Wiremu Piti Pōmare (? – 29 January 1851) was a New Zealand Māori who was the chief of the Ngāti Mutunga iwi, originally of Taranaki, then of the Wellington region, then the Chatham Islands. He was often known as Pōmare Ngātata, only taking the name Wiremu Piti when he was baptised a Christian in 1842.
Pōmare's birth date is not known; he was about 30 in 1834, according to information collected by Percy Smith. His parents' names are not known. He was closely related to Ngātata-i-te-rangi, a chief of Te Āti Awa. Pōmare was among the Ngāti Mutunga who migrated from Taranaki to Waikanae in about 1824, along with other Taranaki people, including Ngātata. The migrants moved on to Wellington Harbour a year later. Pōmare settled under Ngātata at Kumutoto Stream in present-day Wellington city.
Pōmare married Tawhiti, a niece of Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa, and they had three children. After Pōmare's brother was killed in the battle of Haowhenua in 1834 and buried, Tawhiti's brothers dug up the grave, enraging Pōmare, who sent his wife back to her tribe, along with their two youngest children, keeping just the eldest child himself. He then married Hera Waitaoro, daughter of Te Manu-tohe-roa of the Puketapu hapu of Te Āti Awa.
Pōmare migrated with Ngāti Mutunga to the Chatham Islands in 1835. He became the leading Ngāti Mutunga chief about 1836–1837. In 1842, on one of his return visits to Wellington, he was baptised by Octavius Hadfield and took the Christian name Wiremu (Wi) Piti (a transliteration of William Pitt). He died in the Chatham Islands on 29 January 1851. He was succeeded as leader of Ngāti Mutunga by his nephew Wiremu Naera Pōmare.
References
- ^ Ballara, Angela. "Wiremu Piti Pōmare". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Smith, S. Percy (1910). History and Traditions of the Maoris of the West Coast North Island of New Zealand Prior to 1840. New Plymouth: Polynesian Society. p. 522.