item details
W Hawkins; engraver (printmaker); 1847
Overview
NGEUNGEU, AND HER SON JAMES MAXWELL.
NGEUNGEU is the daughter of Tara, the principal chief of the Nga-ti-tai tribe, and was married to Thomas Maxwell, an industrious and enterprising settler, who resided for many years at the Island of Waiheke, situated in the frith of the Thames, near the entrance of the river Waitemata, on the banks of which the Town of Auckland is built.
She is the mother of several interesting children, besides the one delineated in the plate. About three years ago, she lost her husband, who was drowned at sea; he had built a small schooner, which he called the "Sarah Maxwell," and after taking his departure from Auckland, on his first voyage, was never again heard of. A very heavy gale of wind from N. E., set in shortly after he left port, and it is supposed his vessel foundered with all on board. Mrs. Maxwell was deeply affected with her loss, and although solicited by more than one European to re-enter the marriage state, she has declined every offer, and still remains a widow. She possesses a considerable estate in land, which circumstance, no doubt, rendered an alliance with her an object of ambition to those who aspired to her hand.
Since her husband's death, she has generally resided at Omupuia, her native village. She is highly respected for the propriety of her conduct, and is very neat in her habits.
She is represented wearing a garland of the pendulous blossoms of the Red Kowai (Clianthus pumiceas) called by the natives Kowai ngutu Kaka, or Parrot's Bill; and her dress is one of the finer kinds of flax garments, made by herself, and ornamented with tufts of scarlet wool.
Text for plate 3: The New Zealanders illustrated / by George French Angas. -- London: Thomas M'Lean, 1847 (RB001054)