Puriri is a small locality on the

Hauraki Plains The Hauraki Plains are a geographical area located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower (northern) end of the Thames Valley, New Zealand, Thames Valley. They are located 75 kilometres south-east of Auckland, at the foot of ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It lies approximately 14 km south-east of

Thames, New Zealand Thames () is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the Firth of Thames close to the mouth of the Waihou River. The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel (district), New Zea ...

. Puriri was originally a Ngāti Maru settlement, which the Rev. Henry Williams visited in October 1833, when the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

(CMS) missionaries, William Thomas Fairburn, John Alexander Wilson, John Morgan and James Preece established a

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

in the settlement, In 1835 James Stack was appointed to Puriri. However, the missionaries withdrew from the mission that same year as the result of fighting in the Waikato. Fairburn returned to the Puriri Mission at the end of the fighting. Preece took over the mission in 1834 with the assistance of the Rev. James Hamlin. In 1838 the station was transferred to Parawai (part of the present town of Thames). In 1868 Puriri was the location for an official goldfield during the Thames-Coromandel gold rush. Puriri railway station was to the west of the village from

Morrinsville Morrinsville () is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. Morrinsville is a service town for the local dairy industry; the area surrounding the town has the highest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand. ...

and was open from 1898 to 1951. The former railway is now used by the Hauraki Trail.

Demographics

Puriri is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Puriri is part of the larger Matatoki-Pūriri statistical area. Hauraki_Trail_information_board_about_Puriri_railway_station

Hauraki_Trail_information_board_about_Puriri_railway_station

Puriri had a population of 252 in the

2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...

, an increase of 18 people (7.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 48 people (23.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 126 males, 123 females and 3 people of other genders in 87 dwellings. 2.4% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 43.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 51 people (20.2%) aged under 15 years, 36 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 114 (45.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 54 (21.4%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 94.0%

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

(

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

), 19.0%

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 Co ...

, 2.4% Pasifika, and 1.2% Asian. English was spoken by 97.6%, and other languages by 6.0%. No language could be spoken by 1.2% (e.g. too young to talk).

New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...

was known by 1.2%. The percentage of people born overseas was 9.5, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 23.8%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, and 1.2%

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

. People who answered that they had no religion were 66.7%, and 8.3% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 18 (9.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 138 (68.7%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 45 (22.4%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $40,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 12 people (6.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 111 (55.2%) people were employed full-time, 27 (13.4%) were part-time, and 6 (3.0%) were unemployed.

Education

Puriri School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of as of The school opened in 1878. There was an earlier school called Puriri School, which flourished in 1837.

References

External links

Puriri School website1947 photo of train arriving at Puriri
{{Thames-Coromandel District Populated places in Waikato Thames-Coromandel District