Coromandel Life Magazine 2015 Winter V3

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pacific coast marine
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CAPTAIN JAMES WOOD. Jill Kemp writes in her manuscript ‘South
to the Left of Venus’ that Commander James Wood established a
strong relationship with Maori, negotiating with various chiefs to
procure spars in exchange for bartered goods and at the same time
securing protection.
As a sign of respect and gratitude, Commander Wood was offered a
Maori wife, Matarena Waitangi of the Ngai Tamahau tribe of Opotiki.
As eldest daughter of Chief Hotu of the Whakatohea, she was a very
high ranking woman.
The liaison between Matarena and Commander Wood resulted in a
daughter, Ngahiraka, born around 1838 (meanwhile Wood also had
a wife and three children in England!). Ngahiraka would marry three
times, and coincidentally, her second marriage would be to Joseph
Bond Kennedy, son of John Kennedy (see below), and it was
believed they had six children together.
JOHN BOND KENNEDY was a well educated Scot sent to NZ by
the British admiralty as an agent to arrange for a constant source of
kauri spars. He arrived on the Buffaloin 1837 (then under command
of James Wood) and stayed behind.
Kennedy had also taken a Maori wife, Chieftainess Rangirauwaka/
Katerina (Katie) Taurangi and settled at Harataunga (Kennedy Bay);
they would have several children leaving many of the region’s
families descended from this relationship, in particular those of
Kennedy Bay which was given his name.
In 1843, as Kennedy sailed off on his schooner, The Three Bees, to
do some banking, he was robbed of his sizable deposit and killed by
three crewmembers. This left Kennedy’s wife Katerina a widow and
their four surviving children fatherless.
According to Jill, after his father was murdered, Joseph had run
away to Gisborne at the tender age of 9 and, at the time he met
Ngahiraka, was a sea captain on coastal traders to Auckland.
DESCENDANTS LIVE IN THE REGION
Many of the older families in the Coromandel claim ties to this
unique relationship between both a Wood and a Kennedy.
One imagines the two children of these influential men knew of their
parents’ previous connection? Or was it simply fate that brought
them together…
A Fateful Marriage
James Wood’s
daughter marries
John Kennedy’s son
Ngahiraka Waitangi Wood Joseph B. Kennedy
Photos c. 1888
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