brooklands where, on 13 October 1913, he witnessed for the first time an aeroplane in flight. This experience so confirmed his earlier views that on his return to New Zealand he maintained contact with aviation developments in England, his enthusiasm being increased by the almost daily accounts of the exploits of wartime aviators. Walsh Brothers' (q.v.) “New Zealand Flying School”, founded at Kohimarama in 1915, gave him a lead he was quick to follow. Convinced that the Government should institute a programme for training much needed war pilots, he campaigned in the Legislative Council (18 May 1916), and in the press for the establishment of a military flying school. Public interest was aroused, but the Government refused to implement his scheme. His newspaper articles, however, attracted the attention of Corporal Jarman, a Christchurch man, then on leave from Point Cook flying school in Victoria, who proved to him that there were no technological reasons why such a scheme should not be practical if sponsored privately. Wigram thereupon formed a company among his Christchurch business friends to establish a flying school for the triple purposes of training pilots for war, promoting aviation in local defence, and pioneering commercial aviation in the future. “Canterbury (N.Z.) Aviation Ltd.”, a non-profit-making concern, was registered on 20 September 1916; but even before this, Wigram had arranged at his own expense the purchase and dispatch to New Zealand of two single-seater Caudron biplanes, and a third, fitted with dual controls. In October 1916 he arranged to buy land for an aerodrome, the first flight from “Sockburn” taking place on 7 May 1917. Courses at the flying school commenced in mid-June of the same year. By 1 February 1919, 182 pilots had been trained.

Ministers were most impressed with the progress shown, and the company looked forward to the Government taking over the school. As a preliminary for State intervention, Wigram supported the Aviation Act 1918, which he regarded as “a first instalment”, and urged that an Air portfolio be created in Cabinet. With the end of the war the termination of the company's contract to train pilots brought financial difficulties, and Wigram lobbied strongly in favour of aviation's defence potentialities, suggesting that the Government should either give the school subsidies, or nationalise it. As Ministers seemed unwilling to take the initiative, on 9 March 1923, he offered to subscribe £10,000 towards the cost, if the Government would assume all the company's liabilities, and guarantee to continue “Sockburn” for the purpose for which it had been founded. Cabinet agreed, and on 22 June 1923 Sockburn aerodrome, renamed “Wigram” in honour of the “father of New Zealand Aviation”, was handed over. When the final settlement became public, it was realised that Wigram's personal loss – one not shared by other subscribers to the company – amounted to £29,000. He was knighted in 1926, and died at his home, 1 Park Terrace, Christchurch, on 6 May 1934.

Sir Henry Wigram's success in encouraging aviation in New Zealand lay in his early appreciation of the limitless possibilities the new science possessed for transport and defence, and he was prepared to devote his energy and extensive wealth to this end. Nor was his enthusiasm confined to aviation, for he lent his aid to many causes, not the least being lifesaving, to which sport he presented the “Wigram Shield” for annual competition between New Zealand teams. His own life was governed by a conviction that every citizen was in duty bound to give as large a portion of his time as possible to the service of his country – a maxim he practised to the full.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Sir Henry Wigram, Noble, L. M. (1952)
• Christchurch Times, 7 May 1934 (Obit).

(1830–1903).

Soldier, Minister of the Crown, Commissioner of the Armed Constabulary, and Commandant of the Defence Forces.

A new biography of Whitmore, George Stoddart appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Whitmore was born at Malta on 1 May 1830, the son of Major George St. Vincent Whitmore, R.E., and grandson of General Sir George Whitmore, K.C.H. (1775–1862), Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers, and of Isabella Maowen, daughter of Sir J. Stoddart, Chief Justice of Malta. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and at the Staff College, he enlisted as an ensign in the Cape Mounted Rifles (23 January 1847), and saw service in the Kaffir War (1847). He witnessed the Boer defeat at Boem Plaats (1848) and served throughout the Kaffir War (1851–52), being present with the Second Division in nearly every engagement, including the storming of Iron Mountain. He commanded Sir Harry Smith's escort (November 1851 to October 1852), and acted as brigade Major in Sir George Cathcart's expedition, taking part in the Battle of Berea, and having two horses shot from under him.

He returned to England, whither the fame of his South African exploits had preceded him, and joined the 62nd (Wiltshire) Foot Regiment as a captain (6 June 1854) with which he served in the Crimea, being present at the fall of Sebastopol, and undertaking a liaison mission with Turkish forces at Kertch. He also went with a special mission to Hungary to procure cavalry remounts. He remained in the Crimea after the war helping to wind up the Army's affairs, and his competent handling of this earned high praise from the British Auditor-General. He was gazetted brevet-major on 6 June 1856, and returned to England, where he became aide-de-camp to Sir William Eyre, Commander of the troops in Canada (1857–59). He attended Staff College and graduated top of the 1860 class.

