Whenua

Our Whenua Māori Land Interests

Overview

The Bevan-Roach family was granted succession to the whenua Māori land interests of our tupuna, Joseph Clark Bevan & Mere Tuia Roach by the Māori Land Court at Whanganui, on 15 September 2020.  The succession application, covering 20 land blocks, was made by two of Joseph Clark and Mere Tuia’s children, Wayne Joseph Bevan and Frances Josephine Stephen (nee Bevan).

The Court also confirmed the names of the beneficiaries of our whenua Maori land interests, arising from this succession process - these are listed in the Court Vesting Order documents.   Upon the death of a beneficiary, their descendant/s immediately succeed to their Māori land interests.  [LINK TO COURT SUCCESSION VESTING ORDERS AND CONSTITUTION OF WHANAU TRUST]

In 2022 at the Rotorua Maori Land Court, our family was also granted succession to a land block (Whaiti Kuranui) in the Tirau region.  [LINK TO COURT SUCCESSION VESTING ORDERS FOR THIS LAND BLOCK]

All the land blocks are listed on the Māori Land Online website under the name of our Whānau trust - Joseph Clark Bevan and Mere Tuia Roach Whānau Trust.  They include:

• Four land blocks at Parish of Te Papa situated at Bethlehem in Tauranga.

• A large land block, Ongaonga, situated in the lower Kaimai region near Tauranga. 

• A small land block, Whaiti Kuranui, situated near Tirau.   

• Thirteen land blocks situated at Horohoro, south-west of Rotorua.

• A small land block at Tarewa East in Rotorua city.

• A small land block, Pahianui, situated in the Otaki Township.

Most of the blocks are designated Māori reservation land; the others are designated Māori freehold land.  Each block is described in more detail under the relevant sections below.

Note: As at September 2023, two land blocks at Horohoro were not listed on Māori Land Online: Horohoro Reserve No 5 (Te Turi O Hinengawari); and Horohoro Urupa 3.  It is understood a proper survey had not been done on these blocks to enable a Land Information NZ title to be issued and won’t be listed until that process is complete.

Our Whānau Trust

The Joseph Clark Bevan and Mere Tuia Roach Whānau Trust was constituted by the Māori Land Court at Whanganui, Aotea District on 15 September 2020.  The Court confirmed the Trust Order (Trust Deed), confirmed the names of the Trustees as at that date - Wayne Bevan, Robyn Lawrence and Grant Stephen - and vested our whenua Māori land interests in the Whānau Trust Trustees.  

Our Whānau Trust is a legal structure of ownership for all our whenua Māori land interests.  Its objects, as outlined in the Trust Order, are to preserve the whenua Māori land interests of the descendants of Joseph Clark and Mere Tuia (and their ancestors), and to administer those land interests on behalf of the Bevan-Roach family. 

Māori Reservation Land

Māori reservation land is land that has been set aside (reserved) for a very specific purpose (e.g.) a marae, urupa, a place of cultural, historical or scenic interest or conservation reserve.  Reservation status is established by notice on the recommendation of the Māori Land Court.

Maori Freehold Land

Māori freehold land is land where Māori customary interests have been converted to freehold title by the Māori Land Court.  The Māori freehold land that our family has shares in (through the Whānau Trust as a beneficial owner and the relevant Ahu Whenua Trust that administers this land on our behalf) are: 

• Lot 453 Te Papa Parish (TPP) block – administered by the TPP 453 Ahu Whenua Trust.

• Lot 91N Te Papa Parish (TPP) block – administered by the TPP Lot 91 Ahu Whenua Trust.

• Ongaonga 1G3B5B block – administered by the Ongaonga 1G3B5B Ahu Whenua Trust.

• Horohoro Section 33 block – administered by Te Tumu Paeroa, Māori Trustee Office.

• Pahianui 2B block - note this freehold land does not have an Ahu Whenua Trust setup to administer the land.

Ahu Whenua Trusts have legal responsibility to administer Māori freehold land on behalf of beneficial owners and is the preferred means used by Māori freehold landowners for farming and horticulture activities.  An Ahu Whenua Trust is the single point of contact for the block(s) they administer.   

Our Whenua Māori Land Interests in More Detail

Parish of Te Papa Blocks

Our family has shareholdings in four land blocks at the Parish of Te Papa situated at Bethlehem, near the Wairoa River in Tauranga.  Three blocks - Lot 453, Lot 91N & Lot 91P (Urupa) - are deemed Māori Freehold land. 

