Pura McGregor (née Te Pura Manihera, 1855 – 4 March 1920), also known as Pura Makarika, was a community leader in

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 ...

, New Zealand, and the first

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 ...

woman to receive an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

. She was of Ngā Poutama, Ngāti Ruāka and

Ngāti Rangi Ngāti Rangi or Ngāti Rangituhia is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. Contemporary settlement is mainly around Waiouru, Ohakune, and the Upper Whanganui River in the central North Island. The iwi's area of interest extends north from the Paret ...

descent.

Biography

McGregor was born in 1855 at Karatia on the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

. Her father was Maui Te Manihera of Ngā Poutama and her mother Hohi Hori Kingi of Ngāti Ruāka and Ngāti Rangi. Her father was killed in 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 ...

at the Battle of Moutoa in 1864. After her father's death her mother married Stewart Manson, who owned stores in Whanganui and surrounding settlements. Her uncle was

Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (died 15 April 1898) was a Māori military commander and noted ally of the government forces during the New Zealand Wars. First known as Te Rangihiwinui, he was later known as Te Keepa, Meiha Keepa, Major Keepa or Ma ...

(Major Kemp) and McGregor accompanied him on his campaigns against Te Kooti during the New Zealand Wars, leading the haka before Te Kepa went into battle. In 1879 she married Gregor McGregor. McGregor was the son of Scottish settlers; his father was from

Uist "Uist" is a group of six islands and are part of the Outer Hebridean Archipelago, part of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. North Uist and South Uist ( or ; gd, Uibhist ) are two of the islands and are linked by causeways running via the isles ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

. His mother disapproved of her son's marriage to a Māori woman. After the marriage Gregor ran one of Stewart Manson's stores at Ranana on the Whanganui River, became a canoe-man on the river, was fluent in

and became the first station manager of Morikau station at

Ranana Ranana is a settlement up the Whanganui River from Whanganui, New Zealand. Originally known as Kauika, it grew after 1848 as local Māori moved out of fortified pā settlements in peacetime. It was renamed by the missionary Richard Taylor in 18 ...

. They had three children: two sons, Gregor and George Stewart, and a daughter, Rawinia who died in her teenage years. George married Maata Mahupuku, a muse of Katherine Mansfield. McGregor resided for most of her married life at 129 Harrison Street in Whanganui, and became a notable community leader. She was president of the Putiki Maori Ladies' Branch of the Lady Liverpool League. She was active in the Wanganui Beautifying Society and enlisted the help of both

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

and Māori locals to plant native shrubs and trees around Rotokawau Virginia Lake in Whanganui as well as raising funds.

Honour

McGregor's work supporting the Māori Expeditionary Force was recognised in the

1919 King's Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. Her honour is recorded as an

in the 1919 Yearbook and other sources of the time. Other sources record it as an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. She was the first Māori woman to receive the honour.

Death and legacy

McGregor died in Whanganui on 4 March 1920, and was buried at the Wanganui Old Cemetery, now the Heads Road Cemetery. In 1921, a ''waka maumahara'' (memorial canoe) to McGregor was erected at Toronui Point on Rotokawau Virginia Lake; it consisted of a half

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

river canoe set with the bow pointing towards the sky. It was decorated with a kowhaiwhai pattern traditional to her marae. The plaque at the base bore the inscription: The canoe was removed in about 1987 after it had rotted. It was replaced with a new ''waka maumahara'' built of

Corten steel Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rus ...

for durability and decorated with a design by artist Cecelia Kumeroa; it was unveiled in 2020. McGregor left her treasured possessions (

taonga ''Taonga'' or ''taoka'' (in South Island Māori) is a Maori-language word that refers to a treasured possession in Māori culture. It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in the Treaty of Waitangi significant. The current d ...

) to the

Whanganui Regional Museum The Whanganui Regional Museum in Whanganui, New Zealand, has an extensive collection of natural and human-history objects. The emphasis is on items from the Manawatu-Wanganui region, but the collection also includes objects of national and inter ...

. Artist Alexis Neal, stimulated by seeing McGregor's artefacts, created a woven woollen cloak in her memory.

References

External links

Photo of Pura McGregor, Gregor McGregor and their son Denton, 1910
in Alexander Turnbull Library
Photo of canoe tiki memorial to Te Pura Manihera (Mrs Gregor McGregor) near Virginia Lake, Wanganui, 1941
in Te Papa Tongarewa {{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Pura 1855 births 1920 deaths New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire 19th-century New Zealand people 20th-century New Zealand women 19th-century New Zealand women New Zealand Māori women Ngāti Rangi people People from Manawatū-Whanganui