History Of The Association
History Of Takanini
In pre-European times the land was in the rohe of Te Ākitai Waiohua.
In 1841 the capital of the new colony shifted from Russell to Auckland. As part of an iwi drive to encourage settlement and economic development, six senior chiefs including rangatira Ihaka Takaanini and his father, Pepene, sold the 16,000 acre Papakura Block to the Crown in 1842.
The block (see Map 1) extended from Otaimako Creek at the northern end of what is now Auckland Airport, across the flat to what is now Papatoetoe, up the rise to the Redoubt Rd area, from there by an ill-determined route to the southern end of Papakura at Waipapa (at Coles Mill Lane), and then via the Manukau Harbour shoreline back to Otaimako Creek. The block was sold for £400 and six horses. From this sale, a parcel of 1,120 acres was withheld by the sellers as a Native Reserve. The boundaries of this reserve were around the Manukau Harbour from the Waipapa Creek mouth (Coles Mill Lane) to the Papakura Stream mouth, along the Papakura Stream to a point intersecting with the present Takanini School Road and then in a straight line following the Takanini School Road to the Waipapa Creek mouth.
In February 1863, this reserved block was awarded to Ihaka Takaanini as a Crown Grant by Governor Grey. The Great South Road and the proposed Kaipara to Otorohanga railway traversed the block. When the Waikato war broke out in July 1863, Ihaka was imprisoned for rebellion and died in captivity in 1864. Posthumously, his innocence was established and his estate, including this Crown Grant, was inherited by his family. In 1878, the Crown acquired a further piece of this land ‘for railway purposes’. In 1913, this land would become the new Takanini Railway Station and yards.
In 1885, Ihaka’s sole surviving child, Te Wirihana Takaanini, had the Grant land surveyed into 14 Lots and in 1886 sold almost all of it to Samuel Jackson, solicitor of Auckland. Nearly all the land to the harbour side of the Great South Road remained as farmland under various owners until relatively recent times. Almost all the land east of the Great South Rd and as far east as Takanini School Road became residential or industrial, a process that started in earnest just after the end of World War One. The railway line here was a vital link in the North Island Main Trunk line and, with the Great South Road, greatly enhanced the value of these Lots.
The entire Takanini Business Improvement District is either part of the original Papakura Block purchase or part of “Takaanini’s Grant” itself. Map 2 shows the proposed Business District boundary outlined in blue. The thick orange line shows the Southern Motorway. The thin black line following Takanini School Road is the eastern boundary of Takaanini’s Grant”. The northern boundary is the Papakura Stream and the western boundary is the Manukau harbour. The name of the district – Takanini – is a misspelling of Ihaka Takaanini’s name, an error that can be traced to carelessness by NZ Government Railways in naming their new station in 1913. Although corrected in 1930, Railways persisted in the error. In 2018 a process led by Auckland Transport, KiwiRail, and Auckland Council began correcting rail and road signage to reflect the original intent to honour Ihaka Takaanini’s name.
Map 1 - from NZ Gazetteer – the thin orange line shows the approximate boundaries of the Papakura Block sale made to the Crown by Te Ākitai Waiohua leaders in 1842.
Map 2 – NZMS260/1994 shows how rural and horse-dominated the district was (and still is to some extent).
Map 3 – The proposed Takanini Business Improvement District as at April 2024.
The blue line outlines the proposed Takanini Business District. The black line marks the boundaries of “Takaanini’s Grant” - it follows the Papakura Stream in the north, the harbour front,and the line of Takanini School Road back to the Papakura Stream.
Looking north - Carter Merchants site. The Great South Road on the left, North Island Main Trunk railway top centre to bottom right. Glenora Road at top linking the Great South Road with the NIMT, Takanini Rd running into Glenora Rd. Walters Road crossing the bottom with Tironui Road leading south of Walters Road.
Images courtesy of "Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library" – March 1963
"Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library"
This higher view shows how rural the other side of the railway line was at this time. The main training track backs onto the railway line and the Walters homestead, the Glenora Estate, is accessed by a long drive from Porchester Rd.
Ownership of the estate reflects the tight-knit rural community. Glenora Estate was established by William Walters Snr in 1886. William was born in 1852. In 1882 he married Harriett Jane Willis, 7th child of the settlers, Robert and Jane Willis who opened Papakura's first store in 1853.
After William Snr’s death in 1909, the estate was inherited by his son, William Jnr, who married Noel Mary Swears, the daughter of William and Frances Swears of Pah Farm. Pah Farm was based on Lot 8 and encompassed most of Lots 9-12 as well. William and Noel’s twin daughters, Frances and Marjorie, born in 1908, lived on Glenora until 1992. Lot 8 eventually became the Manukau Golf Club in 1933 and since 2016 is known as Waiata Shores.
