WHEREAS by a deed-poll or grant from the Crown under the hand of His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B., and sealed with the seal of the Colony of New Zealand, made under the provisions of “The Native Lands Act, 1865,” and “The Native Land Act, 1866,” dated the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, Her Majesty granted unto Henare Tomoana, Arihi te Nahu, Manacna Tini, Matiaha, Paramena One One, Apera Pahora, Karaitiana Takamoana, Te Waka Kawatini, Noa Huke, and Tareha Moananui, of the Ahuriri district, in the Province of Hawke’s Bay, aboriginal natives of New Zealand, their heirs and assigns, all that parcel of land in the Province of Hawke’s Bay, in the Colony of New Zealand, containing by admeasurement nineteen thousand three hundred and eighty-five acres, more or less, situate at the Heretaunga, in the district of Ahuriri, called or known by the name of “Heretaunga,” and numbered twenty-eight (n), bounded towards the north-west by the Waitio Stream, towards the north-east by the Ohika Karewa Block nine thousand five hundred and twenty links and by the Ohiwhia Stream, and on all other sides by the Ngaruroro River, to hold unto the said Henare Tomoana, Arihi te Nahu, Manaena Tini, Matiaha, Paramena One One, Apera Pahora, Karaitiana Takamoana, Te Waka Kawatini, Noa Huke, and Tareha Moananui, their heirs and assigns, for ever:

And whereas by virtue of divers conveyances and assurances in the law all the estate, right, title, and interest of the said Te Waka Kawatini and Tareha Moananui in the said parcel of land called or known as Heretaunga had become, and was on the twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, vested in James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner, all of the Province of Hawke’s Bay, sheep-farmers:

And whereas prior to the said twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, all the estate, right, title, and interest of the said Arihi te Nahu in the said parcel of land called or known by the name of Heretaunga had become and then was vested in Thomas Purvis Russell, of Hawke’s Bay, sheep-farmer, and John Nathaniel Wilson, of Napier, solicitor, upon the trusts of a certain deed dated the eighth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, registered in the Deeds Registry Office at Hawke’s Bay as number four thousand and thirty-five:

And whereas by virtue of a certain deed of conveyance dated the twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, registered in the Deeds Registry Office at Hawke’s Bay as number five thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, made between the said Henare Tomoana, Manaena Tini, Paramena One One, Karaitiana Takamoana, Noa Huke, Hirika, and Arihi te Nahu his wife, and Apera Pahora of the first part, the said Thomas Purvis Russell and John Nathaniel Wilson of the second part, and the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner of the third part, all the estate, right, title, and interest of the said Henare Tomoana, Manaena Tini, Paramena One One, Karaitiana Takamoana, Noa Huke, Hirika, and Arihi te Nahu his wife, and of the said Apera Pahora, and of the said Thomas Purvis Russell and John Nathaniel Wilson, in the said parcel of land called or known by the name of Heretaunga, was conveyed and assured unto the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner, their heirs and assigns, for ever:

And whereas the said Matiaha died at some time during the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight; and on the seventeenth day of September, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, an order was duly made by the Native Land Court whereby Rata te Houi, of Hawke’s Bay, aboriginal native, was appointed the successor to the estate, share, and interest of the said Matiaha in the said parcel of land called or known by the name of Heretaunga:

And whereas by virtue of a certain deed, dated the nineteenth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, registered in the Deeds Registry Office at Napier as number five thousand nine hundred and one, made between the said Rata te Houi of the one part, and the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner of the other part, all the estate, right, title, and interest of the said Matiaha and of the said Rata to Houi as his successor in the said parcel of land called or known by the name of Heretaunga became vested in the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner:

And whereas on or about the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner made and executed a deed of conveyance to Samuel Locke, of Napier, sheep-farmer, and the said Thomas Purvis Russell, of a part of the said parcel of land called or known by the name of Heretaunga, which said deed was and is in the words and figures following:—“This deed is made the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, between James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner, all of the Province of Hawke’s Bay and Colony of New Zealand, sheep-farmers, of the one part, and Samuel Locke, of Napier, in the said province, Esquire, and Thomas Purvis Russell, of Woburn, in the said province, sheep-farmers, of the other part: Whereas by deed bearing date the twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and made between Henare Tomoana, Manaena Tini, Paramena One One, Karaitiana Takamoana, Noa Huke, Hirika, and Arihi te Nahu his wife, and Apera Pahora, therein described, of the first part, Thomas Purvis Russell and John Nathaniel Wilson of the second part, and the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner of the third part, all the shares of the said parties thereto of the first and second parts of and in all that parcel of land called the Heretaunga Block were conveyed to the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner for the consideration therein expressed: And whereas by other separate deeds of conveyance the shares of all the other grantees of the said block of land were conveyed to the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner for the considerations in the said deeds respectively expressed: And whereas at the time of the execution of the said conveyance it was agreed that the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner should by this present deed convey the parcel of land hereinafter described, being portion of the lands conveyed by the deeds now in. recital, unto the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, nevertheless upon and for the trusts hereinafter described of and concerning the same: Now, this deed witnesseth that, in consideration of the premises and of the said agreement, and in pursuance thereof, and also in consideration of the sum of ten shillings to the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner paid by the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, they, the said James Gillespie Gordon, Andrew Hamilton Russell, John Davies Ormond, James Nelson Williams, and Thomas Tanner, do, and each of them for himself doth, hereby convey and assure unto the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, their heirs and assigns, all that piece or parcel of land called the Karamu Reserve, and being portion of the Heretaunga Block, containing by admeasurement one thousand six hundred and one acres, more or less, bounded on the north by the River Ohiwia, on the east by the River Ngaruroro, on the south-west by land now in the occupation of the said Thomas Tanner, and on the west by land now in the occupation of the said James Nelson Williams, as the same is shown and delineated on the plan thereof drawn hereon, to hold the said parcel of land and hereditaments unto the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, their heirs and assigns, nevertheless upon and for the trusts hereinafter declared of and concerning the same: And it is hereby declared and agreed that the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, their heirs and assigns, shall stand seised of the said parcel of land hereby conveyed upon trust for such person or persons and to such use and purposes as the Native Land Court shall, by an order to be made under the seventeenth clause of ‘The Native Land Act, 1867,’ declare and order: In witness whereof the said parties have hereunto subscribed their names the day and year first above written:”

