The Defence of Pukekohe East was an action during the Invasion of the Waikato, part of the New Zealand Wars. On 13 September and 14 September 1863, 11 settlers and 6 militia men inside a half-completed stockade around the Pukekohe East church held off a Māori taua or war party of approximately 200 men from Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Pou iwi, until they were relieved by detachments of the 18th, 65th and 70th Regiments. In a series of actions around the stockade the taua sustained 20% casualties and retreated.
Background
Many Europeans settled in New Zealand between 1830 and 1860, by which time British approximately equaled the Maori. Europeans were generally welcomed by the Māori. However disputes over land, sovereignty and mana lead to skirmishes between Europeans and pro and anti European Maori, known as the New Zealand Wars, notably in the north in the 1840s, in Taranaki from 1860 and in the Waikato in 1863. In the Waikato, south of the British settlement at Auckland, Māori formed the Kingi Movement. Kingitanga involved adopting European culture in order to preserve their own people: Kingites established a newspaper, a bank, and a parliament, as well as electing a king. These last two actions were seen as threatening British sovereignty, leading Governor Sir George Grey to invade the Waikato.
Pukekohe East
Pukekohe East lies on the rim of the Pukekohe East Explosion Crater, south east of Auckland. Although potentially fertile, the land remained in virgin forest, or bush, and was never densely populated. In the 1830s, those Māori who had lived closest were defeated by Hongi Hika's Ngapuhi iwi, the survivors abandoning their settlements and retreating south. When settler government came to grant titles to the land this history led to dispute over boundaries and ownership. The land was first sold to Europeans in 1843, as part of the general land purchases in the Auckland area. Not until 1853 were disputes between different Māori claimants resolved and the area first settled. Families of farmers built houses and began to clear the land but this process was far from complete when war broke out.
The church
The young settlement included many Presbyterian Scots. They resolved to build a Presbyterian church in 1861, undertaking the majority of the work themselves and paying for the cost of £126 2s 5d by subscription. Construction was of ¾ inch weatherboards of rimu and totara wood. These weren't bulletproof. When the church was opened on 5 April 1863, this was the largest building and centre of the community - although it was just by , excluding porch and belfry. The church stands on the high ground of the crater rim, in what would have been a natural defensive position, but for the dense bush which still came uncomfortably close, except to the south, where land had been cleared for a cemetery.
War in the Waikato
On Sunday 12 July 1863 General Cameron's Army advanced into Waikato territory from its frontier base of Pōkeno. The settlers of Pukekohe East, a few miles away, received no official notice; they were informed that afternoon by Reverend Norrie, who had conducted a service for the soldiers. The 65th Regiment advanced through their settlements later that day.
The settlers had little understanding that they would be subject to guerilla warfare from Kiingitanga Maori responding to the Waikato invasion. They did realise the danger to women and children and most were sent to safety in Auckland. Some farms were abandoned, especially those that were isolated or near areas of dense bush. Cattle were left to wander and these became a target for the Kiingitanga attackers. Abandoned farm houses were ransacked by Māori mainly looking for food and thieves stole tools and other useful equipment. The Auckland area north of the self-proclaimed Maori border became a hive of military activity and guerilla warfare for many months.