Whitmore accompanied General Cameron to New Zealand in January 1861 as his military secretary and, when Cameron tendered his resignation in protest about political interference, Whitmore also did so. The War Office rejected Cameron's resignation, but lacked power to refuse that of a junior officer, so Whitmore retired, selling his commission (7 November 1862), and took up land in Hawke's Bay. In March 1863 he was appointed Civil Commissioner for Ahuriri district (which he retained until superseded by Sir Donald McLean, in September 1865), and a few months later was appointed major commanding the Napier Military District. He volunteered to serve under Cameron in Taranaki after the murder of Lieutenant Tragett and Dr Hope, taking part in all operations up to the action at Katikara (4 June 1863), and afterwards accompanied Cameron to Waikato, where he witnessed the Battle of Orakau. He returned to Napier where he was appointed commandant in the New Zealand Militia (1 July 1863), and to the Legislative Council (31 August 1863). Whitmore visited England in 1865. On his return in 1866, he found Hawke's Bay threatened by Hauhau forces which were advancing from Taupo. He hastily raised 200 volunteers and defeated the invaders at Omarunui on 12 October 1866, where Panapa, the Hauhau preacher, was killed.

Whitmore became commandant of the Armed Constabulary in 1867, and on Te Kooti's escape from the Chathams (1868), he pursued him after Paparatu, and fought a fierce action in the rugged Ruakituri country, in which Te Kooti himself was wounded. On news of the reverse at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu reaching Napier, Whitmore volunteered to serve under Colonel McDonnell, but the Defence Minister, >Haultain, found the West Coast forces so disorganised that he entrusted him with the task of reorganisation. Titokowaru, the rebel chief, entrenched himself in the Moturoa pa, from which Whitmore determined to dislodge him. He attacked on 7 November 1868, but failed in his objective, and offered to resign in consequence. News of the Matawhero massacre now reached the West Coast and Whitmore hastened to Gisborne, where with 800 Armed Constabulary and 350 Native allies he besieged Te Kooti on Ngatapa hill, forcing its abandonment four days later (4 January 1869). He embarked his troops immediately for Wanganui, and from there, with adequate forces, he advanced up the West Coast, taking in quick succession, Nukumaru, Taurangaika, and Otautu pas; then, hearing Titokowaru was hiding in Te Ngaere swamp, he crossed this in a brilliant night manoeuvre, only to find his quarry flown (24 March 1869). Leaving mopping-up operations to West Coast Militia units, Whitmore embarked his whole force for Whakatane, from which base he executed a swift campaign against Te Kooti into the Urewera country, a natural fortress. Thus in six months, with less than 2,000 men, Whitmore summarily ended a war which had been a source of vexation to the colony for eight years.

Whitmore served briefly on the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council (1867–69). He received the C.M.G. for his services in the Maori Wars, and thereafter attended to his parliamentary duties, joining Grey's Ministry on 18 October 1877 as Colonial Secretary and Defence Minister. There, in addition to his ordinary duties, he acted as unofficial intermediary between Grey and Lord Normanby during the Ministry's incessant constitutional crises. He accompanied Grey to Parihaka in 1879 in an effort to reconcile Te Whiti. In his masterly defence of the Ministry in the Legislative Council against Waterhouse's attack, Whitmore made a very telling point that large landowning interests were behind the efforts to oust them. Whitmore was created K.C.M.G. (1882), and in 1884 joined the short-lived first Stout Ministry without portfolio; but personal differences with the Premier prevented his inclusion in the second. During the Russian War scare (1885), he was appointed Commandant of the Defence Forces, and Commissioner of the Armed Constabulary with the rank of Major-General (4 December 1886), a special Act being passed to permit his services (unpaid) to be availed of concurrently with his membership of the Legislative Council. He resigned these military posts on 24 January 1888. He managed his estate at Rissington, Hawke's Bay, with the same meticulous care he gave to planning his military campaigns. In 1867–70, he established there a new flock book for shorthorn cattle, and thus created a stud which became famous in the colony. Whitmore set down his war experiences in The Last Maori War in New Zealand Under the Self Reliant Policy, which he published in London in 1902. He died in Napier on 16 March 1903.

