A Brief History of the Coromandel

Pre-european History

The Coromandel Peninsula was known in Maori Mythical lore as 'Te Tara o te Ika a Maui' – the barbed sting of the fish - which is by description, one of the 'whai' or Sting- ray species. The many mountain peaks of the peninsula: Moehau; Tokatea; Kaipawa to name but a few, are a chain of extinct volcanoes and form the barbs on the tail of the stingray.

The Maori history of the peninsula is one of wave after wave of tribal fighting. On nearly every headland of significance was a 'fighting pa' – a defensive position to which tribes could retreat in times of attack. The ramparts of these pa are still visible today and give evidence to a significant population. The drawings from the artists of Captain Cook's voyages clearly portray the ingenious engineering of these pa in the battle to survive.

It was this landscape of rugged ranges and confined bays that helped shape a people of significant resourcefulness: tough; resilient and with a lively imagination.

With overall population growth putting pressure on available resources - large tribes cut off from allies with no place to retreat - often would be overpowered by tribes coming from outside.

Thus the people from the Arawa canoe who first settled the peninsula, were later overpowered and absorbed by the more powerful attackers from the Waikato region.

The arrival of the musket in the early 1900's gave the opportunity for the Ngapuhi from Northland to exact revenge for past challenges to their honour from the Coromandel tribes. The spilling of blood during these times was unprecedented. Large iwi were decimated. In places this vacuum was filled by other tribes, for example large tracts of land in Kennedys Bay fell into the ownership of Ngati Porou who were trading with the emerging town of Auckland in the late 1900's.

European History

On the 9th of November 1769 Captain Cook and astronomer Charles Green observed the transit of Mercury at Whitianga or Mercury Bay on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. Extracts from Captain Cooks journals documenting the voyage of the Endeavour in 1768-71 tell us that on the 18th of November 1769, Cook rounded the North east point of the Coromandel Peninsula and named it Cape Colville after Rear Admiral Alexander Colville (1717-70) under whom he had served during the Seven year war in Canada.

Captain Cook's voyages bought to the attention of the British Admiralty the abundance of timber suitable for spars in the Coromandel region. From the HMS Coromandel which visited in the 1840's, on a mission to gather spars that the name Coromandel was given to the area.

It was the abundant timber resource from the great stands of Kauri that attracted the first settlers. As early as 1850 timber mills driven by steam began to exploit what were once massive groves of trees some as old as 3000 years. Large dams were constructed in the ranges - once full - they were tripped bringing the logs down to mills for cutting by the sea.

Today apart from a few individual giants the last large remaining Kauri forest on the Peninsula is the Manaia Kauri Sanctuary, some 200 hectares of giant trees.

A reward of 200 pounds was offered by the New Zealand Colonial Government to the first person to find gold in the Colony. In 1852 Charles Ring – a kauri miller in what later became the' top town' of Coromandel township - made the first discovery of gold in New Zealand. Prospecting in his spare time he successfully found gold in what is now known as Driving Creek.

This important discovery was about to change the face of the area. It was not long before Stamper Batteries could be heard crushing quartz day and night to extract gold. People flooded to the area and the thriving Coromandel Township took hold. There were as many as 22 hotels in Coromandel in the early days. It was not long before other gold discoveries were made on the Coromandel Peninsula in Kouatuna, Waihi, Whangamata and most importantly in Thames.

It was in Thames that large Iron foundries were established to provide for the requirements of the many stamper batteries throughout the Coromandel Peninsula. It soon became an important industrial centre in the emerging nation of New Zealand.

Today the legacy of the past remains in the historic town of Coromandel. Today the clear felling of ancient forests has given way to great tracts of regenerating coastal rainforest. Though the economy has changed the Coromandel Peninsula remains a place of mystery and beauty equal to any in the world.