• Lot 453 Te Papa Parish is about 55 hectares with 775 owners.  Our Whānau Trust holds 1.019 shares or 0.074% of the total shareholding.  

• Lot 91N Te Papa Parish is about ½ hectare with 42 owners.  Our Whānau Trust holds 0.13393 shares or 13.39% of the total shareholding.

• Lot 91P Te Papa Parish is about ½ hectare with 792 owners. Our Whānau Trust holds 0.04166 share or 0.074% of the total shareholding.

• Lot 91G Te Papa Parish is about ¼ hectare with 942 owners. Our Whānau Trust holds 0.00235 shares or 0.24% of the total shareholding.

Ongaonga Block

Our family has a shareholding in Ongaonga 1G 3B 5B, a 134 hectare block of Māori Freehold land with 245 owners, situated in the lower Kaimai region about 17 kms south west of Tauranga on State Highway 29.  Ongaonga is administered by an Ahu Whenua Trust on behalf of the owners.  Our family holds 39.7673 shares or 1.07% of the total shareholding.

Whaiti Kuranui Block

Our family has a shareholding in Whaiti Kuranui 2D 2S, 2D 2T, 2D 2W, 2D 2Y, a 5.48 hectare block of Māori Reservation land with 281 owners, situated about 10 kms west of Tirau on State Highway 5.  Our family holds 0.024 shares or 0.0016% of the total shareholding.  Succession to this land was granted in 2022 at the Rotorua Maori Land Court, Waiariki District.  This land was previously held in the name of William (Bill) Bevan - the father of Joseph Clark Bevan.

Whānau Succession Line - Parish of Te Papa, Ongaonga and Whaiti Kuranui Blocks

Our family interests in the Parish of Te Papa, Ongaonga and Whaiti Kuranui Māori land blocks were initially held by Te Rei Te Hora of Ngati Te Rangi, Ngati Kahu.   He was born in the 1820s in the Kaimai region and he and his wife Makarena (Ngati Te Rangi, Ngati Tukorehe) and family of three daughters lived at Poripori Pa and Ongaonga Pa and/or near Wairoa marae in Bethlehem, Tauranga.  Their daughter Ani Ngapaki Te Rei was Joseph Clark’s paternal grandmother.  

Te Rei Te Hora fought against British troops in the historical Gate Pa battle in Tauranga in April 1864, which saw the Tauranga Māori repel the British.  However, a few months later the British defeated the Tauranga Māori; as a consequence, huge tracts of tribal land, including some land that Te Rei Te Hora had an ownership interest in, was confiscated by the Crown.  This set the pathway for British colonialist settlement in Tauranga and enforced conversion of communal tribal land into individual private property for property developers followed.  During the 1880s, the Crown undertook a divisive process to return some of the land to Māori but with little regard for ancestral rights.  

Te Rei Te Hora died in 1891 at Kaimai, the same year that Ani Ngapaki Te Rei died in Otaki.   At the Tauranga Land Court in 1892, an application was made for Ani Ngapaki Te Rei and her two sisters Te Iwa Ngaroria Te Rei and Hiria Te Rei (both of Te Puke) to succeed to the land interests of their father.  Ani Ngapaki’s sisters were given a third share each and the last third was divided evenly between Ngapaki’s eight children one of whom being William Bevan (Joseph Clark’s father).  Note: William was also known as Wiremu Pewene in relation to Māori land matters.

Joseph Clark Bevan succeeded to the Parish of Te Papa and Ongaonga land interests of his father, William Bevan/Wiremu Pewene at the Hastings Māori Land Court on 6 December 1966.  These interests were vested solely in Joseph Clark Bevan.  The application was made by Joseph Clark’s youngest sister, Mere Makaora (Tui) Cottrell (nee Bevan) on behalf of the Bevan family.

Horohoro Blocks

Our family has shareholdings in 13 Māori land blocks at Horohoro, situated on State Highway 30, approximately 20kms south-west of Rotorua.  All the blocks, with the exception of Horohoro 33, are Māori Reservation Land.  Horohoro is home to the ancestral lands of Ngati Kea Ngati Tuara and the maunga, Te Horohoroinga, is a prominent landmark in the Rotorua region.  Our family has interests in the following whenua blocks:

• Five Urupa blocks - Horohoro Urupa 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

• Six Reserve Blocks – Horohoro Reserve 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, & 5.  Points of interest include:

• Kearoa Marae is situated on the Reserve 1 block.

