Long before Europeans arrived, Remu-wera was the Māori name of an area near Ōhinerau Mt Hobson, situated in Tāmaki-Makau-Rau, on the isthmus between the Waitematā and Manukau harbours.
The name Remu-wera comes from two words: remu meaning edge or hem, and wera meaning burnt. It is said to relate to an incident when a visiting chieftainess was killed and put in an umu (oven), still in her piupiu (skirt). Tāmaki Māori ancestors occupied kāinga (villages) and pā (elevated and stockaded villages), by the sea and on volcanic cones, tending extensive cultivations of kumara crops with ready access to kai moana (food from the sea). Ngāti Whātua lost and then regained control of Tāmaki Makaurau and Remuera in the 1830s.
In May 1840 John Logan Campbell visited the Waitematā to purchase land from Ngāti Whātua. He set his heart on the Remuera slopes, but chiefs Te Kawau and his son Te Hira declined to sell – they wished to retain this fertile area. Unknown to Campbell, the Treaty of Waitangi was being signed around New Zealand, limiting Māori to selling to the Crown. A few months later, in October 1840, Te Kawau offered 3,000 acres to Governor Hobson for the establishment of Auckland, but this did not include Remuera.
In May 1844 a great feast was hosted by Waikato iwi at Remuera to the east of Mt Hobson. Present was the Waikato chief Te Wherowhero, who was to become the first Māori king. Many thousands attended the feast, which featured large quantities of potatoes, sharks, pigs, tea, sugar and tobacco. Merrett’s watercolour depicts this celebrated event, with Mt Hobson prominent and Governor Fitzroy arriving. In March 1844 Governor Fitzroy issued a proclamation, allowing direct sales to settlers, who acquired land around Ōhinerau and the southern side of Tāmaki Road (Remuera Road).
Many built large two-storey homes with gardens and orchards, with paddocks of grain, cattle and sheep.
Among early European purchasers were James Dilworth and Joseph Newman. However, between 1847 and 1854, the Crown purchased much of the northern slopes; it was subdivided and auctioned to settler-farmers. Many built large two-storey homes with gardens and orchards, with paddocks of grain, cattle and sheep.
One of the first shops in Remuera was L J Keys’ grocery store (pictured above) on the Clonbern Road corner. By 1910
Mr Keys was joined by George Lawler bootmaker, The Lancashire Dairy Co, The Post and Telegraph Office, Fred Blott Chemist, as well as a butcher, fruiterer, confectioner, bookmaker and plumber.
