Kerikeri

Kerikeri
The Kerikeri Mission Station, with the Stone Store at left, St James at rear, and Mission House on the right
The Kerikeri Mission Station, with the Stone Store at left, St James at rear, and Mission House on the right
Map
Coordinates: 35°13′28″S 173°57′5″E / 35.22444°S 173.95139°E / -35.22444; 173.95139
CountryNew Zealand
RegionNorthland Region
DistrictFar North District
WardBay of Islands-Whangaroa
CommunityBay of Islands-Whangaroa
SubdivisionKerikeri
Settled by Europeans1814
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial AuthorityFar North District Council
 • Regional councilNorthland Regional Council
 • Mayor of Far NorthMoko Tepania
 • Northland MPGrant McCallum
 • Te Tai Tokerau MPMariameno Kapa-Kingi
Area
[1]
 • Total
22.05 km2 (8.51 sq mi)
Population
 (June 2024)[2]
 • Total
8,360
 • Density380/km2 (980/sq mi)
Postcode(s)
0230

Kerikeri (Māori: [kɛɾikɛɾi])[3] is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand. It is a tourist destination 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Auckland and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Northland's only city, Whangārei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation,[4][5] as it was the site of the first permanent mission station in the country, and it has some of the most historic buildings in the country.

A rapidly expanding centre of subtropical and allied horticulture, Kerikeri is in the Far North District of the North Island and lies at the western extremity of the Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Pacific Ocean.

The village was established by New Zealand's pioneering missionaries, who called it Gloucester Town,[6] but the name did not endure. The Māori word Kerikeri was recorded by said missionaries as Keddi Keddi or Kiddeekiddee, before the romanisation methods they used were revised to what is used today.[7]

In 1814, Samuel Marsden acquired land at Kerikeri from Hongi Hika for the use of the Church Missionary Society for a payment of forty-eight axes.[8] The protector of the Kerikeri mission station was the chief, Ruatara, a nephew of Hongi Hika.[9]

Kerikeri was the first place in New Zealand where grape vines were planted. Samuel Marsden planted 100 vines on 25 September 1819 and noted in his journal that New Zealand promised to be very favourable to the vine. In the same year Charlotte Kemp planted the first citrus. New Zealand's first commercial plantings of passionfruit were established in 1927,[10] and in around 1932 the country's first avocados were planted.[citation needed] The plough was first used in New Zealand at Kerikeri, by Rev. J. G. Butler, on 3 May 1820.[11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  3. ^ "kerikeri – Māori Dictionary". maoridictionary.co.nz. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Kerikeri the cradle of New Zealand". Northern Advocate. 12 April 2012.
  5. ^ "The Cradle of the Nation Te Kohanga". kerikeri.co.nz. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  6. ^ John, Butler (12 October 1819). "EARLIEST NEW ZEALAND CHAPTER III. DIARY OF J. G. BUTLER, 1819". "We have named our new settlement Gloucester Town, in honour of our very dear friend, the Bishop of Gloucester" (Henry Ryder). New Zealand Electronic Text Collection – Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Earliest New Zealand: The Journals and Correspondence of the Rev. John Butler, Chapter X". New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  8. ^ Carleton, Hugh (1874). "Vol. I". The Life of Henry Williams. Early New Zealand Books (ENZB), University of Auckland Library. p. 26.
  9. ^ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, March 1857". A Glimpse of New Zealand as it Was. Adam Matthew Digital. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  11. ^ "New Zealand Encyclopedia".