Sir George Whitmore was experienced in irregular warfare long before New Zealand conditions put his abilities to a triumphant test. His services earned him the rare compliment “irreplaceable” from Stafford. He was brave to the point of impetuosity, with an ingrained sense of military dignity and vast energy which were displayed even on the most trying campaigns, though not always appreciated by the troops under him. He possessed, however, a wholesome respect for the military virtues, and in 1869 urged the Government to institute “a decorative distinction … in lieu of the Victoria Cross”, which was the genesis of that rarest of all decorations, the New Zealand Cross. As a statesman, Whitmore combined caution as a politician with administrative efficiency. But it is to Whitmore, the soldier, that New Zealand owes a lasting debt, for he must be regarded as one of the few outstanding figures of the Maori Wars.

In 1851 at Boomplaats, South Africa, Whitmore married Eliza McGlocking who died in the early sixties, leaving three children. In 1865 he married Isabella, daughter of William Smith, of Roxeth, near Rugby. There was no family.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Whitmore Papers (MSS), Napier Museum and Art Gallery
• The Last Maori War in New Zealand Under the Self Reliant Policy, Whitmore, Sir G. S. (1902)
• Hawke's Bay Herald, 17 Mar 1903 (Obit).

(c. 1830–1907).

Prophet of Parihaka.

A new biography of Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III, Erueti appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Te Whiti-o-Rongomai was born at Ngamotu, Taranaki, shortly after the second siege of Pukerangiora. He was the son of Tohukakahi, a minor chief of the Patukai hapu of the Ngati Tawhirikura branch, Te Ati Awa tribe, and of Rangiawau, daughter of Te Whetu. Through his father he was a second cousin of Honiana Te Puni and a nephew of Te Wharepouri. Te Whiti was educated at Reimenschneider's mission school at Warea, where he showed remarkable diligence in Bible studies.

After leaving school Te Whiti set up a flourmill at Warea. In September 1862, when the Lord Worsley was wrecked at Te Namu, he assisted Wiremu Kingi Te Matakatea, Te Ua, and others to protect the passengers from hostile tribes in the vicinity. It is doubtful whether Te Whiti himself ever fought against the Imperial troops. G. W. Rusden (History of New Zealand) says that he lived peacefully on the coast near Parihaka until 1865, when the troops burned his village. In spite of this provocation he refused to take up arms, but in the following year moved his settlement inland to Parihaka. Although he sympathised with the “King” movement and with Maori nationalism, and granted asylum to many rebels, Te Whiti would not allow his people to fight. For a time his influence in the “King's” counsels rivalled Te Wherowhero's, but the latter soon came to resent Te Whiti's theocratic pretensions. After the Maori Wars Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake and Titokowaru were frequent visitors at Parihaka.

When the war ended Te Whiti was already formulating his own doctrines. Although he cloaked these in mysticism, the fundamental ideas were relatively simple. His first assumption was that the Maoris should be left alone to work out their salvation in their own way. This was not so much an assumption as a proven fact, as had been shown by the experience of the Waikato missions before the war. As a second assumption, Te Whiti accepted the Maori Land League's principle that no land should be sold to Europeans. In this connection he asserted that, because the Government had done nothing about the lands confiscated in south Taranaki, that policy had been abandoned. Te Whiti's third assumption concerned the attitude which Maoris should take against encroachments by Europeans. He argued, quite correctly, that, as direct negotiation and rebellion had failed, the Maoris should meet further incursions peacefully, by civil disobedience, and by passive obstruction. As a policy, passive obstruction appealed to the Maoris' sense of humour and proved very difficult for the Government to counteract. To these assumptions Te Whiti added a peculiar myth, which was based partly upon his studies of the Bible and partly the teachings of Hauhauism. This looked forward to a special “Day of Reckoning” when all the Europeans would voluntarily leave the country. A fund was set up at Parihaka in anticipation of this event. The eighteenth day of each month was the special festival for Te Whiti's cult, with 18 June being especially important. Accordingly, every month Maoris flocked to Parihaka to hear the prophet's word.

In 1879, when the Government surveyors began work on the confiscated land, Te Whiti launched his campaign of passive obstruction. Although this appeared harmless enough, being confined to ploughing roads and the settlers' pastures, and to removing the survey pegs, the settlers became alarmed and pressed for action against Te Whiti's followers. This alarm arose less from the passive obstruction than from their fear of Titokowaru, who was known to be active in the campaign. Both Grey and Hall tried to negotiate, but failed, because they could not admit Te Whiti's contention that the 1863 confiscations were illegal. Hall's Native Minister, Bryce, who advocated a show of force to overawe Te Whiti, resigned when his colleagues refused his advice. He rejoined the Ministry a year later when the other ministers had come round to his view. Early on 5 November 1880 Bryce led 1,600 Armed Constabulary and Militiamen to Parihaka, where Te Whiti and Tohu were placed under arrest. They were held, without trial, for about a year before being allowed to return home. Hall's action over the Parihaka crisis precipitated a serious constitutional crisis with Governor Sir Arthur Gordon, who was convinced that the action of the Ministry was harsh and unwarranted.

