On 29th August 1879 a group of surveyors were shot at by local maori, they were on the Pukerange Block located 5 miles from Ohinemuri. The injured man was
DALDY MCWILLIAMS, the shots fired by men from the Ngatihako hapu.
The matter was complex, and as reported by
E W PUCKEY (Under Secretary Native Dept), there were long running issues surrounding the
survey of land in this area.
There is a full report in the Wangan
ui Herald 1 Sep 1879, below is a portion of this article.
A full account of the incident is also made by
TOSS HAMMOND of Thames, and his manuscript is available at The Treasury, Thames. Researching this incident, brought surprising results for my own family research, as I found that
CLEM CORNES (GGGrandfather) had been involved in rescuing the injured MCWILLIAMS and transporting him for treatment. Showing the need to check indexes and read as much as possible, in the quest to find those little extra stories - that give your family history those stories long forgotten.
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Part of D McWilliams' account
from Hammond Manuscript |
William Francis "Daldy" MCWILLIAMS, was the son of John and Martha MCWILLIAMS. He was born 23/7/1860 at Papakura and died 18/1/1931 at Waihi, New Zealand.
Obituary Notes in the
Ohinemuri Journal also an article on
Mrs Daldy McWilliams