Thomas Halbert 1806-1865
Much of this originally came from Cerberuscoins Ancestry tree - but much now verified by me, using Teara and NZ Papers Past
Thomas Halbert- courtesy of Cerberuscoins
" Thomas Halbert, known as Tame Poto (Tommy Short) because of his short stature, was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, probably in 1806. His parents were probably William and Sarah Halbert, of Anglo-Scottish descent. Thomas Halbert arrived in New Zealand in 1831 and spent the rest of his life as a whaler, trader and farmer. Through his alliances with six Maori women he was connected with three East Coast tribes: Ngati Kahungunu of the Mahia peninsula, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Rongowhakaata of Poverty Bay. Eight of his children survived to adulthood and founded families well known today in Poverty Bay.
Halbert's six alliances with Maori women of high standing made him famous locally, and earned him, among Europeans, the nickname of 'Henry VIII'. His life was a fascinating combination of commercial and matrimonial ventures. Around 1831 he took over a trading post at Nukutaurua on the Mahia peninsula, and lived there with his first wife. Within 18 months he had moved to Poverty Bay, where he opened a trading post at Matawhero. He did a brisk trade mainly in muskets, tobacco and blankets, but, because of his generosity in giving credit, the business soon failed. He moved to Wherowhero (Muriwai), probably in 1834, where there was a large Maori population and other European traders.
His next three wives, all belonging to Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, were alliances of short duration. Pirihira Konekone, his second wife, left him after she became pregnant, and went to live with Raharuhi Rukupo of Ngati Kaipoho, the master carver. Raharuhi adopted Pirihira's son, Otene Pitau, who became a leader of the Pakirikiri people.
A third wife, Mereana Wero, was soon displaced by a rival, Riria Mauaranui, who had a son in 1837. The Reverend William Williams married Thomas and Riria on 21 April 1839, and baptised the son. This was Wiremu Pere, who became an important figure in local and national politics.
In 1837 Halbert assisted Captain J. W. Harris in operating the first whaling station at the mouth of the Turanganui River, and continued whaling for some years. In 1839 came his first land ventures. He purchased a number of small blocks, and for £315 a large block of land called Pouparae, near Waerenga-a-hika. Riria's hapu, Te Whanau-a-Kai, who sold the land, assumed that it was a future provision for Wi Pere. Halbert declared that he intended to rear pigs for export. His interest soon faded, and in 1841 he sold Pouparae to Captain Harris and William Williams. This transaction became the subject of an important land claim in 1859, when Wi Pere tried to regain his inheritance by legal process. In 1867 Wi Pere withdrew his claim and Pouparae was awarded to William Williams.
During the 1840s Halbert entered a fifth, more stable marriage, with Keita Kaikiri of Rongowhakaata, a close relative of Raharuhi Rukupo. The eldest of four daughters of this union, Kate Wyllie, became a successful advocate in the land claims of the 1860s. A sixth marriage, to Maora Pani, also of Rongowhakaata, produced one boy and one girl who survived to adulthood, The marriage lasted until his death.
In 1851 Halbert figured in the first court hearing in Poverty Bay. By this time discontent was growing among Maori over land sales, and the European settlers were becoming nervous. Influential residents accused others of selling gunpowder to the Maori. Halbert was the unfortunate one to be apprehended and found guilty.
Halbert lived through lawless and violent times. As a trader he was a link between Maori and Pakeha. Leading Maori often exchanged a daughter and a piece of land for a European husband who was a steady contact with the new economy. The early traders and whalers were happy with this arrangement. Settlers with sharp entrepreneurial skills grasped the opportunities and favours that were available and became wealthy. But Thomas Halbert was not one of these.
The colourful Halbert met a terrible death. On the night of 12 April 1865 he was returning from a drinking session on board a schooner berthed in the Taruheru River, when his boat overturned in the shallow muddy water. Halbert sank deep into the silt and was drowned by the rising tide. He was buried in the old Makaraka cemetery, Gisborne." - from N.Z. Teara site
1806. Thomas Halbert was born 8/7/1806 to Thomas Halbert & Sarah Kemp in Newcastle upon Tyne: baptised 25/12/1814 Gateshead, Durham - Ancestry Select baptisms?? & FS . Wyllie tree gives William Halbert as his father- yet includes his baptism stating Thomas as the father!!
