Parete Ropata OR Parakete 1875 1904

edmondsallan - Hello - Not to many people in the history of our land , have had both a " maori " name & " pakeha " name . and used them constantly and with pride !! . We know of many of our family changing their names either way , however , generally they stuck with one or the other . Among the many matters he attended to between 1865 and 1875 were the acquisition of the site of Opunake in early 1867; the arrangement of land for North Taranaki Maori returning from the Chatham Islands in December 1867; keeping most of the Taranaki tribe from joining Titokowaru in mid 1868; dealing with the murder of the Reverend John Whiteley and others at Pukearuhe in February 1869; and negotiating with Te Whiti the opening of the Taranaki coast road from October 1869. In December 1870 he won Te Whiti's consent to complete the coast road; during 1871 he smoothed Titokowaru's return to South Taranaki; in January 1872 he accepted the allegiance of Ngati Maru who had sheltered Titokowaru; and in July his purchase of the Kapua block was the beginning of land acquisitions that totalled 185,000 acres. During 1873 and 1874 he negotiated the construction of the inland mountain road between New Plymouth and Hawera, which opened up east Taranaki for settlement. He retired in 1875 but continued to report on Maori affairs in Taranaki until 1884. Parris was recalled in April 1880 on special service to the West Coast Commission on Taranaki land grievances. He accepted a temporary commission as a judge of the Native Land Court in July 1880 and adjudicated on the purchase of the Mangaere and other inland Taranaki land blocks. He was serving on the Bench when Te Whiti and Tohu were convicted in November 1881. In February 1883 he accompanied the commissioners William Fox and F. D. Bell and others to settle problems north of Waitara. Parris was a trustee of the New Plymouth Savings Bank from 31 December 1856 to 30 September 1899 and spent the last six years as vice president. He was one of the first four trustees of St Mary's Church, appointed by Selwyn in 1853, and he conducted the church choir in 1852. In 1867 he was elected vice president of the Taranaki Philharmonic Society and became president in 1880. He served as chairman of the local school trustees, visiting justice to the gaol, and as a sinking fund commissioner for the harbour board. He died in New Plymouth on 18 September 1904. Mary Parris died two years later.
Although Parris has been described as 'a man of great force of character and remarkable courage', his long public career was marked by the controversy over the Waitara purchase. Parris accepted Te Teira's title ahead of the claims of Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake because he believed that Kingi and Te Ati Awa on their return from Waikanae in 1848 had asked permission of Taripa Raru, Te Teira's father, to build a pa on the south side of the Waitara River. He stated that on several occasions Kingi had 'admitted unreservedly' that the land belonged to Te Teira's party but had said he would oppose the sale of it. Rather than being sacrificed to save the government's face after Governor George Grey's abandonment of the Waitara purchase, Parris went on to be entrusted with great responsibilities. Faced with eager settlers on the one hand and truculent tribes on the other, he eventually won the respect of both. Te Whiti said in 1879 that Parris 'always came and told us his intentions before taking action', which his successor, Major Charles Brown, failed to do. William Fox referred to the entire absence throughout Parris's long career of all speculation in Maori land. His critics had been unable to prove otherwise. This last paragraph proves the point that you and I have heard many times " You can satisfy every one all the time , only part of the time " Till we meet again - Regards -edmondsallan