Taradale is a suburb of the City of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a predominantly middle-upper class residential suburb, located 10 kilometres southwest of the centre of Napier. The Taradale ward, which includes Greenmeadows, Meeanee, and Poraiti, had a population of 22,809 in the 2018 New Zealand census.
For hundreds of years, hills overlooking what is now Taradale were the site of villages occupied by Māori people, latterly of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe. Europeans started settling at Taradale in the 1850s, and it was officially recognised as a town in 1886. It was a town district from 1886 to 1953, and a borough from 1953 to 1968, when it merged with Napier City. The Taradale area is home to some of New Zealand's oldest and finest vineyards and wineries, with a wine-making heritage dating back to the 1850s.
History
Early Māori history
Several hundred years ago there was a large Māori pā (fortified settlement) on the hills at the southern edge of what is now Taradale. Originally a double pā, the top part was called Hikurangi and the bottom Ōtātara. Occupied by a tribe known as Tini-o-Awa or Ngāti Awa, the pā terraces enclosed about 100 hectares and were home to around 3,000 Māori. The pā was on an excellent defensive site beside the Tutaekuri River, which was navigable by canoe from the sea. Food was plentiful, the hillsides were suitable for kūmara growing and much of the area was a large tidal location with fish, eels and shellfish.
The pā was attacked early in the 16th century by the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe under chiefs Taraia and Rakai-hiku-roa. They came from Tūranga, near what is now Gisborne, and defeated the Hikurangi pā. Unable to take Ōtātara at that time, Taraia set up a new pā at Pākōwhai. Some time later he organised another war party and again besieged Ōtātara. Legend has it that Taraia waited until the defenders were short of food. He then left, leaving a small party concealed near a patch of fern. The defenders sent two men out to dig for fern roots. They were ambushed then killed and their places taken by two of Taraia's men. When the defenders saw the men digging they thought them to be from Ōtātara so they opened up the pā and went out to help. Taraia's men attacked and killed many of the local Māori. The pā then collapsed and was abandoned.
Over the years marriages took place between local Māori and Ngāti Kahungunu and peace was restored. Today the Ōtātara pā site has become a memorial to the Māori who were so prevalent in the area many years ago.
Early European history
Taradale has a rich heritage stemming from its key role as the original gateway to the inland routes (including Taupō, Auckland and Taihape) and to the farms and settlements of its hinterland.
In 1851 Donald McLean purchased, on behalf of the Crown, the Ahuriri Block, which included present-day Taradale and Greenmeadows. By the mid-1850s settlers began flocking to the province. The census held in 1856 showed that in Hawke's Bay there were 1057 males and 458 females. The government purchased the Tutaekuri Block in 1856, which was subdivided, with Ahuriri Block, as the river Meeanee District and released for sale in April 1857.
William Colenso purchased several blocks of land, a large block in Puketapu, Meeanee and 364 near Ōtātara. This block stretched from Guppy Road to the Puketapu hills and was bounded by the Great North Road (now Meeanee/Puketapu Roads) and the Tutaekuri River. Henry Stokes Tiffen bought most of the land north of the road to Puketapu and west of Guppy Road and named it Green Meadows after the native danthonia grass that covered the region. Henry Alley came to the area and leased land from Colenso in 1858, naming the area Taradale.
Naming of Taradale
It was once thought that Alley called the area Taradale after the hill of Tara, County Meath, Ireland, where he was supposed to have been born. However, death records show that Henry Alley was not born in County Meath but in Queen's County, Ireland. He emigrated to South Australia and then Victoria, Australia, where he lived in the Victorian township of Taradale until circa 1855, where he and his sister purchased a number of blocks of land. Henry Alley built what was reputed to be the first house, somewhere in the vicinity of Alley Place and Lowther Place. Taradale High School retains a link with the early days of Taradale, its emblem incorporating the Tara Brooch.