And whereas the said parcel of land known as Karamu, described in the said deed of the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, was then, and had been prior to the issue of the said Crown grant of the said parcel of land known as Heretaunga, and has always heretofore continued, in the actual possession and occupation of a tribe of Natives called or known by the name of the “Ngatihori:”

And whereas on or about the seventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, the said Arihi te Nahu, Hamiora Tupaea, Paramena One One, and Hotene Ruri as successor to the said Apera Pahora, commenced a suit in the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington District, number two hundred and twenty-seven, Gisborne Registry, in respect of the said parcel of land called or known as “Karamu,” against the said Thomas Tanner, John Davies Ormond, Andrew Hamilton Russell, and James Nelson Williams, and the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, and the said Henare Tomoana, Noa Huke, and Charles Debenham Bennett and Cholwell Dean Pitt as trustees of the will of the said Karaitiana Takamoana deceased, to which said suit Moanaroa Kokohu and Porokoru Tiakipou, as the successors of the said Manaena Tini deceased, and the said John Nathaniel Wilson were subsequently added as parties by order of the said Court:

And whereas divers interlocutory decrees or orders were made in the said suit number two hundred and twenty-seven, Gisborne Registry, and amongst other orders and decrees an order or decree was on the twenty-second day of September, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, made in the said suit whereby amongst other things it was ordered that the costs of all parties to the said suit as between solicitor and client, including the plaintiffs’ costs, charges, and expenses properly incurred in obtaining the succession order to Manaena Tini deceased, should be taxed by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington District, at Napier, and that the costs when so taxed as aforesaid should be a charge upon the said parcel of land called or known as the Karamu Block; and the said Thomas Purvis Russell and Samuel Locke were thereby authorised and ordered to raise by way of mortgage of the said Karamu Block, without their personal covenant or liability, or from time to time by way of sale of a part or parts of the said Karamu Block, as might be deemed necessary or expedient, such sum or sums of money as might be necessary to pay the costs, charges, and expenses to the respective solicitors for the different parties to the said action, and should pay the same to the said solicitors respectively:

And whereas the said Thomas Purvis Russell and Samuel Locke, pursuant to the said order, raised from the Colonial Bank of New Zealand on the fifth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the sum of one thousand six hundred pounds, and on the same day made and executed to the said bank, pursuant to the said order, a certain deed of mortgage, which is registered in the Deeds Registry Office at Napier as number twenty-two thousand one hundred and eighty-two, of the said lands called or known as the Karamu Block, for the purpose of securing the due payment of the said sum of one thousand six hundred pounds, and of such further sums as should thereafter be advanced by the said bank to the said Thomas Purvis Russell and Samuel Locke, with interest thereon as therein mentioned:

And whereas the said bank after the execution of the said deed advanced to the said Thomas Purvis Russell and Samuel Locke, pursuant to the said order, on the ninth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the further sum of one hundred and ninety-four pounds nine shillings and one penny; on the twelfth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the further sum of five hundred and ninety-nine pounds eight shillings and twopence; and on the twenty-ninth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the further sum of eighty pounds and sixpence, all which said sums, with interest thereon at the rate of eight pounds per centum per annum, still remain owing to the said bank:

