Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is situated between Kerikeri

Kerikeri

Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...

 and Lake Omapere

Lake Omapere

Lake Omapere is a small lake in the Northland Region of New Zealand. It is located just to the north of the town of Kaikohe.The lake is five km in length and covers 14 km², but only two to three metres deep at its deepest point...

, west of the Bay of Islands

Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

.

Okuratope Pa was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete (father of Hongi Hika

Hongi Hika

Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

) of the Ngai Tawake hapu

Hapu

A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...

 in the late 18th-early 19th centuries. A major disturbance took place here in 1800, when an attacking Ngare Raumati war party from Te Rawhiti murdered and ate chief Te Maoi's wife, Te Auparo as well as their daughter, Te Karehu. This led to revenge attacks, which lasted over two decades; and resulted in the comprehensive defeat of the Ngare Raumati and the conquest of their lands by Ngapuhi (including Te Maoi and Te Auparo's three chiefly sons; Te Wharerahi

Te Wharerahi

Te Wharerahi was a highly-respected rangatira of the Ipipiri area of Aotearoa/New Zealand.- Origins and mana :...

, Rewa, and Moka 'Kainga-mataa'

Moka 'Kainga-mataa'

Moka Kainga-mataa [Te Kaingamataa/Te Kaingamata/Te Kainga-mata/Te Kainga-mataa] was a Māori rangatira of the Ngā Puhi iwi from Northland in New Zealand...

.

It was one of the earliest centres of European settlement and features the second-oldest surviving European building in New Zealand, at Te Waimate mission

Te Waimate mission

The Waimate Mission established one of the earliest settlements in New Zealand, at Waimate North in the Bay of IslandsAt the instigation of Samuel Marsden, a model farming village for Māori was constructed at Te Waimate by the Church Missionary Society...

. The first European wedding in New Zealand was conducted on 11 October 1831 at the St John the Baptist church, when William Gilbert Puckey

William Gilbert Puckey

William Gilbert Puckey , born in Penryn, England, was a prominent missionary in New Zealand. He accompanied his parents to New Zealand at the age of 14 and quickly learned the Māori language, speaking it fluently by age 16, and becoming widely regarded as one of the best interpreters of Māori in...

(26), son of a Missionary carpenter, William Puckey, married Matilda Elizabeth Davis (17), second daughter of the Missionary Rev. Richard Davis.

The St John the Baptist church at Waimate North was built in 1871.

Waimate North Christian School closed in 2005.