Hobson’s Pledge Trust
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The New Zealand Geographic Board is seeking submissions on a proposal to change the name of Maxwell, after pressure from Nga Rauru, members of which fought against the Government during the 1860s conflicts.
The Wanganui District Council supports changing the name to Pakaraka.
This rural location, which is located 19km west-northwest of Wanganui and has a population of around 1600, was named in honour of George Maxwell, who came from Scotland with his family to the north Wanganui area in 1852 then moved to Manutahi, South Taranaki, in 1867.
Here’s the history: Maxwell was involved with the so-called Handley’s woolshed incident, which took place in November 1868.
When Titokowaru’s rebels threatened Wanganui, settlers including Maxwell and settler-politician John Bryce formed the Kai-iwi Yeomanry Cavalry Volunteers in February 1868.
In November of that year, the volunteers ran into a group of armed Maori boys aged from 10 to 14 at a woolshed owned by William Handley at Nukumara.
Under the command of Bryce, who believed these boys to be Titokowaru’s Haruru fighters which included armed youths, the volunteers charged and killed two of them and injuring others.
A month later, Maxwell was killed in a skirmish outside Tauranga Ika Pa, so was never able to tell his side of the story.
When he was Native Affairs Minister, Bryce led the highly publicised crackdown on passive-resister Te Whiti at his village at Parihaka in 1881.
In 1883, historian G.W. Rudsen, in his History of New Zealand, accused Bryce and Maxwell of orchestrating the woolshed incident and alleged several women and children were killed.
Bryce sued Rudsen for libel, the book was suppressed, and damages in the form of £5,000 were paid to Bryce. It was proved that there were no women involved in the incident.
It seems that reliance on one side of a disputed incident is being used to drive this name change without trying to establish the facts or consideration to the living descendants of Maxwell.
Descendants of George Maxwell are alive today. Vilifying a person for what he may or may not have done in the 19th century is also vilifying his descendants. The past should be left in the past so that we can move forward together.
A simple submission may be made by going to https://landinformationnz.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6YjKfQOAh5ykcMm
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