Taumarunui

Taumarunui
Taumarunui
Coordinates:
Country  New Zealand
Region Manawatu-Wanganui
Territorial authority Ruapehu District
Ward Taumarunui
Named for Maori: taumaru = screen + nui = big.
Population (2006)
 • Urban 5,052
Area code(s) 07

Taumarunui is a town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk Railway.

It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of Turangi. Its population is 5136 (2001 census), making it the largest centre for a considerable distance in any direction.

The name Taumarunui is reported to be the dying words of the Māori chief Pehi Turoa - taumaru meaning screen and nui big, literally translated as Big Screen, being built to shelter him from the sun. There are also references to Taumarunui being known as large sheltered location for growing kumara.

In the 1980s publication Roll Back the Years there are some details on how Taumarunui got its name.[1] Extract: "According to FRANK T BROWN, who wrote in the Taumarunui Press in 1926, the name Taumarunui is closely connected with the arrival of and conquering of that portion of the King Country by the Whanganui River natives during the 18th century . . . The war party that succeeded in capturing the principal pa and taking prisoner the chief of the district was headed by "Ki Maru". His warriors, to show their appreciation of his prowess and the honour of the victory, acclaimed him "Tau-maru-nui", which means "Maru the Great", or "Maru the Conqueror", that name was taken for the district and has been used ever since.".

Contents

Locality

Ngapuwaiwaha Marae is on Taumarunui Street.

On State Highway 4 south of Taumarunui are the villages of Manunui, Piriaka, Kakahi, Owhango, Raurimu and then National Park. To the north are the school and truck stop of Mapiu.

Social Scene

Taumarunui is blessed with many societies and community organizations. It has a very good Cosmopolitan Club and RSA, a Lodge of the Freemasons as well as Taumarunui Lodge NZ No 12 of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes Grand Council. This Lodge of the Buffaloes was established sometime in the mid-late 1920s and thus predates the introduction of the Mighty KA Class Steam Locomotives that became the Hallmark of NIMT Rail Transport of the forties, fifties and Sixties.

History

Taumarunui was originally a Maori settlement at the confluence of the Ongarue River with the Whanganui, important canoe routes linking the interior of the island with the lower Whanganui River settlements. Some places, notably the valley of the Pungapunga Stream, which joins the upper Wanganui near Manunui, were celebrated for the size and quality of totara, and large canoes were built there. The area is a border area between a number of iwi including Whanganui, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngati Tuwharetoa, who lived together in relative harmony.[2]

Late in December 1843 Bishop Selwyn travelled from the district south of Taupo to a point on the Whanganui River about six miles downstream from Taumarunui and thence continued his journey to the coast by canoe. Towards the end of 1869 Te Kooti was at Taumarunui before his march through the western Taupo district to Tapapa. In the early 1880s the first surveys of the King Country commenced and by the early 1890s the Crown had begun the purchase of large areas of land.

In 1874 Alexander Bell set up a training post, and became the first European settler. The town has a road called Bell Road.

During the New Zealand Land Wars a resident named William Moffatt manufactured and supplied Maori with a coarse kind of gunpowder. He was afterwards expelled from the district. Despite warnings he returned in 1880, ostensibly to prospect for gold, and was executed.

The Whanganui River long continued to be the principal route serving Taumarunui. Traffic was at first by Maori canoe, but by the late 1880s regular steamship communication was established. Taumarunui Landing (Image) was the last stop on Alexander Hatrick's steam boat service from Wanganui. The river vessels maintained the services between Wanganui and Taumarunui until the late 1920s, when the condition of the river deteriorated.

Later Taumarunui gained importance with the construction of the North Island Main Trunk Line in 1908 (celebrated in a ballad by Peter Cape). The line south of Taumarunui caused considerable problems due to the terrain, and has several high viaducts and the famous Raurimu Spiral. The Stratford - Okahukura Line to Stratford connects just north of Taumarunui. In more recent times, the town's economy has been based on forestry and farming. It has gained in importance as a tourism centre, especially as an entry point for voyagers down the scenic Wanganui River and as the possessor of a high quality golf course.

Timeline

Town Mayors immediately prior to 1988 include: Charles Binzegger, Les Byars and Terry Podmore.[17]

Notable personalities

Students of Taumarunui High School

Born in Taumarunui

Notes

  1. ^ "How Taumarunui got its name" (PDF). Roll Back the Years. p. Page 9. http://www.rollbacktheyears.co.nz/samples/vol1.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 
  2. ^ TAUMARUNUI - 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
  3. ^ . Old Post Office to Make Way for New Court House (29 Dec 1966 ed.). Taumarunui: clipping 
  4. ^ Craig 1990, 1900 p.143
  5. ^ Craig 1990, First car p.143
  6. ^ Craig 1990, 1915-1917 p.143
  7. ^ Craig 1990, 1917-1919 p.143
  8. ^ Craig 1990, 1919-1923 p.143
  9. ^ Craig 1990, 1923-1925 p.143
  10. ^ Craig 1990, 1925-1929 p.143
  11. ^ Craig 1990, 1929-1944 p.143
  12. ^ Craig 1990, 1944-1947 p.143
  13. ^ Craig 1990, 1947-1953 p.143
  14. ^ "Taumarunui Queen Carnival". Te Ao Hou THE MAORI MAGAZINE. Deptartment Maori and Islands Affairs. September–November 1968. http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao64TeA/c20.html. Retrieved 10 June 2008. 
  15. ^ NZPA (23 Oct 2008). "Chronology of fatal shootings by NZ police". New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-police/news/article.cfm?o_id=131&objectid=10539110. Retrieved 2009-10-09. .
  16. ^ "Appendix II: Taumarunui: Farming-Community Linkages". Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (New Zealand). http://www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/rural-nz/profitability-and-economics/farm-adjustment-and-restructuring/farm-adjustment12.htm. 
  17. ^ Craig 1990, pre 1988 mayors p.143
  18. ^ About Ruapehu District Council
  19. ^ Our District - Facts and Figures
  20. ^ Mathew Dearnaley (9 November 2009). "Line's mothballing sets off alarm bells". New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10608125. Retrieved 10 November 2009. 
  21. ^ Craig 1990, T.J. Meredith p.147
  22. ^ Shabnam Dastgheib (9 October 2009). "Birthday girl Carmen hits town". local news. The Dominion Post. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/2946328/Birthday-girl-Carmen-hits-town/. Retrieved 16 December 2011. 
  23. ^ O'Keefe, Tracie; Fox, Katrina (6 June 2008). "Chapter 24: Madam Carmen - Carmen Rupe". Trans People in Love. Routledge. pp. 249. ISBN 978-0-7890-3572-1. http://books.google.com/?id=AigQSatPMgAC. 
  24. ^ "Colourful Wellington identity Carmen dies". The Dominion Post. 15 December 2011. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6142914/Colourful-Wellington-identity-Carmen-dies. Retrieved 15 December 2011. 

References

Craig, Dick (1990). The King Country. Waitomo: Waitomo News. .

External links