Charles E. Sexey - Early Settler of New Zealand

Early Settler of New Zealand

Nothing is known of his childhood. The first recorded mention of him is an account recorded on 17 April 1935 by Mr. J. Oliphant. He was interviewing Elizabeth Mainwaring (née Sexey), the daughter of Charles, and she stated as follows: "This is the story of Rihi Huanga daughter of Charles Sexey a Pākehā (European) who came to the Waikato in the early days, long before Morgan the Missionary. He was one of four stowaway boys, all Pakehas, who came up the Waikato from the coast. Porokora and Hakepa, two of the Waikato chiefs, adopted them."

Although Sexey's arrival in New Zealand has not been dated, it thus appears to have been well before 1841, when Morgan the Missionary went to Te Awamutu where Sexey lived. The Church Missionary Society registers tell that the Reverend John Morgan was born in Dublin and in 1832, when he was 21, sailed to New Zealand. On 26 August 1835 he married Maria Mathers Coldham who arrived in New Zealand in 1832 to help her sister, the wife of the Reverend Henry Williams, to run her school. In 1841 the couple went to Te Awamutu to live and work. Te Awamutu was a pa, a settlement occupied by the Waikato people. They had fled there from Ngāpuhi at the time of the Matakitaki massacre in 1822 and were given shelter by the Ngati-Ngutu people and land at Otawhao. There a pa was built by Ngutu, son of Whaita of the Ngati-Turanga or Tainui people. This is was the world of the young Charles Sexey, a pa occupied by the Waikato people, with the ministry of the Reverend Morgan, a devout Protestant and staunch anti-Catholic.

These were early days in the history of New Zealand and the number of Europeans living there were very few. There had been ships visiting the country since c1700, but these were connected with the whaling industry and largely American in origin. The Europeans in New Zealand prior to 1840 were missionaries and their families, traders, stowaways, runaways, deserters and generally people used to a harsh life. Although the Maori people were often wary of the newcomers and occasionally inflicted violence, Pakehas not considered a threat of any kind were treated well and often lived with a tribe for many years. In 1841 it was advertised in the New Zealand Government Gazette that a letter was waiting for Sexey at the post office; this may have been a letter from a relative in England. It is clear that Sexey was well settled in New Zealand as he was called by a local name, Tiara Tikitini.

According to local custom Sexey married a chief’s daughter named Rihi (Rea) Tahuta and they had four children, Catherine (birth date unknown), Sarah (born 23 October 1846), Henry (born about 1843), and Elizabeth (born 26 March 1848). During the early years he is recorded as making his living as a ‘flour miller,’ and on his daughter Elizabeth’s marriage certificate he is shown as being a ‘storekeeper’. An Auckland street directory of 1848 shows him as having a shop in Shortland Street, and in 1847 a Mr. Hardington of the Victoria Hotel appointed Sexey as his agent.

However, on 6 June 1849 he left New Zealand forever, leaving behind his wife and four young children. He was off to make his fortune in the goldfields of California. He sailed on the brig Fanny, which arrived in San Francisco on 29 August 1849, with Captain Francis D. Leathard in charge. On board were 42 passengers with children.

The family he abandoned managed to survive. Rihi married again in 1852 and had seven more children by her new husband Hireme. Sexey’s four children endured hardship because of their mother’s connection with the Anglican Mission of John and Maria Morgan at Otowhao. The couple worked tirelessly to persuade the government to fund schools for half-caste children and their efforts were rewarded in 1849 when they opened a boarding school at their mission for twenty three children. Many half-caste children were abandoned by their European fathers and this became something of a social problem at the time. Life at the school was not easy; it was cold and the children weren’t provided with warm clothing; but they were taught to sew and also made flour bags for the local native flour mills. It meant, at least, the children who attended the school were given food, a basic education and guidance.