History
MASTERTON DISTRICT HISTORY
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Some of the Wairarapa's shining waters, Miki Miki |
Wairarapa is said to have been named by the Maori explorer Haunui as he
stood on a peak in the Rimutaka Range, looking down over the extensive
valley. As he looked, the sun sparkled on the waters of the rivers and
lakes, and he called the area Wairarapa-Glistening Waters.
The land was settled by successive waves of Maori. By the time Captain
Cook became the first European to see Wairarapa in 1770, members of the
Rangitane and Kahungunu iwi were the tangata whenua of Wairarapa.
During the disruption caused by the Land Wars many Wairarapa Maori left
the district for sanctuary on the East Coast, returning following ten
years exile in 1841. They set about rebuilding their villages and
re-establishing their cultivations on their traditional sites. Sites near
Masterton included Kaikokirikiri near today's Mahunga golf course;
Mangakuta, at Homebush, and Kaitekateka at Te Ore Ore.
In 1841 the first European explorers were also making their way through
the interior of the valley, searching for grazing areas for the recently
arrived Wellington settlers. By the late 1840s the first large runholders
were established, leasing their substantial holdings from local Maori,
grazing their stock on largely unaltered pasture.
Men of more modest means were also looking to Wairarapa as a potential
site to realise their land-owning aspirations. In 1853, a group of
Wellington and Hutt Valley workingmen, led by cooper Joseph Masters,
formed a Small Farm Association, and petitioned Governor Grey for land
upon which to establish their settlement. Following negotiations with
local chief Te Korou, a piece of land on the banks of the Waipoua River
was purchased, and on May 21, 1854, the first settlers from the
Association arrived on the site of the new township of Masterton.
A walkway in central Masterton
The town grew slowly but as the rural areas surrounding it were more
intensively farmed, Masterton grew to be the major town in the valley. It
was declared a Borough in 1877.
The rural areas were first administered as part of Wairarapa East and
Wairarapa West Counties, then as part of Wairarapa North County. In 1899
the Mauriceville County was formed, then in 1900 Masterton and Castlepoint
Counties were established.
Masterton and Castlepoint Counties amalgamated in 1958, and were joined
by Mauriceville County in 1966. Masterton County and Masterton Borough
united to form the Masterton District, and, following minor boundary
adjustments, the current Masterton District was constituted on 1 November,
1989, as part of a nation-wide reorganisation of local government.
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