Māori history

Māori settlement of the Auckland Region began around the 13th or 14th centuries.^[11][12] The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū.^[13] Many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho.^[14]

The warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region, likely sometime in the 17th century. Maki conquered and unified many the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore.^[15][16] After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, Te Whenua Roa o Kahu ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"),^[17][18] Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu.^[18][19]

Most of what is known of Greenhithe's traditional history is based on the retelling by Whatarangi Ngati of Pāremoremo in the early 20th century. Whatarangi was the mother-in-law of ethnographer George Graham, and was well-versed in the tribal histories of Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Pāoa.^[20][21] At Greenhithe, Tauhinu was established as a fortified Te Kawerau ā Maki pā, on the southern cliffs of the peninsula.^[22][23] The pā over looked Ngā Ngutuko ("The Pouted Lips"), the entrance to Oruamo or Hellyers Creek.^[24] A kāinga called Te Wharemoenanu ("The House of Sleep Talking") was located at the west of the suburb, at the entrance to Lucas Creek.^[25][26] Several other place names are known in the area, including Te Wharauakae ("The Shed of Kae"), the bay east of Greenhithe referring to a Te Kawerau ancestor who was killed here, Te Okoaratanga, the headland to the east of Greenhithe,^[27][24] and Ana Kororā, a site where kororā (little penguins) were captured in autumn.^[23] The band of the Upper Waitematā Harbour between Greenhithe and Herald Island was known as Wainoni.^[5]

Tauhinu pā, alongside other settlements of the North Shore, was attacked by Kapetaua (also known as Kapetawa) of the Hauraki Gulf around the year 1700, in retribution for Kapetaua being left stranded on Bean Rock.^[20][28][29] During the conflict between Ngāti Whātua and Kiwi Tāmaki of Waiohua, who was the paramount chief of the Auckland isthmus (circa 1740), the people of Tauhinu pā fought with Ngāti Whātua. Pahauroa, chief of Tauhinu, was wounded and died at Judges Bay during the conflict.^[20]

By the first half of the 19th century, the Greenhithe area was one of the most densely settled areas of the North Shore by Tāmaki Māori peoples.^[30] During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland due to the threat of war parties during the Musket Wars.^[31][32] Ngāti Whātua left an ahi kā presence at Tauhinu pā, which included a small number of warriors.^[20] When people returned in greater numbers to the Auckland Region in the mid-1830s, Ngāti Whātua focused resettlement in the Māngere-Onehunga area,^[33] while Te Kawerau ā Maki focused settlement at Te Henga / Bethells Beach.^[34]

European settlement

The Greenhithe area was a part of the Mahurangi Block, which was purchased by the New Zealand Government in the early 1840s.^[22] Kauri gum digging was a major income source for European settlers in the late 1840s.^[24] The first Crown land grants to European settlers in Greenhithe were to the Gamble Brothers, shoemakers from Auckland who purchased property in 1854 and 1855.^[22] The first known permanent resident was George Deane, who purchased 69 acres of land adjacent to Lucas Creek in 1858 and settled here with his wife. After struggling to make a living in the area, Deane and his wife left for Britain in 1861.^[35] During this period, the western Greenhithe headland gained the name Humbug Point by shippers who worked along the Upper Waitematā Harbour area, due to the extensive sand banks that required ships to take wide detours.^[36]

In the mid-1860s, Thomas and Mary Forgham arrived in Auckland from Birmingham, establishing a self-sustaining community in Greenhithe.^[24] Calling their farmhouse Fern Bank (later Grey Oaks), the Forghams planted fruit trees and farmed livestock.^[37] The name Greenhithe became popularised in the 1880s, after Henry James Blyth, renamed the farmstead this after he took ownership of the farm in the 1880s. Fruit boxes headed to the Auckland markets from the farm had the name Greenhithe prominently written on them.^[37] By the late 1880s, orchards growing apples, lemons and pears had become the major industry of the area.^[24]

Greenhithe began developing as a rural community in the 1910s and 1920s.^[38] Thomas Hunter established the first reliable passenger and shipping service to Auckland in 1908,^[39] the Greenhithe Hall was constructed in 1914, and the first store was opened in 1917.^[24] By the 1920s, the Greenhithe Hall had become the centre of social life for the area,^[40] and the Jonkers family fruit canning factory was opened.^[41] In 1926 the population was 134,^[38] which had grown to 471 by 1951.^[42] In the 1920s, Winstone Ltd dredged the sandy Upper Waitematā Harbour, which led to instability in the Greenhithe cliffs, causing them to collapse from 30.5 metres (100 ft) to 18.5 metres (61 ft).^[36]

Suburban development

Greenhithe became much more closely connected to Auckland when the Auckland Harbour Bridge opened in 1959,^[43] and the Greenhithe ferry service closed in 1960.^[44] In 1958, a boatyard opened on Rame Road, leading boat repair to become one of the largest enterprises in Greenhithe.^[45][46] Ferro Cement Ltd began producing concrete hulled boats in Greenhithe in the mid-1960s.^[47] As Albany and other areas of the North Shore became more popular locations for businesses in the latter 20th century, most industrial sites left Greenhithe.^[48]

Greenhithe saw a second growth burst in the 1970s, after the Upper Harbour Bridge was constructed in 1975.^[49][43] In 1971 the population had reached 1,076, and by 1981 this had grown to 1,578.^[50] Greenhithe was a targeted area for population growth by the North Shore City Council in 2002.^[51] The population of the suburb grew significantly after these changes, from 4,170 in 2001^[51] to 7,613 in 2013.^[52]

In 2007, the Upper Harbour Motorway was opened, creating a motorway connection between West Auckland and the North Shore via Greenhithe.^[53]