Patea ( ) is the third-largest town in
South Taranaki District
South Taranaki is a territorial authority on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island that contains the towns of Hāwera (the seat of the district), Manaia, Ōpunake, Patea, Eltham, and Waverley. The District has a land area of 3,575.46  ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It is on the western bank of the
Pātea River
The Pātea River is in Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. It runs for 105 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki, passing east through Stratford before swinging south and reaching the South Taranaki Bight near the town ...
, 61 kilometres north-west of
Whanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
on .
Hāwera
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established ...
is 27 km to the north-west, and
Waverley Waverley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott
** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel
* Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
17 km to the east. The Pātea River flows through the town from the north-east and into the
South Taranaki Bight
The South Taranaki Bight is a large bay on the west coast of New Zealand, south of Taranaki, west of the Manawatu, north and west of the western entrance of Cook Strait and north of the South Island. The name is sometimes used for a much smaller ...
.
History and culture
Pre-European history
Patea is the traditional final place where some
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
led by
Turi aboard the ''
Aotea'' settled, after it was beached at the
Aotea Harbour
Aotea Harbour ( mi, Aotea Moana) is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Raglan Harbour to the north and Kawhia Harbour to the ...
.
European settlement
Patea, called Carlyle or Carlyle Beach for a time by European settlers, was originally nearer the Pātea River mouth than the present town. During the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...
Patea was an important military settlement.
General Cameron's force arrived at the river mouth on 15 January 1865 and constructed
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...
s on both sides of the river.
[South Taranaki District Council Heritage files (Local Government Historical Body)]
Patea became a
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
when hostilities ended. The first of the sections on the present town site were sold in 1870. A local shipping company was established in 1872, and harbour improvements began. The
Marton-New Plymouth railway line via Patea was completed in March 1885. The Carlyle Town Board, created about 1877 to administer town affairs, was succeeded by a
borough council
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
constituted on 13 October 1881 under the name Patea.
[Historical Settlements: From Whanganui to New Plymouth—N.J Taniwha—Wanganui—summary 2001 1st year 1997 subm. Political Essay—Infrastructure—Patea Freezing Works Government deregulation and asset assumption—A political agenda. National Congress Lib. Washington USA]
In the 1920s Patea was the largest cheese exporting port in the world. The Grader Cool Store received cheese for grading from all over South Taranaki and as far south as Oroua Downs near Himatangi. After grading it was loaded into coastal ships at the grader wharf for transport to Wellington where it was transhipped into overseas ships for export. The port closed in July 1959.
Patea Freezing Works
In the early 1880s the predecessor to the Patea Freezing Works was established on the eastern bank of the Pātea River. Cool stores for handling dairy produce followed in 1901 with later additions evolving into what became known as the Patea Freezing Co-Op, South Taranaki's primary employer. Strategic reforms, inefficiencies and nationwide over-processing resulted in closure in September 1982. In February 2008 the derelict buildings suffered severe fires. The damage was extensive and with the health hazard presented by asbestos insulation throughout the freezer walls, the town sought demolition.
Patea Māori Club
Patea became known in 1984 as the home of singer
Dalvanius Prime
Maui Dalvanius Prime (16 January 1948 – 3 October 2002) was a New Zealand entertainer and songwriter. His career spanned 30 years. He mentored many of New Zealand's Māori performers, and was a vocal and forthright supporter of Māori culture ...
and the
Pātea Māori Club
Pātea Māori Club is a New Zealand cultural group and performance act formed in the South Taranaki District, South Taranaki town of Patea, Pātea in 1967 as the Pātea Methodist Māori Club. In 1983, the group began to release Māori language, ...
. Their
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, "
Poi E
"Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Pātea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song ...
", indicated renewed impetus in contemporary
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
popular music.
Recent history
Patea has retained a strong community focus and enjoys many services including a well-resourced medical centre, public swimming pool and trust-owned rest home. The town is also the location of
Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki Aotea may refer to:
*''Aotea'', Māori name for Great Barrier Island
* ''Aotea'' (canoe), one of the canoes in which Māori migrated to New Zealand
* Aotea, New Zealand, a suburb of Porirua
*Aotea Harbour, on the west coast of the North Island of N ...
.
The breakwaters at Patea were started in 1878 and are being refurbished by the South Taranaki District Council.
Patea and surrounding community has a
South Taranaki District Council
South Taranaki is a territorial authority on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island that contains the towns of Hāwera (the seat of the district), Manaia, Ōpunake, Patea, Eltham, and Waverley. The District has a land area of 3,575.46 ...
LibraryPlus, which provides a full library service and Council-related services, including dog registration, payment of rates, and building permit enquiries. Other services include a Tot Time for the under 5s, a regular crossword morning and a book club for intermediate and high school children. The LibraryPlus has six APN computers, offering free internet and Skype.
