Thomas Plummer: Now, therefore, the District Land Registrar at Auckland is hereby authorised to issue to the said Thomas Plummer a certificate of title to the said piece of land on production of a certificate from the Waiariki District Maori Land Board that all purchase-money under the said conveyance has been paid.40
It should be noted that the special legislation passed by the government went as far as validating the sale of the land to Thomas Plummer by those Maori who had signed the deed. This went further than the determination made by Judge Wilson, who simply ordered that a Crown grant should be issued to Penetaka Tuaia. Wilson explained that he had not wanted to award title to those person named in the 1896 succession order because of doubts over the previous succession order:
At the enquiry I was requested to find in favour of the vendors, that is the successors under the second order, but as no steps had been taken to remove the previous order of 21st April, 1891, I decided to recommend that the name of Penetaka Tuaia be inserted on the certificate of title so that the purchaser could settle the matter between himself and the two sets of successors.41
By granting a petition made by the solicitors who acted for the purchaser, the Crown passed legislation which effectively declared who were the rightful successors to Penetaka Tuaia. Those people who had agreed to sell the land were therefore said to be the rightful owners of the land, without the benefit of a full investigation by the Native Land Court, or the opportunity for other claimants to present their case.
Lot 211 Parish of Te Puna
In August 1920 a meeting of the owners of lot 211 was held to consider the following resolution: ‘That the said land be sold to William John Francis of Tauranga farmer at the price of seven pounds (£7) per acre.’42 The total price for the 50 acre block was therefore £350, which was the government valuation at the time.43
By this time successors had been appointed to seven of the original 22 owners.44 The meeting of owners to consider alienating the block was attended by three owners; Henare te Kuka, Timi Kuka, and Tuoia te Kuka, each of whom held a 1/14 share in the block. Three other owners were represented by proxy; Tane te Kuka (1/14), Moetutetahatika (2/6), and Kaiwai Take (21/4). The meeting voted unanimously in favour of selling the block to Francis.
Once the resolution had been passed by the assembled owners, it was necessary for the resolution to be confirmed by the Waiariki District Maori Land Board. In support of the application to the board, a declaration was submitted from George Moore, a licensed interpreter, as to the land holdings of the owners. Moore listed: 11 owners who had died and for whom no succession orders had been made; 11 owners who
40 Section 11 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act 1918
41 Judge Wilson to Chief Judge, 27 May 1918, BCAC A187 Box 214 744 Lot 210 Te Puna, NA Auckland
42 Minutes of Meeting of Owners, 26 August 1920, BCAC A187 Box 217 2754 Te Puna Lot 211, NA Auckland
43 Valuation Certificate, 16 July 1920, BCAC A187 Box 217 2754 Te Puna Lot 211, NA Auckland
44 Particulars of Title, 13 July 1920, BCAC A187 Box 217 2754 Te Puna Lot 211, NA Auckland
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