Roots


Captain Gilbert Mair                       Major William Mair
The Arawa fighting contingent  Feb 1870
Which side ?  Either one could well be my grandmother's father or of course neither.

The Horse Shoe Inn was built on the site of an old fort that Gilbert Mair had been garrisoned in.
It was here that the great maori prophet Te Kooti submitted to colonial pressure and an
unofficial ceremony played itself out.
Nearly a decade had passed as the contingent pursued the band of " rebels ".
People marvelled at how Mair a crack shot ; came so close so many times with out
taking Te Kooti out.Te Kooti himself recounting an occasion where he lie hidden beneath
the ferns only to feel the heavy boot on Mair's feet drilling his fingers into the ground.

I have a vivid memory of my father introducing me to an old maori lady clutching a framed family tree
frantically pointing out a position on it to me. To a seven year old,I was more captivated by the
deep prune like character lines chiseled into her face than where her contorted aged finger was pointing.
My grandmother had refused to meet with any of the local elders , only adding to the intrigue.
As the eldest in a large family of 10 or 11 she grew up raising her siblings.
Hailing from Gore in the deep south.
The only thing we know of her parents was that her mother was a large woman barking instructions
from a chair. No mention of father , no mention of maori.The only hint in her deep complexion.
This was the generation of maori " deniers ".My grandfather , a pohm , would often greet us in maori
for which my grandmother would instantly admonish him.My father laughed a small child's  inquisitiveness off.
What was he saying ,what was that language, why was nan so angry ??
He persisted though , as sure as we were greeted with a  plate of hot pickletts  and a pot of tea
the second we walked in the  back door.The click of the front gate her starting gun and the short walk
to the back door her timing.A marvel to a young impressionable mind.
No judgement  here -it is infantile as well as futile to look back on past generations in the cool
comfort of an enlightened now - in condemnation of then.Your now   inevitably destined to become
a then.

Grandparents - Lou & Nell Winton ( Mair )
Lou Winton the possible link to the Bahamas ?

Nell Mair the connection.But to which branch - if any ?
William Mair retired to the deep south after a stint as a land court judge in Lake Taupo.
Gilbert Mair was fluent in maori and most noteably accompanied the Queen & Duke on their tour of the
Pink Terraces.I believe he came under pressure to find a suitable European wife.
His maori "wife" and contingent of children were duly packed off to the deep south.
His church wedding  culminated in a series of tragedies both his wife & son dying ,survived I believe
by a daughter.
His ties to Ngati Arawa were strong. Shocked at his plight in old age the tribe provided him with
a pension.At his death they laid claim to his unclaimed body & returned him to Rotorua.
He lies burried in the small church beside the meeting house on the lake shore.

           
William                 Gilbert                                    Gilbert Senior


Elizabeth Mair
William & Gilbert's mother

Elizabeth and Gilbert senior among the first rays at the dawn of the colonial occupation.
They in fact had to sail to Sydney in order to wed.
No government , no law , Russell was known as the hell hole of the Pacific.
Whalers from Nantucket and around the world converged for a little respite , whoring  and drinking.
Tolerated by local maori on the thin ice of trade.
Tribal wars left maori in possession of a vital commodity - Wahine.
Traded for guns these northern tribes exacted a viscous Utu ; completely decimating some of the
southern tribes ,taking slaves and ceremonial cannibalism.
It was in this environment that Mair was among those establishing a compound with a private
militia.With yet another connection to Matata , I believe he commissioned the building of a
boat for coastal trading  . The lagoon originally open to the ocean was used for ship building.
The ice finally cracked and they had to flee south in the wake of  Nga Puhi raids.
Finally settling around Whangarei and becoming gum diggers.

Citizens Advisory - Nothing has been fact checked.
I am no academic , no historian  .
My interest was in the story of Te Kooti a thirst quenched in
Redemption Songs by Judith Binney
The references to Matata peaking my interest.Years past and on a return visit from the Bahamas
to visit my mother, I spent a couple of days in the local library cross referencing some of Binney's
source material. A snowball formed.

Return to Growing Up Page


Return to Home page
   
.