Tahoramaurea: two shores, overlapping histories

A volume from the WhaleLIBRARY

Tahoramaurea: two shores, overlapping histories

1839–1849

Prickett identifies Tahoramaurea by historical names including Rauparaha’s, Stubbs’s and Mayhew’s Island. His synthesis places Te Rauparaha on the north side in 1839 and William Mayhew’s two-boat whaling station on the south. Stone buildings and hearths remain on raised beaches, while 1844 and 1849 illustrations show changes in the occupied areas. These details provide an opportunity to place historic artwork alongside mapped archaeological remains.

Reading the two shores of Tahoramaurea

The northern raised beach at Tahoramaurea held an extensive group of stone-built structures, including a large hearth and multiple hut foundations. On the southern shore, a separate hearth and stone revetment survived. The archaeology shows occupation on both sides of this small island, rather than a single station confined to one beach.

In October 1839 Te Rauparaha lived on the northern side while William Mayhew’s two-boat whaling station worked from the south. Later drawings show station buildings on the northern side. Prickett suggests a subsequent move of the whaling operation, but the archaeological remains alone do not establish its exact date. Source: Prickett (2002), pp. 89–91.

Two neighbouring islands, different histories

Tahoramaurea lies only a little more than 100 metres from Motungarara, but the islands should not be merged into one whaling station. Prickett records that the three small islands south-east of Kāpiti each had whaling associations, with different shore platforms, operators and documentary histories.

Dieffenbach described American whaler William Mayhew operating a two-boat station on Tahoramaurea's southern shore in October 1839. Later drawings by J. A. Gilfillan (1844) and William Swainson (April 1849) show buildings on the northern shore platform. Prickett interprets these images alongside archaeological remains as evidence of a shift in the area of activity.

The drawings are particularly useful because they show structures that have not all survived. They are period illustrations, not photographs. The possible relationship between changes in Te Rauparaha's occupation and the station's move is Prickett's interpretation, and should be attributed as such.

Sources: Nigel Prickett, The Archaeology of New Zealand Shore Whaling (2002), Kāpiti chapter, pp. 83–97 (especially Paremata, Tahoramaurea and Te Kahuoterangi); where specified, Whale Song, Kāpiti – Blood, Oil and Bone (2025). Interpretations and source limitations are distinguished in the text.

Two shores, two histories

At Tahoramaurea, the north and south sides of the island have been associated with different occupants and activities. Prickett records Te Rauparaha on the northern side in 1839 and William Mayhew’s two-boat whaling station on the southern side. Stone remains survive, but identifying a particular structure with a named individual requires care. The island is especially revealing because Māori political presence and a commercial whaling enterprise appear side by side in the historical record.

A caution about location and attribution

The north-shore sketches associated with Swainson and Gilfillan and the 1839 report of William Mayhew’s south-shore station describe related but distinct evidence. Prickett’s archaeological discussion separates the locations; a reader should not use the northern illustration as proof of the exact appearance of Mayhew’s southern station.

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