Relatively Speaking : Charles and Pourewa Cossill: What we know - and don't know

This is Part 3 of my investigation and research into the lives and times of Pourewa and Charles Cossill and their family. Check out the previous few posts to find Part 1 and Part 2, or click on the Cossill label to the right. Please feel free to suggest corrections or question anything I've written - it's a work in progress. (See email option to the right, or leave a message in the comments at the end.)

The earliest official documented evidence we have of Charles and Pourewa is their marriage record in the Waimate Parish register:

Copy from Nga Uri o Pourewa by Nigel Cooper. Pourewa and Charles' marriage registration.

Charles Cossell of the Waimate Parish and Pourewa of the Parish of Waihou were married in this church by (blank) with consent of (blank) this 20th day of October in the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty six by me William Williams. The witnesses' names were Piripi Toki Rewehi and Eruera Wana (as transcribed by Neva Clarke McKenna in her book "Mangonui, gateway to the Far North").

What can be inferred from Charles and Pourewa's marriage registration is that both Charles and Pourewa were each of the age of consent and were illiterate, as they did not sign their names. Surely, if Charles and Pourewa could have written their names with any degree of accuracy they would have - as did the two witnesses. They each marked the paper with a cross. I'm particularly impressed by Pourewa's mark which appears firm and bold, although lacking in control or mastery. Charles' mark is neater and more precisely placed, possibly showing a better mastery of a writing implement - perhaps used previously for keeping tally of items. (Pure speculation.)

It is interesting to note that both the witnesses have a mastery of handwriting which indicates they were literate to some degree and probably students at the mission school, as suggested by Neva Clarke McKenna in her book Mangonui Gateway to the Far North. Some degree of literacy amongst Maori was not uncommon pre-1840, as missionaries established schools to teach Maori scripture-based reading and writing from as early as 1816. Pourewa, therefore, may not have been in a situation where she had access to this learning, and Charles - like many early English and European arrivals to New Zealand - was most likely to have come from a labouring background, far removed from access to (or use for) education.

A similar signature of witness Euruera Wana (aka Wina / Wananga) appears on the Turanga copy of the Treaty of Waitangi (known as the East Coast Sheet).

Witnesses' signatures on Charles and Pourewa's marriage certificate.
Piripi Tohi ...? and Eruera Wana, 1836

Eruera Wana signature on East Coast Sheet of Treaty of Waitangi,1840

According to Treaty analysis, Eruera Wana is believed to have been a Ngapuhi rangatira visiting Turanga (now Gisborne) at the time of the Treaty signing. There were close connections between Ngapuhi (Northland) and Ngati Porou (East Coast), and it appears that Eruera was based on the East Coast from at least 1840 to help advance Christian teaching at Uawa (Tolaga Bay) until at least the arrival of CMS Missionary Charles Baker in 1843. He could have followed William Williams there, as the missionary was clearly known to him from Waimate. It would appear most likely that this was the same Eruera Wana.

I could find no similar evidence of the other witness, Piripi Toki Rewehi. I couldn't find one single online reference to him or his last name until I played around with re-transcribing his name and searching Papers Past. I found a place called Rewehi in Kaipara (very obscure as only 2 mentions and once as a first name many years later) and then I found references to a Philip/Piripi Tohi at Waimate during the 1830s. Neva Clarke McKenna had transcribed the signatures for her book, but on closer inspection of the marriage register copy, it is quite probable that what she had read as a "k" is actually an "h", and in that case, I found our other witness.

There was a Piripi/Philip Tohi - an orphan, redeemed slave and stable boy - living with CMS missionary Richard Davis and his wife at Waimate Mission. Davis had helped establish the Waimate farm in 1831. Also based at Waimate was the Rev William Yate from 1832 until 1834, when he returned to England, ostensibly to bring back his sister. While he was away, information about Yate's relationship with a crew member on the ship he was travelling on reached the CMS in Australia. In the resulting scandal and investigation, sworn affidavits were provided from young Maori men in New Zealand, giving explicit details of encounters Yate had had with them while they in his care and tutelage. Piripi Tohu's evidence was one of four given by young Maori men in New Zealand to missionaries Richard Davis, William Williams and George Clarke. The affidavits were sent to the CMS in New South Wales, and Yate was consequently sent back to England in disgrace.

So our ancestors were clearly in the presence of interesting people who have made their names in New Zealand history - one way or another.

William Williams

Fun Fact 1: William Williams (1800 - 1878) completed a surgical apprenticeship before training with the Church Missionary Society in order to come to New Zealand to join his older brother and CMS leader Henry Williams. He arrived in 1826 and spent much time travelling as well as teaching, being the mission doctor, and translating the Scriptures into Maori language. Williams was based at Waimate between May 1835 and 31st
December 1839, where he ran a boarding school for the sons of missionaries. Maori also attended school at Waimate.

William Williams and his family left to set up a mission at Turanga (Gisborne) on the East Coast at the end of 1839, just missing being present for the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Consequently, although recognised as the most skillful speaker and translator of Maori language, he was unfortunately not available to help with the formulation of the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi . . . with consequences that resonate to this day.