Editing Rawene (section)

==History==
[[Image:Rawene building.jpg|thumb|This strange shaped building was originally a joinery factory making doors, windows and coffins.]]

Rawene started as a timber centre, with a mill and shipyards<ref>Most shipbuilding in the Hokianga occurred at [[Kohukohu, New Zealand]] and [[Horeke]]</ref> established in the early 19th century. An attempted settlement by the first [[New Zealand Company]] in 1826 failed.<ref name=TeAra /> Captain James Herd in 1822 had taken out the first shipment of [[Agathis australis|kauri]] from the Hokianga in his ship ''Providence''. In 1825 he returned as an agent for the Company, sailing the ''Rosanna'' in company with the ''Lambton'',<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Moon
| first1 = Paul
| author-link1 = Paul Moon
| title = A Savage Country
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KFBN8Vp5W8EC
| publisher = Penguin Books Limited
| publication-date = 2012
| isbn = 9781742532431
| access-date = 2016-05-03
| quote = The company acquired two ships – the Rosanna and the Lambton – with James Herd, whom the Company had appointed to lead the expedition, as captain of the former. 
}}
</ref>
and 60 settlers between the two vessels. Starting at [[Stewart Island / Rakiura]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moon |first1=Paul |title=Thomas Shepherd and the First New Zealand Company |journal=New Zealand Journal of History |date=2013 |volume=47 |url=http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/2013/NZJH_47_1_02.pdf}}</ref> Herd sailed up the east coast eventually rounding [[North Cape, New Zealand|North Cape]] to enter Hokianga - his old stamping ground. Herd negotiated to buy a vast tract of land.<ref>The deed lies in National Archives in Wellington, with a photocopy held by the Hokianga Historical Society.</ref> The deal was contested{{by whom|date=May 2016}} but for decades Europeans referred to the town as "Herd's Point".<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.wcl.govt.nz/heritage/rosanna.pdf|title=The Rosanna Settlers|last=McDonnell|first=Hilda|year=2002|pages=72|chapter=Northern New Zealand}}</ref> Later it was called "Hokianga Township", and in 1884 it became "Rawene", possibly to identify the post office and telegraph.<ref name=Irvine>{{cite book|title= Township of Rawene|last= Irvine|first= Jean|year= 1976}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=May 2016}}

The post office had started operating by 1845 - one of eight in the country.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/PostOffice/History/en|title= POST OFFICE - HISTORY|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]]}}</ref>

[[Aperahama Taonui]], chief of [[Te Popoto]] hapū, allegedly operated a school at Rawene in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/T/TaonuiAperahama/TaonuiAperahama/en|title=TAONUI, Aperahama|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]]}}</ref>

[[James Reddy Clendon]], previously the [[United States Ambassador to New Zealand|United States Consul]] to New Zealand, settled in Rawene in 1862 and served as the local magistrate under the [[Native Circuit Courts Act]] until 1867.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1C19
|title= Clendon, James Reddy|publisher= [[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]]}}</ref> His house still stands and is open to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historic.org.nz/places2visit/places2visit_northland.html#1|title= Northland Heritage Sites|publisher= [[Heritage New Zealand]]}}</ref>

By 1872 Rawene had two hotels and two stores. There was a Wesleyan church, and the Roman Catholics owned a section. Von Sturmer was the Postmaster, Customs Officer and Magistrate.<ref>{{cite book|title= Remember the Hokianga|editor= Olive Harris and Chris Lancaster|isbn= 978-0-473-11859-4|chapter= The Pioneers Reminisce - Memoirs of Alfred Cooke Yarborough|year= 2006|page= 162|publisher= O. Harris}}</ref>

During the [[Dog Tax War]] of 1898 the residents of Rawene left for [[Kohukohu, New Zealand|Kohukohu]] or took refuge on a steamer after the tax rebels threatened to march on the town.<ref>Alfred Cooke Yarborough in ''Remember the Hokianga'' p 164</ref> On 5 May 1898 120 men marched from Rawene to Waima to deal with the "rebels", but the dispute was settled without them.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/H/HokiangaAndHarbour/HokiangaAndHarbour/en|title= HOKIANGA AND HARBOUR|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]] | quote = In May 1898 Hokianga was the scene of the famous "Dog Tax Rebellion". This arose when the Mahurehure hapu of Ngapuhi tribe refused to pay a dog tax recently instituted by the local county council. On 5 May 120 men of the Permanent Force under Colonel Newall marched from Rawene to Waima, the seat of the "rebellion", only to find that Hone Heke, M.H.R., had already interceded to preserve the peace.}}</ref>

[[File:View of Rawene, 1918. ATLIB 296503.png|thumb|View of Rawene in 1918]]
A small cottage hospital was built on a hill overlooking the town in 1910.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/Northland/Northland/13/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en|title= Northland - Hospital services|encyclopedia= [[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]}}</ref> A new hospital was completed in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.hokiangahealth.org.nz/system/showpage.asp?section=history&page=the_hospital_in_1928.xml|title= History: The Hospital in 1928|publisher= Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust}}</ref> Dr [[George Marshall McCall Smith|George McCall Smith]] headed the hospital from 1914 to 1948 and developed a unique health-system for the Hokianga.<ref>{{cite book|title= A Northland Legend: Dr G.M. Smith of Rawene 1883 &ndash; 1958|last= Parkes|first= W. F.|publisher= [[The Auckland Medical History Society]]|date= August 2004|isbn= 0-476-00851-4}}</ref>

Dr Smith became a practitioner of "painless childbirth" in the early 1930s, using [[premedication]] with the barbiturate [[Nembutal]] combined with [[Hyoscine]]. This proved very popular and attracted women to Rawene from far afield. The annual average of thirty births per year now peaked at two hundred. In 1937 a "Commission of Inquiry into Maternity Services" investigated Smith's practice. Smith fronted up with case notes on his last two hundred patients, and his results could not be bettered anywhere.<ref>Parkes, pp 18-19</ref>

Parliament declared a special health area in the 1940s.<ref>Parliament gazetted the scheme on 1 September 1941 (NZ Gazette, 28 August 1941, p2702, but it lay in limbo until September 1945 before a "trial period" could begin. By 1947 the hospital boards in Northland were amalgamated but Hokianga retained its special area - it was finally official.</ref> This meant that all medical officers in the Hokianga were salaried, and all consultations, pharmaceuticals, investigations and hospital admissions were free. The whole scheme was funded through a per-capita grant.<ref name=TeAra /><ref>Parkes, pp 22-23</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.hokiangahealth.org.nz/system/showpage.asp?section=history&page=dr_g_m_smith.xml|title= History: Dr G M Smith|publisher= Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust}}</ref>