1829. The ship Surrey/Surry left London on 11/8/1829 bound for Tasmania carrying 200 prisoners. Thomas Halbert was listed as one of the crew.
1834-1840 , He appears to have married 4/6 Maoris, the 4th? one of them being Riria Mauuaranui: then another, Keita Kaikiri, and then yet another!
~1840 Kate (Keita/Isabella) Halbert was born Tutoko, Waerenga-a-Hika, Gisborne, Poverty Bay, NZ to Thomas & Keita
Other children were: Hera(Sarah) Ngaihika Halbert 1850-1920; Mere Halbert 1863-1932; Maata Rewanga Halbert 1856-1874
1844.Thomas Halbert was among a list of people making a Land Claim in Gisborne in 1840- newspaper report from Daily Southern Cross 1844 on Ancestry tree
1851 European Census of Poverty Bay gives Thomas Halbert, a trader for W. Morris, with 5 children( 2 boys & 3 girls)
1851.Thomas Halbert was found guilty of selling gunpowder to the Maori! - from above biography . Seemingly no newspaper report on this
1853. Thomas Halbert a trader and a householder in Poverty Bay : a settler and a freeholder in Tauranga, Poverty Bay - NZ Electoral Rolls
~1860 Thomas Halbert, alledgedly, married Maora Pani and had a daughter, Matewai Alice Halbert, 1865-1933- Holmes Ancestry tree, only 50 people, youngest Anthony Stephen Holmes 1950 who married a ggranddaughter of Matewei , This tree has Sarah Alison{Alice} Potts, dying 1813 as the mother of Thomas- so was his mother Potts or Kemp??
1865. Thomas Halbert died 12 Apr 1865 . He was drowned in the Taruheru River, Gisborne, Poverty Bay, New Zealand. Buried in Makaraka cemetery : wife listed as Riria Mauuaranui: children as : Maata Rewanga Halbert Cuff; Mere Ann Halbert Gordon; Kate Halbert Gannon; Maud Halbert Mataira; Thomas Halbert & Wiremu Pere - Findagrave : grave maintined by Cerberus.
A newspaper report stated that he was employed by Mr E J Skyrme, and that Thomas and fellow employee, George Yates, were both intoxicated when their boat overturned & they became stuck in the mud. Also that he was very much respected by the natives, having lived with them for over 30 years _ N Z Papers Past
“Tommy Short” and His Six Wives
Known to the natives as “Tame Puti” (“Tommy Short”), Thomas Halbert reached Poverty Bay in 1832. One of his land claims (4/11/1840) bears a declaration to the effect that he had then lived in the district for eight years. In the Harris Memoirs it is stated that, soon after Harris settled in Poverty Bay in 1831, Halbert arrived, and then some others, notably R. Espie and A. Arthur.
Thomas Halbert junior (born in 1863) told the writer that his father was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne; that he was of Anglo-Scottish descent; and that he landed at Poverty Bay from a three-masted whaler. He went to trade at Mahia for a short period before he settled permanently in Poverty Bay. [As Barnet Burns had cleared out from his trading post there, it is not unlikely that Halbert was sent by Harris to replace him.] Whilst his father was at Mahia he made the first of six matrimonial ventures. His initial spouse belonged to the Rongo-wahine tribe. They had a son who died in infancy. The first Mrs. Halbert did not accompany her husband upon his return to Poverty Bay.
Whilst Halbert was at Mahia he had for an assistant a pakeha who had landed from the same vessel. Cannibalism had not then been completely given up there. One day, they found portion of a human body which had been sent as a gift to their hosts by a neighbouring tribe, but they feared that, if they buried it and the grave was found, that method of disposal would lead to suspicion falling upon them.