Several kilometres east of Patea is the small community of
Whenuakura
Whenuakura is a farming community on State Highway 3 east of Patea, at the southern end of Taranaki on the North Island of New Zealand. The boundary between the Taranaki and Wellington provinces runs through Whenuakura. There is the Whenuakura ...
, where New Zealand golfer
Michael Campbell
Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the s ...
lived as a child. He learned to play golf at the Patea Golf Club, on the cliffs overlooking the
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...
. He crowned his professional career by winning the
U.S. Open in June 2005, and three months later the
HSBC World Match Play Championship
The Volvo World Match Play Championship was an annual match play men's professional golf tournament which was staged from 1964 to 2014.
The World Match Play Championship was a limited field event, originally contested by just eight players before ...
.
Marae
The local Wai o Turi marae and Rangiharuru meeting house are affiliated with the
Ngā Rauru
Ngā Rauru (also ''Ngā Rauru Kītahi'') is a Māori iwi in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 4,047 Māori claimed affiliation to Ngā Rauru, representing 12 hapu.
History Early history
The early history of Ngā Rau ...
hapū
In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...
of
Rangitāwhi.
In October 2020, the Government committed $298,680 from the
Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...
to reconstruct the accessway to the marae and expand the carpark, creating 8 jobs.
Demographics
Pātea, which covers ,
had a population of 1,191 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 93 people (8.5%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 48 people (4.2%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 525 households. There were 609 males and 582 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.05 males per female. The median age was 46.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 219 people (18.4%) aged under 15 years, 180 (15.1%) aged 15 to 29, 522 (43.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 270 (22.7%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 60.5% European/Pākehā, 49.1% Māori, 5.3% Pacific peoples, 2.5% Asian, and 0.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 7.8%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 46.3% had no religion, 34.5% were Christian, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.8% were Buddhist and 6.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 69 (7.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 345 (35.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $19,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 306 (31.5%) people were employed full-time, 129 (13.3%) were part-time, and 69 (7.1%) were unemployed.
Education
Pātea Area School is a composite (years 1-13) school with a roll of . Until 2005 the school was Patea High School. It became an area school when Patea Primary School closed. The primary school was founded in 1875.
St Joseph's School is a state integrated Catholic contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of . The school was established in January 1904.
Both schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of
Notable people
*
Vera Burt (1927—2017), international cricketer and field hockey player
*
Eric D'Ath (1897—1979), professor of pathology and
medical jurisprudence
Medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the branch of science and medicine involving the study and application of scientific and medical knowledge to legal problems, such as inquests, and in the field of law. As modern medicine is a legal ...
at the
University of Otago
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
*
Len Keys
Leonard John Keys (3 August 1880 – 1958) was a New Zealand bowls, lawn bowls player who competed for his country at the New Zealand at the 1934 British Empire Games, 1934 British Empire Games. However, he is more notable as a businessman and on ...
(1880—1958),
lawn bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
player who competed for his country at the
1934 British Empire Games
The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...
, businessman, one of the pioneers of the Auckland passenger bus service
*
Cedric Muir (1912—1975), cricketer, played in one
first-class match for
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in 1943/44
*
Denise Newlove (1973—present), Scottish international cricketer
*
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
Debbie Anne Ngarewa-Packer is a New Zealand politician, iwi leader and activist. She is a Member of Parliament and co-leader of Te Pāti Māori alongside Rawiri Waititi, and is the leader and chief executive of the Ngāti Ruanui iwi. She stood ...
(1966/1967—present),
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, co-leader of the
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
*
Dalvanius Prime
Maui Dalvanius Prime (16 January 1948 – 3 October 2002) was a New Zealand entertainer and songwriter. His career spanned 30 years. He mentored many of New Zealand's Māori performers, and was a vocal and forthright supporter of Māori culture ...
(1948—2002), entertainer and songwriter, recorded ''
Poi E
"Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Pātea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song ...
'' with the
Pātea Māori Club
Pātea Māori Club is a New Zealand cultural group and performance act formed in the South Taranaki District, South Taranaki town of Patea, Pātea in 1967 as the Pātea Methodist Māori Club. In 1983, the group began to release Māori language, ...
*
Codey Rei (1989—present), rugby union player
*
Alistair Scown
Alistair Ian Scown (born 21 October 1948) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He has five caps as an All Black. All his test appearances were in 1972.
Scown is known for being a player involved in what has been described as "the greatest try of ...
(1948—present), rugby union player
*
Murray Watts (1955—present), rugby union player
*
Cecil J. Wray (1867–1955), sports administrator, represented
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
on the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
from 1931 to 1934, and was on the Rugby Football Union in England for 25 years.
References
External links
South Taranaki District Council
{{South Taranaki District
Populated places in Taranaki
South Taranaki District
*