• Rongomaipapa Marae is situated on the Reserve 2 block.

• Pohueroa Spring and Flax Reserve form part of the Reserve 4 block; there are also springs on Reserve blocks 3A & 3B. 

• Horohoro Section 33 is Māori Freehold Land, about 55 hectares, with 226 owners and is leased for dairy farming.  Our family holds 0.03116 shares or 0.064% of the total shareholding.

• Horohoro Section 39 is a Mountain & Bush Reserve, incl Tutanekai & Hinemoa Rocks.

Tarewa East Block

Our family has a shareholding in Tarewa East 1P, a 0.0478 hectare (478 square metre) block of Māori Reservation land located at 21 Tarewa Road in Rotorua city.  There are 296 owners and we hold 0.008929 shares or 0.015% of the total shareholding.  

Whānau Succession Line – Horohoro and Tarewa East Blocks

Our family interests in the Horohoro and Tarewa East land blocks were initially held by Te Raturoa the father of Marie Rangiherea (Mere Tuia’s great grandmother).   Te Raturoa, of Ngati Tuhourangi and Ngati Kea/Ngati Kura, was a Tuhourangi warrior born in the Rotorua District in the early 1800s. 

In the late 1820s, a significant portion of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngati Toa people, led by Te Rauparaha, migrated from the Waikato region to the southern reaches of the North Island to escape battles over land with Tainui and other Waikato tribes.  Te Raturoa came down from his home in the Rotorua District to support Te Rauparaha in his battles to take possession of the Horowhenua-Kapiti region.  It is thought that Te Raturoa met his wife Moewaru of Ngati Raukawa, in Otaki.  They had four children and raised them in Otaki and Mangaroa in the Hutt Valley region.  

Marie’s sister, Putai Rangiherea, succeeded the Horohoro and Tarewa East Māori land interests from Te Raturoa - on date unknown.  Putai Rangiherea passed away in 1897 and left no issue.  

The Roach family was granted succession to the Horohoro 33 land interests, held by Putai Rangiherea, at a sitting of the Māori Land Court Ikaroa District in Levin on 23 July 1962.  At a subsequent hearing in the Rotorua Maori Land Court, Waiariki Disctrict on 7 September 2009, Mere Tuia Roach (who was also known as Meretuia Davis in relation to Māori land matters), along with other Roach family members, were granted succession to the other Horohoro and Tarewa East land interests held by Putai Rangiherea.  The application was made by Mere Tuia’s niece, Valerie Wilson (nee Roach) on behalf of the Roach Whānau.

Pahianui Block

Our family has a shareholding in Pahianui 2B, a 0.3642 hectare block of Māori freehold land located at 29 Waerenga Road, Otaki.  The land is currently unoccupied.  There are 162 owners of this block as listed under Māori Land Online and we hold 0.643 shares or 0.45% of the total shareholding. 

Whānau Succession Line – Pahianui Block

Pahianui 2B Māori land block belonged to Moewaru and her husband Te Raturoa, the parents of Marie Rangiherea, and they had a house on the land.  In a dispute over this land block in March 1868, Moewaru claimed a share for her daughter Marie.  The records note, “Moewaru stated, I am the mother of Marie.  She is at Poroutawhao.  I am of Ngāti Raukawa.  I claim a portion of Pahianui as given to me by Te Rauparaha.” The result of this land dispute was that title to Pahianui 2B was awarded to Marie Rangiherea and her sister Erihapeti Taongauru. 

James/Hemi Roach along with his Roach siblings (the children of Marie Rangiherea and James Roach) were awarded succession to the Pahianui 2B land interests by the Māori Land Court in April 1876.  In the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century Pahianui 2B was home to members of both the Roach family and the Bevan family.  This included for a time Mere Makaora Roach, as well as Martha Isabell Roach and husband William Bevan and their family.

Mere Tuia Roach (the granddaughter of James/Hemi Roach) along with other members of the wider Roach family was awarded succession to the Pahianui 2B land interests by the Māori Land Court, Ikaroa Disctrict in August 1959.  The application was made before the Chief Judge and the applicant was Mere Tuia’s eldest brother William Puri Roach.