Brown Road (Waitara)

Whaler and trader Richard Brown arrived in New Plymouth in the early 1840s. Initially, Brown was refused permission to trade by the New Zealand Company, as it had exclusive control over all trading in the settlement. Not to be put off, Brown floated his goods ashore in barrels and set up a trading station next to the boat sheds on the foreshore.

Obviously, he was a driven man, but he also had a bit of a temper and was known to "administer his own brand of justice". In 1848, he hit Witana Rangi-ire on the head with the brass knob on his riding whip, leaving Rangi-ire unconscious.

Apparently, there had been a dispute over a horse.

Rangi-ire was a man of rank in Puketapu hapū and the hapū took huge offence. A contingent arrived in Devon Street to perform a haka and demand utu. Reluctantly, Brown was arrested and locked up in the James Lane gaol. After a convoluted trial, Brown was fined £5 and ordered to give up the horse. Māori were displeased at the small fine and the court then bound Brown over to keep the peace for a year under a penalty of £100.

By the time of the Taranaki Wars, Brown was an established member of the community: secretary of the Egmont Lodge, a trustee of the New Plymouth Savings Bank and editor of the Taranaki Herald.

As tensions grew, he was made captain of the Native Contingent, a force of Māori friendly to the settlers. He was ambushed crossing the Waiongana River on May 26, 1860, and mortally wounded. He made it back to camp at Waitara, but died on August 21.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.