Puketutu and Its People By Michael Bassett, Paul Goldsmith.

Publisher: David Ling Publishing Limited, New Zealand, 2008, First Edition.

Very good hardback with jacket. Gift inscription to title page otherwise in near new condition. Jacket has light shelf-wear. 116 pages, illustrated.

Puketutu is the only substantial island in the Manukau Harbour. Formed thousands of years ago by of a series of volcanic eruptions that threw up nearby Mangere mountain as well, the island remained a discrete entity because it lacked easy access to the mainland until the late 1930s when a causeway was constructed. Even then, mystery lurked behind massive gates. In 1940 it became a haven of peace to the wealthy brewer, Henry Kelliher and his family who made many changes to the island. Puketutu has been home to many during its 600 years of habitation. As Maori iwi struggled for supremacy within Tamaki-Makaurau prior to European settlement, Tainui, Waiohua, Nga-Oho, Ngati Paoa, Te Taou and Ngati Whatua claimed suzerainty over it. Parts of the island were cultivated for kumara. Archeological investigation suggests it was occasionally a refuge for Maori under attack. Pigs were probably raised on the island before its sale in 1845 for A#5 and ten blankets by Ngati Whatua's Apihai Te Kawau to Thomas Jackson. He was the first of nine Pakeha to own the 479-acre island. Since then it has been owned by a mini 'who's who' of Auckland. John Logan Campbell, Robert Hall, John Massey (the Prime Minister's brother), the Bulls and the Kellihers have all left marks on Puketutu. Leading citizens have visited the island's families, their substantial homesteads and gardens, their sheep, and, in Sir Henry Kelliher's day, his prize cattle and stud horses. This is a fascinating social history about an unobtrusive corner of Auckland by two leading historians.

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