And whereas by another interlocutory decree or order made in the said suit number two hundred and twenty-seven, Gisborne Registry, on the thirtieth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, it was amongst other things ordered that the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell should stand seised of the said parcel of land called or known by the name of the Karamu Block, in trust for the said Henare Tomoana, the trustees of the said Arihi te Nahu, the trustees of the said Karaitiana Takamoana, the said Hotene te Ruri, the said Paramena One One, the said Noa Huke, and the said Moanaroa Kokohu and Porokoru Tiakipou, in the proportions in the said order or decree mentioned: And it was further ordered that the said parcel of land known as the Karamu Block, except certain portions thereof in the said decree or order mentioned, should be sold by public auction by the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell on the seventh day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, upon the terms and in manner in the said decree or order mentioned: And it was further ordered that the residue of the said parcel of land should be valued as therein mentioned, and that, as to part thereof, the said IIenare Tomoana, Noa Huke, Moanaroa Kokohu, and Porokoru Tiakipou should be at liberty to purchase the same upon the ascertainment of the valuation thereof, and that, as to the residue thereof, the said Henarc Tomoana should be at liberty to purchase at such valuation:

And whereas on the third day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, of Karamu, aboriginal natives, commenced in the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington District, a suit, number four thousand four hundred and thirty, Wellington Registry, wherein the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena were plaintiffs, and the said Samuel Locke and Thomas Purvis Russell, and the said Arihi te Nahu and Hamiora Tupaea, and the said Paramena One One, the said Hotene Ruri (as successor to Apera Pahora), and the said Henarc Tomoana and Noa Huke, and the said Charles Debenham Bennett and Cholwell Dean Pitt (as the trustees of the will of the said Karaitiana Takamoana), and the said Moanaroa Kokohu and Porokoru Tiakipou (as the successor of the said Manaena Tini deceased), and the said John Nathaniel Wilson were defendants, to which said suit the said the Colonial Bank of New Zealand was afterwards added as a defendant by order of the said Court, wherein, amongst other things, the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, the plaintiffs in the said suit, alleged that they, the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena and other persons, members of the Ngatihori Tribe, were at the time of the negotiations for the sale of the said parcel of land known as Heretaunga, which was carried into effect by the said deed of conveyance, dated the twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, residing upon and cultivating that portion of the said block of land called Heretaunga which is called or known by the name of the Karamu Block or the Karamu Reserve; and that the said Peni to Ua and Reihana Paukena, and such other persons, were the owners of the said lands according to Native custom, and were always regarded as such owners by the Native defendants to the said suit and their predecessors; and they also averred that they were advised and believed that the trusts of the said deed of the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, were valid and ought to be carried into effect; and that upon an inquiry in the Native Land Court, pursuant to the prayer in the said suit, it would appear that the plaintiffs and the said other persons, members of the Ngatihori Tribe, then residing upon and in occupation of the said block of land known as Karamu, would be found to be the persons entitled thereto under the trusts of the same deed; and, as a further cause of action, the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena also alleged in the said suit that they, the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, and the said other persons, members of the Ngatihori Tribe, then residing upon and cultivating the said block of land known as Karamu, had for the space of twenty years and upwards held, kept, and enjoyed, as of right, the exclusive and undisturbed possession of the said block of land known as Karamu, and that the rights and interests, if any, of all other persons in the said parcel of land had become, and then were, barred by the Statute of Limitations in that behalf; and the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena prayed in the said suit that it might be declared, by the decree of the said Court, that the trusts of the said deed of the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, were valid and effectual, and that the same should be carried into effect, and that a reference might be ordered to the Native Land Court to ascertain and determine the right, title, estate, and interest of the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, and of all other claimants to the said land, and also the right, title, estate, and interest of every other person and every tribe which, according to Native custom, would have been interested in the said land if the said land had remained Native land, and that the defendants in the said action, and each and every of them, might be restrained by the order and injunction. of the said Court until the final determination of the said action number four thousand four hundred and thirty, Wellington Registry, or until the further order of the said Court, from further prosecuting the said suit number two hundred and twenty-seven, Gisborne Registry, and from proceeding further with the sale of the said land; and in the alternative the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena prayed that it might be declared that the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, and such other persons as aforesaid, had acquired by prescription an estate of fee-simple of inheritance in possession in the said parcel of land known as Karamu, and that the defendants in the said action might be restrained by the order and injunction of the said Court from dealing with the said parcel of land in derogation of the rights of the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, and from interfering with or molesting the said Peni te Ua and Reihana Paukena, and such other persons, in the enjoyment of the said parcel of land:

And whereas by an interlocutory order made in the said action number four thousand four hundred and thirty, Wellington Registry, on the third day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, it was ordered that the defendants in the said action number four thousand four hundred and thirty, Wellington Registry, be, and they were thereby, restrained until the further order of the said Court from further prosecuting the said action number two hundred and twenty-seven, Gisborne Registry, and from proceeding further with the sale of the said parcel of land known as the Karamu Block, under the decree or order made in the said action number two hundred and twenty-seven. Gisborne Registry, on the thirtieth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, or under any other authority:

And whereas the said action number four thousand four hundred and thirty, Wellington Registry, came on for trial at Napier on the twenty-ninth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and the said trial was continued on the thirtieth day of March, and on the first, second, third, and fourth days of April, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, on which last-mentioned day, the said action being partly heard, and the plaintiffs’ case not yet being closed, an agreement was come to in open Court by counsel for all the parties to the said action, with the approval of his Honour the Chief Justice who presided at the trial of the said action, for the compromise and settlement of the said action, which agreement was and is in the following terms:—