Person Page 1,472

Janet Duncan Watt was born on 18 March 1844 in Kilrenny, Fife, SCT.¹

Mary Melville was born about 1845.¹ She and James Morrison were married on 10 August 1869 in Chapel St., Auckland.¹ She died in 1936.²

Mary Melville immigrated to to NZ in the Lord Ashley in 1858.¹

A Melville was born about 1815.

A Melville immigrated to to NZ in the Lord Ashley in 1858.¹

Elizabeth Wood was born about 1820.¹ She and Henry Joseph Grimaldi were married in 1842 in Old St Paul's, Wellington, NZ.¹

Ann Smith was born on 14 January 1843 in Nelson, NZ, died aged 87.¹ She and Henry Allport were married in 1859 in Nelson, NZ.^2,3 She died on 30 December 1929, at age 86, in Mt Eden, Auckland.¹

PPA Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 309, 31 December 1929, Page 10
NELSON PIONEER. BORN ON CATHEDRAL HILL. FATHER KILLED AT WAIRAU.
Historic events in. the Nelson district are recalled by the death of Mrs. H. Allport, of Mount Eden, whose long life closed quietly yesterday. Mrs. Allport was 87 years of age. She was born at Nelson on January 14, 1843, five months after the arrival of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Smith, from England. Nelson at that time was a hotbed of lacial strife. Feelings ran high between the pakeha and Maori, and in June, 1843, Mr. Smith was a member of the ill-fated expedition sent to Wairau to arrest the hostile chiefs, Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, on a charge of arson. The facts are well-known in connection with New Zealand history and.the affairs of the New Zealand Company's survey party, whose hut was burned. Suspicions pointed to the two chiefs. The party consisted of 49 members. In a fight on the 'banks of a peaceful stream 23 men fell or were massacred. Captain Arthur Wakefield, brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was among the dead. Mr. Isaac Smith, who accompanied the party as a special constable, survived the shots, but was killed later. A watch which he carried was recovered and came into the possession of Mrs. Allport, who gave it to her son, Mr. A.-Allport, of Te Puke.
The birthplace of Mrs. Allport was a pioneer's cottagc on Church Hill, where the Nelson Cathedral now stands. The people of Nelson fortified the hill after the massacre, and the Smith home was inside the' enclosure. Mrs. Allport became the wife of Mr. Henry Allport, son of a Nelson pioneer, and lived at C'ollingwood, * Stoke and Richmond before coming to Auckland 33 years ago. Her husband died in 1919. She had twelve children, seven of whom are still living, four sor/a and three daughters. The grandchildren number 43 and the great-grandchildren 36.

John Gage was born on 23 December 1767 in Rogate, HANTS, ENG.¹ He and Mary Milbanks were married. He died in 1846, at age ~79, in Hants, ENG.¹

Mary Milbanks was born about 1775 in ENG.¹ She and John Gage were married. She died in November 1846 in ENG.¹

Waana Pororua was born about 1825 in Hauraki, NZ.¹ She and George Gage were married.

John November Gage was born about 1840 in Thames, NZ.¹ He and Ani Merrett were married in 1862.^2,3 He died on 17 September 1915 in Kihikihi King Country, NZ.¹

John November Gage was a cattle dealer, settler, native assessor.¹

Thomas E Gage was born about 1844 in Thames?, NZ.¹

Mere Gage was born about 1850.¹ She and John Allen were married.

Te Peinga and Poutu George were married.

Poutu George and Te Peinga were married.

John Allen was born about 1840.¹ He and Mere Gage were married.

Miria Patara was born died aged 96. She and Hohepa (Joseph) Merrett were married. She died in July 1942 in Whakatane, BOP, NZ.

