Wiremu Te Wheoro

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Wiremu Te Wheoro (1826–1895), also known as Major Te Wheoro and later as Wiremu Te Morehu or William Morris, was a Māori leader and member of the New Zealand Parliament for Western Maori. Born in Waikato to Te Kanawa, a chief of Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Naho, he supported European-style ideas and institutions. At a 1857 meeting at Paetai, he spoke against making Te Wherowhero the Māori King, arguing the title would place the King above the Governor.

In the 1860s he held several government roles: chief assessor, local magistrate and police chief at Te Kohekohe; he pushed for a wooden courthouse and for Maori youths to be trained to keep order. During the conflicts of 1863, timber for the courthouse was dumped into the river, and he joined the colonial militia to help move supplies to Camerontown until the line was cut. From 1863 he acted as a go-between for the Government and the King movement. In 1865 he became an assessor in the Native Land Court, and in 1873 he was made a major in the colonial forces. In 1875 he became a native commissioner, continuing negotiations between the Crown and Maori, but he resigned in 1879, feeling his people were unfairly treated.

On 8 September 1879 he was elected to Parliament as Western Maori MP, defeating Hoani Taipua after Hoani Nahe retired. There were doubts about the election, but the Elections Validation Act 1879 confirmed it. In 1881 he faced three challengers but won with about 69% of the vote. In 1884 he finished third in a field of eight. In the 1886 by-election he came second of five, and in 1887 he again finished second.