Although Te Whiti appeared to have lost mana because of his arrest, within a year he was in as strong a position as ever. During Fox's investigation of the West Coast land question, he renewed his policy of passive obstruction. In 1886 he and Titokowaru were gaoled for three months. The last outbreak of “Te Whiti-ism” occurred at Te Kuiti in 1889, when Te Mahuki proclaimed the dawn of the “Day of Reckoning”. Early in the 1890s, Te Whiti fell out with his coadjutor prophet, Tohu, over the disposal of the “Day of Reckoning Fund” and the movement split. Te Whiti-o-Rongomai died at Parihaka on 18 November 1907.

A man of high integrity and intelligence, Te Whiti was deeply respected by his followers. He has been described as “about 5 feet 10 inches tall, broad and strongly built, with an active, nervous temperament. His general appearance was prepossessing. He had a narrow forehead, small piercing eyes, a square firm handsome face”. Te Whiti lived simply and encouraged peace, industry, and sobriety among his flock. His economic ideas, however, could not but prove anathema to the encroaching European settlers.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Governor's Despatches (MSS), National Archives
• Hall Papers (MSS), General Assembly Library.

(1806–69).

Pioneer Wesleyan missionary.

A new biography of Whiteley, John appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John Whiteley was born at Eddingley, Nottinghamshire, on 20 July 1806. He was ordained on 27 September 1832 and arrived in New Zealand on 21 May 1833. Stationed first at Kawhia and later at Pakanae, Whiteley undertook many missionary journeys, and was influential in persuading the Waikatos to set free their Ngati Awa slaves. He was president of the Auckland Methodist District in 1855, and in 1856 moved to Taranaki where, besides his mission work, he did much to smooth ruffled feelings between Maori and Pakeha. Whiteley had charge of the Grey Educational Institution at Ngamotu, built a native chapel at Kawau pa (New Plymouth), and baptised Te Ua, the Hauhau prophet. He was an unsalaried Native Land Commissioner, and through his fluency in Maori acquired great mana among the tribes. On 13 February 1869 Whiteley rode to visit the military settlers at White Cliffs (near Waitara), but, ignorant that they had been massacred earlier in the day by Hone Wetere's (John Wesley) war party, he was ambushed and killed. His murderers were never brought to trial. In October the Government granted an annual pension of £100 to his widow. Whiteley's murder incensed both Maoris and settlers, and the latter petitioned Queen Victoria to retain Imperial troops in Taranaki.

John Whiteley is commemorated by the Whiteley Memorial Church in New Plymouth (opened 1898) and by a cairn near where he fell (unveiled February 1923).

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Sowing the Seed in Pioneer New Zealand, Elliott, G. (1959)
• Proc. Wesley Hist. Soc. (N.Z. Branch), Vol. 1, pt. 4 (1931)
• Taranaki Daily News, 20 Feb, 11 Mar 1869.

Whitebait is the name used in New Zealand for the young stage of the inanga or “minnow”, Galaxias attenuatus. The adults of this fish are 4–6 in. long, greenish-yellow in colour, and occur in practically all New Zealand's lowland rivers and streams, belonging to the “native trout” family (Galaxiidae). In autumn they move down stream to estuaries where, during high spring tides, the eggs are laid amongst aquatic vegetation. The eggs hatch when reached by the following spring tide (two weeks later) and the larvae pass out into the sea. It is uncertain whether the young fish return in the spring of the same or the following year; these juveniles are transparent when they enter fresh water, but quickly become pigmented. The same fish occurs in Australia and in South America.

In an average season the whitebait catch along New Zealand rivers is considerable and, with the aid of deep-freeze methods and air transport, supplies can readily be sent to distant markets. During the 1964 season the West Coast of the South Island – to cite one district alone – had a catch of over 140 tons, and the 1965 season began with a promising yield from the Buller River.

by Lawrence James Paul, B.SC., Fisheries Division, Marine Department, Wellington.

(Neothais scalaris).

This is a solid, white, spirally ridged shell, up to 3 in. in height, common on intertidal rocks. The Maori name is hopetea. The egg cases of this shellfish are deposited in masses in caverns and on the under sides of boulders. They are crowded together, honeycomb fashion, are of cream to lilac colour, and each has a pinhole at the top from which the larval shell eventually emerges. This larva is an efficient free swimmer – hence the wide distribution of the species, which extends to Australia and Tasmania as well.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

(1925– ).

