Wharetutu (Tahuna) Newton (abt. 1810 - abt. 1870)

Born about 1810 in South Island, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of George Newton — married 6 Feb 1844 in Rakiura, New Zealand

Descendants

Died about 1870 at about age 60 in Otaku, Stewart Island, Southland, New Zealand

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Biography

Wharetutu was Māori (Ngai Tahu)

This profile is part of the Whenua Hou, Southland One Place Study.

Wharetutu is a significant historical figure in earlier colonial history as one of the first Ngāi Tahu women to have families with Pākehā men. Their children were the first generation of mixed-race New Zealanders.

Wharetutu was born about 1810, although the exact date of her birth is unknown. Her first child was born in 1827. She and her de facto husband, sealer George Newton, lived on Whenua hou (Codfish Island) near Rakiura Stewart Island. George arrived in the Foveaux Strait area in 1827 (presumably settling there with Wharetutu quite quickly).

She was baptised Anne by Bishop Selwyn on 6 February 1844 and married George Newton at the same time. By that time they already had nine living children together. They, George's brother John and his wife Pī (baptised Mary), as well as four other families, settled at Otaku (Murray's River) on Rakiura (Stewart Island). When Bishop Selwyn visited in 1844, Wharetutu and George had thirteen children. Five of their children died before adulthood.

After George passed away in 1853, the settlement dispersed. Wharetutu appears to have lived at the Neck, on Rakiura. She passed away in about 1870 and was buried by her family at their burial ground in Waitai, Rakiura.

She is connected to Awarua Rūnanga and Waihopai Rūnaka.

Sources

• Atholl Anderson. 'Newton, Wharetutu Anne', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1n4/newton-wharetutu-anne (accessed 23 April 2021)

• Middleton, Angela. Two Hundred Years on Codfish Island (Whenuahou): from cultural encounter to nature conservation. Southland Conservancy: 2007. https://www.academia.edu/944430/Two_Hundred_Years_on_Codfish_Island_Whenuahou_From_Cultural_Encounter_to_Nature_Conservation, accessed 22 April 2021.