CHAPTER ONE
HE KURA TANGATA E KORE E ROKOHANGA - HE KURA WHENUA KA ROKOHANGA
PEOPLE DIE, GO AWAY, BUT THE LAND REMAINS FOREVER.
THOMAS MARTIN TAMEPUREKE ANDERSON - FATHER AND FOUNDER OF THE ANDERSON FAMILY THAT ORIGINATED IN THE KING COUNTRY.
BORN: 25/12/1828 IN ESSEX, ENGLAND, SON OF WILLIAM AND MARIA AND SIBLING TO:MARTHA, AND EDWARD. LEFT ENGLAND FOR NZ ON THE SHIP "LARKINS" AND LANDED IN WELLINGTON IN 1848. PRIOR TO HIS COMING INTO THE KING COUNTRY, LITTLE IS KNOWN. HIS WANDERINGS SOON LANDED HIM IN THE LAND OF NGATI MANIAPOTO WHERE HE QUICKLY MADE FRIENDS WITH THE LOCAL MAORI. AFTER HIS ACCEPTANCE AS A MEMBER OF THE TRIBE HE MARRIED HIS FIRST WIFE - HIRA TE RURUANGA, A PROMINENT CHIEFTAINESS OF NGATI KINOHAKU, A SUB-TRIBE OF NGATI MANIAPOTO. FROM THIS UNION HE HAD 2 SONS - MOERA AND KEREAMA AND 1 DAUGHTER - PAREAUAHI (d). FROM THERE THOMAS AND HIS FAMILY SETTLED ON HIS WIFES ANCESTRAL LAND NOW KNOWN AS MANGAPU. AT THIS PERIOD OF TIME HE LOST CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. HE LIVED LIKE THE NATIVE INHABITANTS - CLOTHED ONLY IN A MAORI CLOAK MADE OF PUREKE HENCE HIS MIDDLE NAME. IN THE ERA OF RIVER TRANSPORT, THOMAS MADE HIS EARNINGS SELLING PIGS, AND TRADING WITH THE SETTLERS OF THE AUCKLAND AREA. THIS ENABLED HIM TO BUY THINGS HE WANTED FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY. HE ALSO BUILT A WATER MILL FOR GRINDING FLOUR. WITH THE DEATH OF HIS FIRST WIFE, HIRA, THIS ENDS CHAPTER ONE.
