Hawke's Bay History

Through the ages, the land which is now known as Hawkes Bay endured terrible upheavals with earthquakes tearing and uplifting the land. Occasionally volcanic eruptions in the central North Island also blanketed the landscape with ash. 

The arrival of Maori

Near the ninth century AD, Maori arrived in Heretaunga or Hawkes Bay, settling in the river valleys and along the coast where food was plentiful.

Maori believe that they came to Heretaunga by canoe, travelling down the coast from the north, landing at Wairoa, Portland Island, the Ahuriri Lagoon at Westshore, and at Waimarama. Their culture flourished, along with gradual deforestation of the land, making this one of the few regions of New Zealand where sheep could be brought in without felling the bush first.

In the sixteenth century, Taraia, great-grandson of the great and prolific chief Kahungunu, established the large tribe of Ngati Kahungunu which eventually colonised the eastern side of the North Island from Poverty Bay to Wairarapa.

The First Europeans

Captain James Cook and the crew of the HMS Endeavour were probably the first Europeans to set eyes upon Hawke's Bay in October 1769. Cook named the bay after Sir Edward Hawke, First Lord of the Admiralty.

Whalers and flax traders arrived in the early 1800s, and a few Europeans came and went, including perhaps the first permanent resident, Austrian naturalist Frederick Sturm who settled at Mahia in the 1830s, moving to Napier in 1865.

In June 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi arrived in Hawkes Bay for signing.

In 1844 the missionary William Colenso, also botanist, printer and politician, arrived to establish his mission station at Waitangi, south of Napier.

In 1851, French Catholic missionaries arrived to settle at Pakowhai, bringing with them the first vines to plant for their communion wine.

Farming in Hawkes Bay

The farming future of Hawkes Bay was sealed in 1848 when James Northwood and Henry Tiffen leased 50,000 acres of land for grazing at Pourerere and Omakere in what is called Central Hawkes Bay.

Three thousand Merino sheep arrived in 1849, brought by Henrys brother Fred Tiffen, who drove them up the coast from Wellington.

In 1851 the Government appointed Donald McLean was appointed Land Commissioner to prevent uncontrolled purchasing and leasing of Maori land.

By the 1870s, impressive homesteads were being built where pastoralists maintained an enviable life-style.

Meanwhile, the bulk of new settlers, more working class in origin, were arriving in greater numbers, sometimes taking jobs on sheep-stations and more often settling in the towns which were being established Napier (1853), Waipukurau (1856), Clive (1857), Havelock North and Waipawa (1860), Wairoa (1865),  Taradale (1866), Norsewood and Dannevirke (1872), Hastings (1873) and Woodville (1874).

Alarm felt by both local Maori and settlers, at conflict between Maori chiefs rather than between Maori and Pakeha, brought the British Army to Napier in 1858 and to Tikokino in 1863.

In 1858 Hawkes Bay gained independence from Wellington Province2, and until the abolition of provincial government in 1876 was governed by the Hawkes Bay Provincial Council from its building at the foot of Shakespeare Road in Napier.

Initially Hawkes Bay was isolated from other parts of the North Island. The Ruahine and Kaweka ranges formed a barrier to the west. Coach services were available but the journey to Taupo took two full days. To the north and south access was easier, but only to relatively unpopulated areas.

Travel to Wellington became much easier after railway construction started in Napier in 1872, reaching Hastings in 1874 and Takapau in 1877. It wasnt until 1887 that Woodville was reached, and the line was connected to Palmerston North via the difficult Manawatu Gorge in 1891. The northern line was not commenced until 1912 but did no reach Gisborne until 1942.

In 1892, at Mokapeka Station, John Chambers built a hydro electric power station that is still functioning today. By 1912, the horse-drawn coaches on the roads linking Hawkes Bay with the outside world were being replaced by cars. In Napier and Hastings in particular, the Borough Councils were building amenities including swimming baths, theatres, parks, electric lighting systems and a tram service in Napier.


The Great 1931 Earthquake

In 1931, New Zealands greatest natural disaster struck Hawkes Bay. At 10.47am on Tuesday February 3rd, an earthquake of magnitude Richter 7.8 struck. In a minute and a half, in two separate shocks, the centre of Napier was almost totally destroyed. Fires quickly broke out and reduced to ashes or gutted what the tremors had left standing. Damage in Hastings was also devastating, although the fires were contained. Wairoa and the smaller towns to the south as far as Dannevirke were affected. There were 258 deaths 162 in Napier, 93 in Hastings and 3 in Wairoa along with many injuries.

The reconstruction of Napier and Hastings were costly but the benefit was two modern cities and the Ahuriri Lagoon, or Inner Harbour as it was usually known, was raised over 2 metres, creating the land, which Napier desperately needed to expand.


Developments in the 20th Century

In 1934 James Wattie (later Sir James) established a small cannery, which was to grow into a giant.

A period of great population growth followed the Second World War, generated largely by the baby boom and immigration with a strong regional economy, based on meat, wool and fruit.

Government subsidies and incentives for a time held the problem at bay, but government policies in the 1980s abolished these, abruptly reducing rural spending power with severe impacts on provincial towns and cities.

Today confidence has returned. Pastoral farming, the meat industry in particular is the strongest it has been for a generation.  Food processing is increasing as Heinz Watties expands. Forestry and wood processing have together become important, along with transport, tourism and the service industries.

And wine, made here for a century and a half, has emerged as an international winner. The recent branding of the region as Hawkes Bay Wine Country has captured the imagination of the tourist industry and the public.