FREDERICK

See also:

• EDWARD

EDWARD

See also:

• FREDERICK EDWARD MANING (1812-1883)

MANING (1812-1883)  , New Zealand judge and author, son of Frederick Maning, of Johnville, county Dublin, was born on the 5th of July 1812 . His father emigrated to Tasmania in the ship " Ardent " in 1824 and took up a grant of land there . Young Maning served in the fatuous expedition which attempted to drive in the Tasmanian blacks by sweeping with an unbroken line of armed men across the island . Soon afterwards he decided to try the life of a trader among the wild tribes of New Zealand, and, landing in the beautiful inlet of Hokianga in 1833, took up his abode among the Ngapuhi . With them the tall Irish lad—he stood 6 ft . 3 in.—full of daring and good-humour and as fond of fun as of fighting, quickly became a prime favourite, was adopted into the tribe, married a chief's daughter, and became a " Pakeha-Maori " (foreigner turned Maori) . With the profits of his trading he bought a farm of 200 acres on the Hokianga, for which, unlike most white adventurers of the time, he paid full value . When New Zealand was peacefully annexed in 1840, Maning's advice to the Maori was against the arrangement, but from the moment of annexation he became a loyal friend to the government, and in the wars of 1845–46 his influence was exerted with effect in the settlers' favour . Again, in 1860, he persuaded the Ngapuhi to volunteer to put down the insurrection in Taranaki . Finally, at the end of 1865, he entered the public service as a judge of the native lands court, where his unequalled knowledge of the Maori language, customs, traditions and prejudices was of solid value . In this office he served until 1881, when ill-health drove him to resign, and two years later to seek surgical aid in London, where, however, he died of cancer on the 25th of July 1883 . At his wish, his body was taken back to New Zealand and buried there .

A bust of him is placed in the public library atieluckland . Maning is chiefly remembered as the author of two

short books, Old New Zealand and History of the War in the North of New Zealand against the Chief Heke . Both books were reprinted in . London in 1876 and 1884, with an introduction by the earl of Pembroke .