Te PUKE
is a town located 28 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. It is particularly famous for the cultivation of kiwifruit.

Around 1350, the Te Arawa canoe is said to have landed at Maketu after sailing from Hawaiki. The canoe was under the command of chief Tama-te-kapua, and he was responsible for many of the original place names of the area. Maori ventured up the rivers and streams and built many pa in the area.

Lieutenant, later Captain James Cook, the first known European to visit the area, sailed between Motiti Island and the coast in 1769. This was his first voyage to New Zealand, but he did not land here. Cook named the area the Bay of Plenty as he observed that it was well populated and looked very fertile. In 1830 Danish sailor Philip Tapsell, also known as Hans Homman Felk, settled at Maketu and operated as a trader. Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries arrived shortly afterwards and established mission stations at Te Papa (Tauranga) and at Rotorua. After the land wars began to ease in the 1860s, European settlers began to move to the Bay of Plenty though not in great numbers.

Maketu, however was a thriving village with a school, post office, and hotel and in 1869 an Anglican church. In 1876, surveying of the Te Puke Block commenced but it was not until 1879 that they survey was completed as the Native Land Court needed to complete their investigation of Maori titles for the land. Demand for land in the Tauranga area increased and the Tauranga Working Men?s Land Association was formed in 1877. Forty eight members petitioned the government for 4000 acres (16 ha) of the Te Puke block under the deferred-payment system. At the same time George Vesey Stewart applied to the government to bring settlers from Great Britain to the Te Puke Block as he had already successfully done in Katikati.

The first settlers on the Te Puke Block arrived in 1879 and included Peter Grant and his wife Caroline (n?e Moon), William Bird and his wife Sarah (n?e Leitch), Joseph Malyon and his wife Sara (n?e James) amongst others. The first of the Vesey Stewart settlers arrived in Tauranga directly from London on the Lady Jocelyn on the 2 January 1881.

In July 1880, work commenced on the Tauranga to Te Puke Road, via Welcome Bay. It was constructed by the Armed Constabulary and local Maori who worked on their land. Before this, access to Te Puke was made across the Papamoa Hills from Ngapeke to Manoeka, following an ancient Maori trail. Peter Grant had been contracted by the Tauranga County Council to form this track in to a bridle path in 1879.

Stores, and also passengers for the town could also come from Tauranga by boat, first to Maketu, then up the Kaituna River to Canaan Landing and then by Maori canoe up the Waiari Stream to the site of the present road bridge just to the south of the town.

By late 1881, Te Puke boasted 25 wooden buildings including two hotels, two general stores, a butcher, a post office and a smithy. The settlers quickly settled upon the land and by 1884 had established a butter factory. Draining of the swamps began and the area was found to be very suitable for crops, and maize and wheat were grown extensively. Later much of the farming land was found to be "bush sick" but was cured with the use of cobalt in the 1930s.

Flax milling had begun in the 1870s and became a major industry in the area until the early 1940s. Saw milling began in 1905 and is still a major industry in the area. In 1883 gold-bearing ore was discovered on the Papamoa Hills and during the 1920s a gold mine operated at Muir?s farm on No 4 Road. With the building of the railway a large Public Works quarry operated in Te Puke and was a major employer. The freezing works at Rangiuru opened in 1968 and HortResearch opened on No 1 Road in 1971.

Disaster was to strike in the early hours of the 10 June 1886 with the eruption of Mount Tarawera. Te Puke residents were awoken with the noise and the many related earthquakes. Many had a good view of the eruption and paintings survive of their memories. Ash and mud showered over crops and pastures up to 12 inches deep in places. The sun was not seen until 1pm.

Stock faced starvation and many farmers were forced to let their animals free to fend for themselves. Some stock was shipped from the area but many died. The settlers became short of food and water themselves and help was gratefully received from Tauranga. Evidence of the Tarawera eruption can still be found in disturbed ground in the area today. (Te Puke was again covered in ash during the 1995 Mount Ruapehu eruption though not to the same scale.)

Te Puke town-ship began to grow and a mission/town hall was built in 1883. This was used for town meetings and as a church by three of the congregations. The first school, (Te Puke Primary) was opened in 1883. The Te Puke Times was first printed in 1912. The fire brigade and town boards were both formed in 1913.

A jockey club was formed in 1890, the brass band in 1903, the A. & P. Society in 1905, the rugby union in 1906, the bowling club in 1908, and the golf club in 1912. Planting of the trees down the centre of the main street, a major feature of the town today, began during 1914-1918 as a war memorial to the fallen. A nursing home was opened in Boucher Avenue in 1918 but any major cases were railed to Tauranga Hospital.


the following lists of burials at Te Puke old cemetery were taken from the HEADSTONES (therfeore, may not be comprehensive)

the origial list is from the site
TE PUKE OLD CEMETERY
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A names ... B names ... C names ... D names ... E names

F names ... G names ... H names ... I & J names ... K names

L names ... M names ... N & O names ... P names

R names ... S names ... T names ... V names ... W & Y names
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AIRD James Dempster 04 Nov 1966 aged 65
AIRD Mary Gibson Patterson 08 Sep 1958 aged 54

ALBURY Emma 14 Aug 1926 aged 63

ALEXANDER Henry Albert 10 Mar 1932 aged 73
ALEXANDER Martha Rosanna 03 Jun 1935 aged 76

ALI (nee MacDONALD) Ann 23 Jun 1980 aged unknown

ALLPORT Alfred 12 Jan 1952 aged 81
ALLPORT Alice Charlotte 18 Mar 1953 aged 73
ALLPORT Roy William (Bill) 25 Aug 1990 aged unknown
ALLPORT Shirley Margaret 12 May 1966 aged unknown

ANDERSON Hope 24 Dec 1956 aged 15
ANDERSON Ringa (Paparinga) 05 Nov 1969 aged 62

ANDREWS David Robert 06 Jul 1962 aged unknown
ANDREWS Mary 08 Aug 1920 aged 89
ANDREWS William 24 Mar 1937 aged 86

ARCHER Emily 10 Jan 1957 aged 65

ATKINSON Arthus Stphen 26 May 1966 aged 73
ATKINSON Edwin 16 Jan 1937 aged 79
ATKINSON Mabel Jean 24 Jun 1926 aged 38

ATTRILL Emma Kate 04 Nov 1961 aged 89
ATTRILL Jacob 09 Nov 1941 aged 75

AUBERTIN Evelyn Elzabeth 21 Oct 1955 aged 66