Whanganui Island

{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox islands | name = Whanganui Island | local name = | image name = | image caption = | locator map = | map caption = | nickname = | location = [[Hauraki Gulf]] | coordinates = {{Coord|36|47|S|175|26|E|region:NZ_type:isle|display=inline,title}} | archipelago = | total islands = | major islands = | area_km2 = 2.83 | length_km = | width_km = | highest mount = | elevation_m = | population = ? | population as of = | density_km2 = | ethnic groups = | country = New Zealand | additional info = }} '''Whanganui Island''' is the largest of a small group of islands at the entrance to [[Coromandel, New Zealand|Coromandel]] harbour in the [[Hauraki Gulf]], off the coast of New Zealand's [[North Island]].

The island, which is privately owned, is {{convert|2.83|km²|sqmi|2}} in area. Much of it is farmed, but there are some forested areas.

==Early history==

The ancient ''[[pā]]'' of Horokino (Herekino) situated at Arapaoa Bay (Homestead Bay) was captured by the Tainui from the original inhabitants, the Ngāti Huarere, and was one of several dotted around the perimeter of the Coromandel Harbour, then known as the Waiau.<ref>"Whanganui Island – A History. The town that never was." A V Piesse</ref> [[File:Horokino ( Herekino) Pa situated at Arapaoa or Aropawa Bay ( Homestead Bay) Whanganui Island Aotearoa.jpg|thumb|Horokino (Herekino) Pā situated at Arapaoa or Aropawa Bay (Homestead Bay) Whanganui Island]]

==Modern history==

The geographic naming by both Māori and Pākehā has been subject to many changes over the history of the island and this makes the study of its history confusing.

The historian A. V. Piesse made a study of the names and seems to have arrived at a suitable summary. "The island is separated from the mainland by a narrow passage known as Whenuakura.The ancient name for the Island was Poroporo (according to Church Missionary Society catechist James Preece), later referred to by early settlers as Arapaoa, and then finally Whanganui Island (although originally as Wanganui Island). Also the Southernmost Point of the Island, now called Tawhiti Point was originally named Poroporo. Tawhiti Point was the name first used for the Northern end of Tawhiti (Woolshed) Bay, which is now called Rodney Point.<ref>"Whanganui Island – A History. The town that never was." A V Piesse Pages 4 & 5</ref> The island was variously also named Beesons Island,<ref>The New-Zealander. Wednesday August 6, 1862 Vol XVIII Issue 1711 6 August 1862 "The Wynard Pier"</ref> Parker Island<ref>Parker Island Papers Past _ Newspapers _ New Zealand Times _ 18 July 1899 _ LOCAL AND GENERAL</ref> and Waiou.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov15_03Rail-t1-body-d23.html |title = Romance of Coromandel {{!}} NZETC}}</ref>

[[File:Arapaoa Bay Coromandel Harbour NZ, A sketch ( 1848) J J Merrett Alexander Turnbull Library A-143-104.jpg|thumb|left|Arapaoa Bay Coromandel Harbour NZ, A sketch (1848?) by J J Merrett]]

[[File:Arapaoa Bay from the house looking out onto the Coromandel Harbour.jpg|thumb|right|Arapaoa Bay from the house looking out onto the Coromandel Harbour. William Webster's base and John Logan Campbell's home for a period]]

American William Webster established a shipbuilding and trading enterprise on the island in 1836.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/hauraki-coromandel-places/page-3|title=Coromandel and surrounds|publisher=Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|author=Paul Monin|access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> He owned the island until the signing of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]], when he lost legal title to the island as all titles passed to the British crown.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

During the period of William Webster [[John Logan Campbell]] spent a period of time on Whanganui Island. There is a certain amount of confusion about where he stayed. Some say he lived at Timber (Woolshed) Bay and some say he stayed at the home at Arapaoa Bay. There was a good deal of shipbuilding activity in Timber (Woolshed) Bay<ref>In Timber (now Woolshed Bay) you can still see the dig out where the ships were built and Kim Ward – ex Manager of the Island told me that at low tide you could find remnants of posts sunk into the ground (about 2ft square) where they attached blocks to assist in the launching of the newly built boats – April 2020 Jim Sharp, Ruffins Bay.</ref> and this was of primary interest to Campbell so it was possible that he stayed there. However Piesse for one includes a sketch of Campbell's "base" in his book<ref>"Arapaoa Bay, Websters Base "Whanganui Island – A History. The town that never was." A V Piesse Page 21</ref> and Campbell writes about his "Stay at Herekino"<ref>{{cite magazine |author=James Cowan |quote=In April he landed at Herekino Bay, in Waiau or Coromandel Harbour ... Campbell's description in his book "Poenamo" of Coromandel and Beeson's Island and Herekino when he arrived there in 1840 |title=Famous New Zealanders — No. 8 |magazine=The New Zealand Railways Magazine |date=November 1, 1933 |volume=8 |issue=7 |pages=18 |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov08_07Rail-t1-body-d6.html |access-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref> in his book "Poenamo"<ref name="First Published 1881">{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=John Logan |title=Poenamo |date= 1973 |publisher=Golden Press Pty Ltd |isbn=0855582774}}</ref>

==Town of Coromandel== Whanganui Island was the original site for the new [[Coromandel, New Zealand|Town of Coromandel]]. Plans were drawn up and sold in New Zealand and Britain. [[File:Sale of Sections at Coromandel ( Whanganui Island) The New Zealander Paper Auckland Wed August 6 1862.jpg|thumb|left|Sale of Sections at the new town of Coromandel on Whanganui Island beginning 7 August 1862]] and sections were sold. The issue to the new owners was that the plan implied flattish land but the land was far from flat. There was also no suitable permanent source of fresh water. [[File:Coromandel Town Aotearoa Original Plan including Kapanga.jpg|thumb|right|Name Coromandel Town written on Plan on Whanganui Island Aotearoa Original Plan including Kapanga]].The new owners abandoned their land and eventually the Crown bought all but two of the sections and helped the Settlers establish themselves in the mainland settlement of Kapanga (the new [[Coromandel, New Zealand|Coromandel Town]] )

[[File:Woolshed Bay the next Bay past the anchored yachts before ridge covered with trees Whanganui Island Coromandel Harbour.jpg|thumb|. The land in this photo approximately corresponds to the land in the town plan. Woolshed Bay is the next Bay past the anchored yachts before ridge covered with trees.]]

Woolshed Bay on the protected southern shore is a popular overnight mooring spot for cruising from [[Auckland]].

== See also == * [[List of islands of New Zealand]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Thames-Coromandel District]] [[Category:Islands of Waikato]]