Rawene

Infobox Settlement
name = Rawene
population_total = 438
population_as_of = 2006
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = New Zealand
subdivision_type1= Region
subdivision_name1= Northland Region
subdivision_type2= District
subdivision_name2= Far North District
pushpin_

latd = 35
latm = 23
lats = 45
latNS = S
longd = 173
longm = 30
longs = 18
longEW = E

Rawene is a town on the south side of the Hokianga harbour, in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 12 passes to the south. [cite book|title=The Geographic Atlas of New Zealand|year=2005|id=ISBN 1-877333-20-4|author=Roger Smith, GeographX|publisher=Robbie Burton|pages=map 22] The town lies at the apex of a peninsula. A car ferry links it to Kohukohu and the northern Hokianga.cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/Northland/NorthlandPlaces/11/en|title=Hokianga district|encyclopedia=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand]

The population was 438 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 24 from 2001. [cite web|url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/census/2006-census-data/final-counts/northland-region.htm|title=Final counts – census night and census usually resident populations, and occupied dwellings - Far North District|publisher=Statistics New Zealand]

History

Rawene started as a timber centre, with a mill and shipyards [Most shipbuilding in the Hokianga occurred at and Horeke] established in the early 19th century. An attempted settlement by the first New Zealand Company in 1826 failed. Captain James Herd in 1822 had taken out the first shipment of kauri from the Hokianga in his ship "Providence". In 1825 he returned as an agent for the company sailing the "Rosanne" in company with the "Lampton", and 60 settlers between the two vessels. They began at Stewart Island/Rakiura and sailed up the east coast, leaving Lampton as a place name in Wellington, eventually rounding North Cape to enter Hokianga - his old stamping ground. Herd negotiated to buy a vast tract of land. [The deed lies in National Archives in Wellington, with a photocopy held by the Hokianga Historical Society.] The deal was contested but for decades Europeans referred to the town as "Herd's Point". [cite book|url=http://www.wcl.govt.nz/wellington/rosannachap8.html|Chapter=Northern New Zealand|title=The Rosanna Settlers|last=McDonnell|first=Hilda|year=2002] Later it was called "Hokianga Township", and in 1884 it became "Rawene", possibly to identify the post office and telegraph.cite book|title=Township of Rawene|last=Irvine|first=Jean|year=1976]

The post office was operating by 1845 - one of the eight in the country. [cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/PostOffice/History/en|title=POST OFFICE - HISTORY|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]

Aperahama Taonui, chief of Te Popoto hapū, is said to have operated a school at Rawene in the mid-19th century. [cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/T/TaonuiAperahama/TaonuiAperahama/en|title=TAONUI, Aperahama|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]

James Reddy Clendon, previously the United States Consul to New Zealand, settled in Rawene in 1862 and served as the local magistrate under the Native Circuit Courts Act until 1867. [cite web|url=http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1C19|title=Clendon, James Reddy|publisher=Dictionary of New Zealand Biography] His house still stands and is open to the public. [cite web|url=http://www.historic.org.nz/places2visit/places2visit_northland.html#1|title=Northland Heritage Sites|publisher=New Zealand Historic Places Trust]

By 1872, there were two hotels in Rawene, and two stores. There was a Wesleyan church, and the Roman Catholics owned a section. Von Sturmer was the Postmaster, Customs Officer and Magistrate. [cite book|title=Remember the Hokianga|editor=Olive Harris and Chris Lancaster|id=ISBN 978-0-473-11859-4|chapter=The Pioneers Reminisce - Memoirs of Alfred Cooke Yarborough|pages=p 162|year=2006]

During the Dog Tax War of 1898, Rawene was evacuated after the tax rebels threatened to march on the town. [Alfred Cooke Yarborough in "Remember the Hokianga" p 164] On 5 May 1898 120 men marched from Rawene to Waima to deal with the revolters, but the dispute was settled without them. [cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/H/HokiangaAndHarbour/HokiangaAndHarbour/en|title=HOKIANGA AND HARBOUR|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]

A small cottage hospital was built on a hill overlooking the town in 1910. [cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/Northland/Northland/13/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en|title=Northland - Hospital services|encyclopedia=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand] A new hospital was completed in 1928. [cite web|url=http://www.hokiangahealth.org.nz/system/showpage.asp?section=history&page=the_hospital_in_1928.xml|title=History: The Hospital in 1928|publisher=Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust] Dr George McCall Smith headed the hospital from 1914 to 1948 and developed a unique health system for the Hokianga. [cite book|title=A Northland
|last=Parkes|first=W. F.|publisher=The Auckland Medical History Society|month=August | year=2004|id=ISBN 0-476-00851-4]

Dr Smith became a practitioner of 'painless childbirth' in the early 1930s, using premedication with the barbiturate Nembutal combined with hyosine. This proved very popular and attracted women to Rawene from far afield. The annual average of thirty births per year now peaked at two hundred. in 1937 a 'Commission of Inquiry into Rural Maternity Services' was established with Smith's practice as its primary concern. Smith fronted up with case notes on his last two hundred patients, and his results could not be bettered anywhere. [Parkes, pp 18-19]

The area was declared a special health area in the 1940s. [The scheme was gazetted by Parliament on 1 September 1941, but it lay in limbo to September 1945 before a "trial period" could begin. By 1947 the hospital boards in Northland were amalgamated but Hokianga retained its special area - it was finally official.] This meant that all medical officers in the Hokianga were salaried, and all consultations, pharmaceuticals, investigations and hospital admissions were free. The whole scheme was funded through a per capita grant. [Parkes, pp 22-23] [cite web|url=http://www.hokiangahealth.org.nz/system/showpage.asp?section=history&page=dr_g_m_smith.xml|title=History: Dr G M Smith|publisher=Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust]

Education

Rawene School is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 2 and a roll of 80. [cite web|url=http://www.tki.org.nz/e/schools/display_school_info.php?school_id=1093|title=Te Kete Ipurangi - Rawene School|publisher=Ministry of Education]

The Rawene Learning Centre is a campus of NorthTec. [cite web|url=http://www.northtec.ac.nz/campuses.asp?pageid=12|title=CAMPUSES : RAWENE|publisher=NorthTec]

A room for secondary students was added to Rawene Primary School in 1922. In 1947 a stand-alone Rawene District High School was built. It was extended in 1952, but was destroyed by fire in 1972. [cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10378080|title=Arson suspected in two fires|publisher=The New Zealand Herald]

Famous people

*Norm Maxwell, rugby union footballer and All Black.

Notes

External links

*wikitravel
* [http://www.communities.co.nz/rawene/ Rawene - Hokianga's Picturesque Port Town]
* [http://www.rawene.co.nz rawene.co.nz]