Rugby footballer.

Richard Alexander White was born in Gisborne on 11 June 1925 and educated at Gisborne District High School and Feilding Agricultural High School, where he was in the First XV. He then played for Gisborne and in New Zealand Services teams in Japan. In 1949 he played for Poverty Bay and, later, for New Zealand against Australia. He represented New Zealand in the All Blacks in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956. In all he made 39 appearances as an All Black and scored 55 points. He also played for the Barbarian, Spartan, and Olympian football clubs. His playing record between 1946 and 1957 included 133 matches in first-class football.

(1826–91).

Maori scholar.

A new biography of White, John appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John White was born on 3 January 1826 at Cockfield, Durham, England, the third son of Francis White (1800–77) and of Jane, née Angus (died 1868). He was a nephew of the Rev. William White, one of the early Wesleyan missionaries who served at Wesleydale and Mangungu. He arrived at the Bay of Islands with his parents in October 1835 and settled at Hokianga, where his father entered the timber trade. Towards the end of the decade White and his younger brother were sent to England to finish their schooling, returning to New Zealand in October 1840. At Hokianga White spent much of his time among the Maoris and came to speak their language fluently. Friendly tohungas taught him Maori lore and customs and initiated him into the mysteries of the sacerdotal speech and ceremonial. The family remained at Hokianga throughout the Heke uprising, and White himself was present at the Ruapekapeka engagement. In 1851 White moved to Auckland, where he secured employment as a Government interpreter. He interpreted for Grey and Gore Browne and assisted Wynyard while the latter was negotiating for the Coromandel goldfields. When the goldfield was proclaimed, White was appointed Goldfield Commissioner under Heaphy, but soon transferred to the Survey Department as Native Lands Purchaser. In this post he arranged the purchase of the Waitakere block near Auckland. During the Taranaki War he acted as field interpreter to Generals Pratt and Cameron. He was present at the battle of Puketakauere and had several narrow escapes during the fighting. Shortly afterwards White was appointed Resident Magistrate for the central Wanganui district. Here he soon became acquainted with the principal chiefs of the district, attended all their meetings, and instructed them in English law and customs. He conducted his Court so satisfactorily that Hemi Hape, the chief who had led the Wanganui uprising of 1848, gave his adherence to the Crown. Prior to the Moutoa Island battle (1865), White warned Eponaia and his Hauhau band not to invade the lower Wanganui district. In 1867 he returned to Auckland to handle claims for the newly established Native Lands Court. He was transferred to Napier in 1874 and for some time edited Te Wananga, a Maori language newspaper.

By this time White was widely known as a Maori scholar. He had published a number of books and papers, including Maori Superstitions (1856); Lectures on Maori Customs and Superstitions (1861); Nga Tikanga o te Whakatupu me te Mahinga o te Tupeka (1867); Te Rou – or the Maori at Home (1874); and Plan of Maori Mythology (1878). In 1876 the New Zealand Government commissioned him to prepare a compilation of the traditional history of the Maoris. This work, the Ancient History of the Maori (1887–91), was originally planned to occupy 12 volumes. The Government's interest in commissioning such a work is easily explained. It was realised that the increasing spread of European education would entail the closing of traditional tribal schools and that, as the old tohungas died, much valuable tribal lore would be forgotten. White, who was the foremost European authority on the Maoris and who had been partly educated by the old tohungas, was paid to collect as much of this material as possible in the hope that most of the Maoris' traditional lore would be preserved. Altogether, six volumes were published in White's lifetime and four more were drafted. In 1885 he moved to Wellington, where he continued his work on the Ancient History in addition to his duties with the Native Land Court.

In 1854, at Auckland, White married Mary Elizabeth Bagnall. He died during a visit to Auckland on 13 January 1891, leaving three sons and four daughters.

White enjoyed a high reputation in public and private life. Although recent authors have criticised his mode of presenting the material in Ancient History, it must be remembered that he was not writing a history of the Maoris but compiling their traditional lore from authentic sources. His presentation therefore follows the traditional Maori pattern. Besides his published works White left several manuscripts. These included a large Maori Dictionary; a novel, Hani – or the New Zealand Revenge, which is similar in design to Te Rou; and another novel, Revenge – A Maori Love Story, which was published in 1940.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Revenge – A Maori Love Story, White, J. (1940)
• White's Ancient History of the Maori, Andersen, J. C. (1947)
• Auckland Evening Star, 13 Jan 1891 (Obit).