Tu and Te Retimana Te Ao, in July and August, 1867. These were Lots 111 and 112, Te Papa which, combined, had an area of 200 acres.²²

No more Maori reserves appear to have been sold until after Governor Bowen visited the district in June 1868 when Chadwick bought another reserve from Te Kuka Te Mea. This was Lot 9, Parish of Te Puna on 18 June 1868.²³ Around this time Craig also purchased Lot 6, Te Papa for £20 from Mika and Hohi.²⁴ Given that Bowen was asked that the Crown grants for the Katikati-Te Puna reserves be executed as quickly as possible, it is not surprising that the next spate of transactions recorded in deed registers are for Katikati-Te Puna reserves.

3.3 Early sales: motives for buying and selling reserves

There is no doubt that it was very easy for individual Maori to alienate the reserves. They were granted, for the most part without any alienation restrictions, to individuals who took part in, and sought to control, the local economy and politics. For example, as we have seen, some rangatira, such as Te Kuka Te Mea, had, by 1868, established working relations with local Pakeha, partly through the sale of land.

Te Kuka held four adjacent reserves in the Katikati-Te Puna block with a total area of 500 acres vested in trust with Te Puru on behalf of Ngati Tuwhiwhia. This land was leased to Thomas Craig in December 1869. Craig had also acquired nearby Lot 28, Te Mania, from Hohepa Tangatahou in October 1869.²⁶ Chadwick and Foley, who had already bought land in the confiscated block, eventually acquired interests in the Katikati-Te Puna block as well. Foley began leasing Lot 41, Te Mania, in April 1870, while Chadwick bought Lot 27, Te Mania, from Pane Titipa in January 1871.²⁷

As Clarke pointed out, rather than legally conferring title to grantees, Crown grants were executed in order to formalise purchase agreements. Stokes, too, has

²² Deed register K1 92, ref. 161^K, LINZ, Auckland. Lot 112 was sold on 10 July 1867; Lot 111 on 19 August 1867. Jackson and Russell were the solicitors involved.

²³ Deed register K1 178, ref. 318^K, LINZ, Auckland. Jackson and Russell were the solicitors.

²⁴ Deed register K1 190, ref. 364^K, LINZ, Auckland.

²⁵ Deed register K1 289, ref. 583^K, LINZ, Auckland.

²⁶ Deed register K1 283, ref. 578^K, LINZ, Auckland.