Russell, also known by the Māori name Kororāreka, is a town in the Bay of Islands, in New Zealand's far north. It was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand.
History
Christ Church, built in 1835 and New Zealand's oldest church.Memorial for Royal Navy personnel killed during fighting in 1845.The first public notice in New Zealand was printed for Kororarika [sic] by William Colenso's press in Paihia, across the Bay of Islands.
Māori settlement
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the area now known as Russell was inhabited by Māori because of its pleasant climate and the abundance of food, fish and fertile soil. The settlement was known as Kororāreka, and was located on the coast. The name translates to 'sweet blue penguin', after an ailing chief who had eaten a penguin broth remarked ka reka te kororā or 'the kororā is sweet'.[3][4][5]
When European and American ships began visiting New Zealand in the early 1800s, the indigenous Māori quickly recognised there were great advantages in trading with these strangers, whom they called tauiwi.[7]
The Bay of Islands offered a safe anchorage and had a large Māori population. To attract ships, Māori began to supply food, timber and prostitution. In exchange, the Māori population traded for firearms, alcohol and other goods of European manufacture.
Kororāreka developed as a result of this trade but soon earned a reputation as a community full of prostitution and without laws. It became known as the "Hell Hole of the Pacific";[8] European law had no influence and Māori law was seldom enforced within the town's area. Fighting on the beach at Kororāreka in March 1830, between northern and southern subtribes (hapū) within the Ngāpuhi iwi, became known as the Girls' War.
On 30 January 1840 at Christ Church, Governor William Hobson read his proclamations (which were the beginnings of the Treaty of Waitangi) in the presence of a number of settlers and the Māori chief Moka Te Kainga-mataa. A document confirming what had happened was signed at this time by around forty witnesses, including Moka, the only Māori signatory. The following week, the treaty proceedings moved across to the western side of the bay to Waitangi.[9]
By this time, Kororāreka was an important mercantile centre and served as a vital resupply port for whaling and sealing operations. When the Colony of New Zealand was founded in that year, Hobson was reluctant to choose Kororāreka as his capital, due to its bad reputation. Instead, he purchased land at Okiato, situated five kilometres to the south, and renamed it Russell in honour of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord John Russell. Hobson soon decided that the move to the Okiato site was a mistake, and Auckland was selected as the new capital not long after.[10]
Kororāreka was part of the Port of Russell, and after Russell (now Okiato) became virtually deserted, Kororāreka gradually came to be known as Russell as well. In January 1844, Governor Robert FitzRoy officially designated Kororāreka as part of the township of Russell. Today, the name Russell applies only to Kororāreka, while the former capital is known either by its original name of Okiato or as Old Russell.
On 18 November 1844, while at anchor in the Bay of Islands, Mary Davis Wallis described "Kororarika" [sic] as a town "which appears small, consisting of a few houses along the shore, and cottages scattered here and there on the slope of the hills behind. Nothing is to be seen back of the town but lofty hills not particularly verdant."[11]
Flagstaff War
The Flagstaff War was touched off in 1845 by the repeated felling and re-erection of the Union Jack on Flagstaff Hill above the town. The town was sacked by Hōne Heke, after diversionary raids drew away the British defenders. The flagstaff was felled for the fourth time at the commencement of the Battle of Kororāreka, and the inhabitants fled aboard British ships, which then shelled and destroyed most of the houses.[12]
Russell had a population of 798 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 36 people (4.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 96 people (13.7%) since the 2013 census. There were 384 males, 408 females and 3 people of other genders in 408 dwellings.[16] 3.0% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 61.0 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 57 people (7.1%) aged under 15 years, 66 (8.3%) aged 15 to 29, 342 (42.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 330 (41.4%) aged 65 or older.[15]
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 84.6% European (Pākehā); 21.8% Māori; 1.5% Pasifika; 1.9% Asian; 1.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.3% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 98.5%, Māori language by 4.9%, and other languages by 12.8%. No language could be spoken by 0.8% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 33.1, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Of those at least 15 years old, 150 (20.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 366 (49.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 177 (23.9%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $32,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 63 people (8.5%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 258 (34.8%) people were employed full-time, 123 (16.6%) were part-time, and 15 (2.0%) were unemployed.[15]
Much of the accommodation in the area consists of holiday homes or tourist accommodation.
Marae
The local Kororāreka Marae is a traditional meeting ground of Te Kapotai, a hapū of Ngāpuhi.[17][18]
Russell is now mostly a "bastion of cafés, gift shops and B&Bs".[12]
Pompallier Mission, the historic printery/tannery/storehouse of the early Roman Catholic missionaries, is the oldest surviving industrial building in New Zealand, while the town's Christ Church is the country's oldest surviving Anglican church.[20] The surrounding area also contains many expensive holiday homes, as well as New Zealand's most expensive rental accommodation, the Eagles Nest.[12] The photographer Laurence Aberhart lives here.
A car ferry across the Bay of Islands runs between Okiato and Opua, and is the main tourist access to Russell. There is a land connection, but this requires a substantial detour (the ferry route is only 2.3 kilometres, while the land route is 43.5 km[21]).
Education
Russell School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school[22] with a roll of 63 as of August 2024.[23] The school opened in 1892.[24]
^Binney, Judith (2007). Te Kerikeri 1770–1850, The Meeting Pool, Bridget Williams Books (Wellington) in association with Craig Potton Publishing (Nelson). ISBN1877242381.
^Wallis, Mary (a lady) (2002). Life in Feejee : five years among the cannibals, a woman's account of voyaging the Fiji Islands aboard the "Zotoff" (1844–49). Santa Barbara, Calif.: Narrative Press. p. 10. ISBN1-58976-208-8.
^ abcRussell (from the Lonely Planet New Zealand, 13th Edition, September 2006.
