Central Taranaki

Central Taranaki 1863-1865

Mount Taranaki, Central Taranaki

This area, South Taranaki especially, remained on an uneasy war-footing after 1860 when elements of Ngati Ruanui traveled north to support their related tribes of North Taranaki in 1860. Ngati Ruanui returned south after the war and later attacked Tataraimaka in 1863.

British Army sent into the area to ‘€˜repress the Maori’€™ which it did with some ruthlessness, especially under the command of Major General Trevor Chute. Increasingly, New Zealand Armed Constabulary was taking over the war, with the British Army returning home to England. War made more complex by the rise of Hau Hau in 1864.

Major wars were fought between Maori groups as Hau Hau spread, beyond Taranaki. A short period of peace was sharply broken by ‘Titokowaru’€™s War’ of 1868-69.