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Story: Whanganui region

Buying the Rangitīkei block

The government agent Donald McLean carried out the Crown purchase of the Rangitīkei block – the lowland between the Rangitīkei and Turakina rivers, stretching about 30 kilometres inland from the coast. These two letters from 1849 record a first payment of £1,000 to the Ngāti Apa chiefs who agreed to the sale.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MS-Papers-0032-0003

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Diana Beaglehole, Whanganui region – European settlement, 1840–1860, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/19024/buying-the-rangitikei-block (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Diana Beaglehole, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 June 2015.