PPA Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 85, 31 July 1942, Page 5
OBITUARY
MRS MIRIA PATARA MERRITT 1 Nearly a hundred years ago, in 1544 a little girl was born in the small Maori coastal village which: was then Whakatane. This infant was destined to become Mrs Miria Patara Merritt Avhose deah occurred early yesterday morning and whose long and lull life stretched from the early Victorian period, through the troublous Maori Avars, Te Kooti's exploits, Tarawera's eruption, the Crimean, Boer and the Great War down to modern times. The fishing village in which she was. horn, she lived to see become a thriving modern town. Stage by stage she noted the -steady transition from mud tracks to surveyed roads, from horsedrawn vehicles to motor cars. And finally she lived to see aeroplanes float above the sacred rock of Pohaturoa Avherein in her t girlhood, she had seen the Tohunga performing his rites. The late Mrs Merrit Avas of proud and ancient lineage, being able to trace her ancestry in a direct line to the famous navigator Toroa, who captained the celebrated Matatua canoe from HaAvaiki some 600 years ago. Some nineteen generations seperate her from her heroic ancestor but they may be traced to Tohi by direct descent, to Waiopotango, to Toihau, to Patara Toihau, Avho was her oAvn father. This blood connection with the Matatua patriaclx gave her the distinction of being the titular head oi the local Ngtttiawa tribe an honour AA'hieh Avas only den|ed her on account of her sex. As a young woman she obtained her education at a convent in Gisborne Avhere her people sent her for a short period. She married the late Joseph Merritt Avho came from a Waikato tribe and Avas also of a chieftain's rank, being related to the Princess Te Puea. He had come* to the Bay of Plenty at the Same period of its occupation by the military. The late Mrs Merritt had vivid memories of the redoubts on Hill-, crest erected in 1850-60, and was In the habit of saying that the only paltehas the Maoris saAV Avere ' those in the armed forces. She saw Whitmore's ill-fated column set oflf into the never-neA*er of Avhat Avas then Galatea and Avas fond of re-t calling the period of terror Avhen Te Kooti pillaged and burned the toAvn. With her people, shelled to the shelter of Hillcrest and hid in the groves of cherry trees Avhicli they themselves had planted some, years earlier. With her husband she opened the iirst store and hotel in Whakatane, holding the license for many years. Reminiscences of the TaraAvera Eruption Avere often on her lips in late years and she could tell many a A ivid tale of the terror A T hlch the phenomenon struck into the hearts of the village of Maoris and, halfcastes by the Whakatane estuary. One of the most picturesque events in the young settlement Avas election day Avhich was alAvavs celebrated in the Domain and always con- 1 eluded Avith a tremendous "huiln 1910 her husband died and Mrs Merritt Avho oAvned considerable property? retired to one of her several farms. She enjoj'cd Avonderful health and was rcp.ui.ed in her younger days

to be as'strong as a man. Kven in her extreme old age she insisted .inworking outside in the garden. At the time' of her death she had scar-

cely a grey hair. ; She is survived by live of eight children, Mr Jim Merrill (Ruatoki), " , Mrs C. AV. Harris (Auckland), Mrs -J. Mitchell (Taihape), Mrs J. Whenuaroa (Taihape), and Mrs O. Winter (Tc Puea Springs). Three others Messrs Gilbert and Ted Merritt ami , Mrs ChadwLck predeceased her. There are 22 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Representatives of all the East Coast tribes have gathered for the tangi which is now taking place at W'airaka Pa. -.

Gage was born in 1862.¹

Mary Gage was born in 1865.¹

Edward Dent was born on 30 May 1806 in Weasenham, Norfolk, ENG.¹ He and Frances Howard were married on 12 October 1825 in Castle Acre, Norfolk, ENG.¹ He died on 9 July 1882, at age 76, in Whangarei, NZ.¹

6 children see geneanet. Edward Dent immigrated to Sydney to Whangarei in 1846.¹

Frances Howard was born on 18 January 1805 in Castle Acre, Norfolk, ENG.¹ She and Edward Dent were married on 12 October 1825 in Castle Acre, Norfolk, ENG.¹ She died in 1888, at age ~83, in Whangarei, NZ.¹

Frances Howard immigrated to Sydney to Whangarei in 1846.¹

Thomas Howard and Susan were married.

Susan and Thomas Howard were married.

William Dent was born about 1841 in Sydney, NSW, AUS.¹ He died on 29 December 1926 in Whangarei, NZ.¹

William Dent immigrated to Sydney to Whangarei about 1846.¹

George Amaziah Green was born on 26 December 1830 in Sydney, NSW, AUS.¹ He and Elizabeth Mary Ashton Walker were married. He died on 8 June 1906, at age 75, in Paddington, NSW, AUS.¹

Elizabeth Mary Ashton Walker was born in 1833.¹ She and George Amaziah Green were married. She died in 1909, at age ~76.¹