Upon his return to Poverty Bay, Halbert set up as a trader in the locality now known as “The Willows.” Soon, he began to do a roaring trade in muskets as well as tobacco, blankets, etc., but, on account of giving too much credit, he had to give up business. On many occasions after his death, his son Wi Pere said to old customers: “Look here, you fellows! Pay me what you owed my father!”
It was probably in 1834 that Halbert took up his residence at Muriwai. He had married again, his second wife being Pirihira Konekone, who belonged to T'Aitanga-a-Mahaki tribe. They quarrelled after she had become an expectant mother, and she went to live with Lazarus (Raharuhi), who, having no children of his own, gladly adopted her infant at birth. The child was named Otene Pitau, and he became a leader among the natives at Pakirikiri. Otene married Mere Whiti Hone (a sister of Tom Jones). He died at Manutuke on 13 August, 1921.
Halbert then associated with Mereana Wero, also of T'Aitanga-a-Mahaki tribe, but she was quickly displaced by a rival named Riria Mauaranui. So disgusted was Mereana by being slighted in such a manner that she took a negro for husband; there was no issue of the union. In turn, she entered into another marriage to become the mother of Peka Kerikeri. Riria, who belonged to T'Aitanga-a-Mahaki, bore a son. Wi Pere, who was destined to play an important part in the political life of Poverty Bay and the East Coast. He told the Native Land Court (Gisborne minute book No. 26) that he was born on 7 March, 1837, and that date also appears in his own account of his life which was posthumously published in The Gisborne Times on 16 February, 1916.When Halbert went to Turanganui in 1837 to assist Harris to operate his whaling station, he retained his home at Muriwai. Its position is shown on a marine survey plan of the East Coast which was compiled in that year by Captain Wing of the schooner Trent. His neighbours then, according to evidence given before the P.B. Crown Grants Commission in 1869, were William Morris, James Wilson and Peter Simpson.
Upon purchasing “Pouparae” in 1839, Halbert went to reside there for the purpose of rearing pigs for export. During the hearing of his claim to the property, he stated that Wi Pere was his only child at the time of the purchase. His omission of Otene Pitau can be explained only by the suggestion that, as Lazarus had adopted that child, he (Halbert) felt that he had no further claim to him. A statement by Halbert in 1859 with reference to Wi Pere: “Now that he is 21 years old” has been taken in some quarters to mean that Wi was not born until 1838. On the other hand, his father might have intended merely to indicate that Wi had attained legal age.
Halbert's fifth marital alliance was with Kaikeri, who belonged to Rongowhakaata tribe. This proved a much more durable marriage, the issue comprising several children: Keita (Kate), who became the wife of James Ralston Wyllie, and, after his death, the wife of M. J. Gannon; Mere, who became Mrs. Heany, and, later, Mrs. Donald Gordon; Maata (Mrs. Cuff); and Sarah (Mrs. Cunningham), who was the mother of Moana Paratene, a sister of whom married Reweti Kohere, of East Cape.
It fell to Halbert's lot to have still another wife, Maora Pani, who also belonged to Rongowhakaata tribe. [She had been married previously to Tiopira, and a child of that union became Mrs. J. Woodbine Johnson.] Their children comprised: Thomas Halbert junior; twins, who died in infancy; and Matewai (Alice), who became Mrs. Mataira, of Nuhaka. Maora lived until October, 1913. Upon Halbert's death, she had remarried, her second husband bearing the name Donaldson.
Death in a terrible form overtook Halbert one dark night in April, 1865. With two brothers named Yates, he had been drinking on board a schooner that was lying in the Taruheru River near Makaraka. On their way back to the landing-place, their flat-bottomed boat overturned in a shallow, but very muddy, spot. According to a correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald, all three were wearing heavy sea boots. One of the Yates brothers got ashore, but the other (George) and Halbert sank so deep in the silt that they could not extricate themselves, and had so to remain until the tide rose and death put an end to their sufferings.- all this from a wellington-iwi Ancestry tree