The Maori War and Early Settlers Cemetery at Rangiriri
The "The Maori War and Early Settlers Cemetery” is located in the tiny village of Rangiriri (Waikato) opposite the museum, cafe and pub; right beside S.H. 1.
Fallen from both sides in the Battle of Rangiriri (20-21 November 1863) were buried here: 41 British troops and some 47 Maori fallen.
Many of the graves of the troops are marked with memorials or concrete slabs. I understand that the Maori have been reinterred elsewhere.
When I visited, in June 2018, the tap outside the cemetery was not working and there were no water bottles for the Maori custom for removing the tapu.
Beside the Rangiriri Museum (across the road) is this headstone:
This has been replaced with this granite memorial:
The sign at the entranceway:
The Heritage Trails sign reads:
THE CEMETERY
“In 1865 an Anglican Maori church stood on this site. The Clerics were Maori guided by the Rev Maunsell from the Mission at Waikato Heads, During the battle it was used as a hospital and after the battle the dead were buried in the churchyard. The Maori in a mass grave indicated by the hillock on the right, the soldiers in rows. The officers were buried in Symonds Street, Auckland, Maori remains were later removed.....”
“THIS IS ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST HISTORIC SITES”
THE REDOUBT
“Rangiriri Redoubt [Pa] straddled the narrow piece of land between the river and Lake Waikere (Kopuera). It consisted of a deep double ditch approximately one thousand yards long with a formidable Central Redoubt, the parapet being five metres high. It was manned by 350 to 400 Maori. They faced about 1,500 British Troops and seamen supported by gunboats and artillery. Numerous assaults were repulsed and at nightfall the Maori still held the Redoubt. At dawn the next day the Maori mistook the white ensign on the gunboats for a flag of truce and raised their own white flag in reply.
The Troops entered the Redoubt. The Maoris eventually surrendered and 183 prisoners
were taken.”
THE CASUALTIES
“The Tribes of the Waikato led by the Ngati Mahuta and the Ngati Haua:
Killed - Approximately 50
Wounded - Nil
183 Prisoners taken.”
“HEI WHAKAMAHARATANGA”
“British Army & Navy:
"C" Company - 4 Brigade Royal Artillery
65th Yorkshire (North Riding) Regiment of Foot
40th Somersetshire Regiment of Foot
12th East Suffolk Regiment of Foot
14th Buckinghamshire Regiment of Foot
4 Officers killed - 11 Wounded
37 Men killed - 80 Wounded “
“LET US REMEMBER”
It is worth noting that a further 198 British lost their lives in a tragedy related to the Battle of Rangiriri: New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster occurred on 7 February 1863 when HMS Orpheus was wrecked on a shoal near the bar at the entrance to the Manukau Harbour - most of those onboard were sailors and Royal Marines who were on their way to the Waikato War.
From www.nzhistory.govt.nz - “Many of the drowned men were buried in unmarked graves where they were washed ashore. An exception was made for three unknown sailors, who were buried near Cornwallis Beach in 1863.....There are several other marked Orpheus graves elsewhere. Chaplain Reverend Charles B. Haslewood was buried in the graveyard of St Peter’s Anglican Church, Onehunga. Commodore W.F. Burnett, Chief Boatswain’s Mate John Pascoe and Acting Second Master William Joseph Taylor were buried in the Symonds Street cemetery in Auckland. Burnett’s grave was obliterated during motorway construction work in the 1960s, but he and the other two sailors are listed on the memorial wall in the cemetery. Commodore Burnett’s name is also included on a memorial plaque in St Paul’s Anglican Church, Symonds Street.
Fallen from both sides in the Battle of Rangiriri (20-21 November 1863) were buried here: 41 British troops and some 47 Maori fallen.
Many of the graves of the troops are marked with memorials or concrete slabs. I understand that the Maori have been reinterred elsewhere.
When I visited, in June 2018, the tap outside the cemetery was not working and there were no water bottles for the Maori custom for removing the tapu.
Beside the Rangiriri Museum (across the road) is this headstone:
The sign at the entranceway:
The Heritage Trails sign reads:
THE CEMETERY
“In 1865 an Anglican Maori church stood on this site. The Clerics were Maori guided by the Rev Maunsell from the Mission at Waikato Heads, During the battle it was used as a hospital and after the battle the dead were buried in the churchyard. The Maori in a mass grave indicated by the hillock on the right, the soldiers in rows. The officers were buried in Symonds Street, Auckland, Maori remains were later removed.....”
“THIS IS ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST HISTORIC SITES”
THE REDOUBT
“Rangiriri Redoubt [Pa] straddled the narrow piece of land between the river and Lake Waikere (Kopuera). It consisted of a deep double ditch approximately one thousand yards long with a formidable Central Redoubt, the parapet being five metres high. It was manned by 350 to 400 Maori. They faced about 1,500 British Troops and seamen supported by gunboats and artillery. Numerous assaults were repulsed and at nightfall the Maori still held the Redoubt. At dawn the next day the Maori mistook the white ensign on the gunboats for a flag of truce and raised their own white flag in reply.
The Troops entered the Redoubt. The Maoris eventually surrendered and 183 prisoners
were taken.”
THE CASUALTIES
“The Tribes of the Waikato led by the Ngati Mahuta and the Ngati Haua:
Killed - Approximately 50
Wounded - Nil
183 Prisoners taken.”
“HEI WHAKAMAHARATANGA”
“British Army & Navy:
"C" Company - 4 Brigade Royal Artillery
65th Yorkshire (North Riding) Regiment of Foot
40th Somersetshire Regiment of Foot
12th East Suffolk Regiment of Foot
14th Buckinghamshire Regiment of Foot
4 Officers killed - 11 Wounded
37 Men killed - 80 Wounded “
“LET US REMEMBER”
It is worth noting that a further 198 British lost their lives in a tragedy related to the Battle of Rangiriri: New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster occurred on 7 February 1863 when HMS Orpheus was wrecked on a shoal near the bar at the entrance to the Manukau Harbour - most of those onboard were sailors and Royal Marines who were on their way to the Waikato War.
From www.nzhistory.govt.nz - “Many of the drowned men were buried in unmarked graves where they were washed ashore. An exception was made for three unknown sailors, who were buried near Cornwallis Beach in 1863.....There are several other marked Orpheus graves elsewhere. Chaplain Reverend Charles B. Haslewood was buried in the graveyard of St Peter’s Anglican Church, Onehunga. Commodore W.F. Burnett, Chief Boatswain’s Mate John Pascoe and Acting Second Master William Joseph Taylor were buried in the Symonds Street cemetery in Auckland. Burnett’s grave was obliterated during motorway construction work in the 1960s, but he and the other two sailors are listed on the memorial wall in the cemetery. Commodore Burnett’s name is also included on a memorial plaque in St Paul’s Anglican Church, Symonds Street.
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