My Taranaki Anniversary Day 1

Today, 10 March, is Taranaki Anniversary Day. In this part of the world we all have a holiday.

Formally 10 March celebrates the arrival at New Plymouth of the first shipload of settlers in March, 1841. This is the 35th Anniversary Day I have celebrated since Margie and I came here in 1979.

Informally, we are celebrating much more, and over the next posts in this series I want to explore them.

 

There are the first settlers of all, who arrived in great voyaging canoes across the Pacific around 700 years ago: Tama, Maru, Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngahinerangi, Ruanui, and Rauru.

Then we remember the hostile invasions of the early nineteenth century, and the battles at places like Okoki and Pukerangiora, when Taranaki residents were slaughtered or driven off their lands.

And the dozens of people in England, mainly Devon and Cornwall, who planned and carried out the migration in the 1840s, so that not only a large English population arrived, but the secure conditions enabled the former residents to return as well.

Then there are the Wars of the sixties, and the Parihaka saga of the eighties; both of these have consequences which affect many of us today.

We also celebrate a list of industrial and commercial achievements: our port, our bank, our dairy industry and our oil and gas, to name only four.

And we celebrate our people, who have contributed more than their fair share to the country: like Sir Peter Buck, Sir Harry Atkinson, and Sir Paul Reeves, and living celebrities like Toni Street or Stephen Joyce or Maryann Street. Even Ernest Rutherford spent part of his childhood here.

For me personally, there are several memories to celebrate. My mother was born here, my grandfather worked here, my grandmother's cousin surveyed some of the country. One of my father's cousins spent most of his life here, and his two sons did their education here.

 

Three of Margaret's ancestral families arrived on those first boats, (and one of them was described in an article in the newspaper on Saturday last). And I have lived nearly half of my life here.

Every day we are reminded, by the geography and culture of the place, about its rich history. I hope these posts will enable you to share some of our excitement about living in what has been called "the most liveable city in New Zealand" and "the most popular tourist destination".