Parete Ropata OR Parakete 1816 1875

edmondsallan - Hello . This journal is about a nz early settler who caught the eye of my Grandad & my Father and , now me . Why ??? Curiosity killed the cat - Satisfaction brought it back . I now also have company . Sitting at her favourite spot alongside the computer. Looking out from behind the window ( at birds ) I swear that this ' Furry ball of an animal can read !!! The moment I printed " cat " she started to stop glaring at me and read the desk top . By the way readers -- " Thee cat " and I are not on speaking terms at the moment .I gave her a cheap tin of meat for her breakfast . She has stopped and glared at it thousand times . She has led me past it fifty times . She is not happy and she is letting me know their has to be some changes around here .Where were we . The file says
" He used his maori name as well as his european name . All the time when he wished to " - Thats queer - what was he in life ?? He was a Politician ( well that be the reason - use every tool you got to get votes . )W-e-ll , he was a public servant , a soldier & a judge . Holy cow !!What have we got here .Who Is this Fella ?Let's find out !!!
.Robert Reid Parris, son of William and Agnes Parris, was baptised on 16 May 1816 at Chard, Somerset, England. His forebears, of French protestant origin, had settled in Dorset in the sixteenth century; his father was a farmer. Robert married Mary Whitmore at Colyton, Somerset, on 18 October 1838. Two daughters were born to them in England, and two daughters and a son in New Zealand.
Robert Parris and his family arrived at New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 19 November 1842 on the Blenheim. After an unsuccessful attempt at farming, he was by 1849 farm manager at Bishop G. A. Selwyn's St John's College, Auckland, and rose to become general superintendent of its industrial school. There he gained a thorough grounding in Maori language and customs. His name, transliterated into Maori, became Ropata Parete or Parakete. He returned to New Plymouth about 1852 and was elected to the New Plymouth Provincial Council in August 1853. In the first six months of 1857 he was provincial treasurer in George Cutfield's administration but resigned when appointed district land purchase commissioner at New Plymouth in July 1857. He attended a meeting of Te Ati Awa in November 1857 where Te Teira announced his decision to sell land at Waitara, an offer he repeated a year later. By the time Te Teira offered the block to Governor Thomas Gore Browne in March 1859, Parris was well acquainted with the issue. He was appointed to investigate Te Teira's title, while Donald McLean obtained the consent of some Te Ati Awa at Wellington and Queen Charlotte Sound. In November 1859 Parris, by now assistant native secretary, paid Te Teira a deposit of £100, despite the opposition of Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake to the sale. After Parris attempted to survey the Waitara block on 20 February 1860, fighting broke out.
" Parris's life " was often in danger: in May 1860 he survived a plot by some Ngati Ruanui to ambush him near Urenui, and in late 1862 he met Te Ua Haumene at Poutoko, south of New Plymouth. He was appointed a captain in the New Zealand Militia in June 1863 and was promoted to major in May 1865. A month later he again met Te Ua Haumene and Ngati Ruanui at the Waingongoro River where he accepted the surrender of Hone Pihama and the Taranaki tribe.
From September 1865 to July 1875 Parris was civil commissioner in Taranaki, and by 'skilful management' of the disaffected tribes and 'firm but judicious and conciliatory dealing with them' maintained peaceful relations between Maori and European. From August 1866 he was a judge of the Compensation Court, which determined compensation claims under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, and from January 1868 was a resident magistrate for New Plymouth. I think we got time for a short break . Till we meet again - Regards -edmondsallan