He mokopuna a Kaiārahi Alfred Warbrick nā Mokonuiarangi o Ngāti Rangitihi. Nāna hoki te hū o Tarawera i kite i tana hopuni i tū ai i tana whenua.
“Nōku e mātaki ana i te maunga tapu rā e pakaru haere ana i a ia e ruaki nei i te ahi tipua, kotahi noa iho te whakaaro i taku mahara, arā ko taku whaea me ngā tini mate e takoto ana i ngā ana kōiwi kua kore i te pakarutanga o te maunga rā.”
Ka toko ake te whakaaro i a Warbrick kia torona te ringa āwhina, nō reira, i te 14 o Hune, i muri tonu i tāna whakaheke i ētehi poti i tētehi pari paru ki te wai, ka ārahina e ia tana ope tokoiwa kia kitea te parekura nui o Te Ariki me Moura.
Ka tae tuatahi atu ki Moura kia kitea kua waipukehia katoatia te wāhi rā ki te waiparu. Ka ohorere hoki i te nui o te paru i Te Ariki, heoi, ka haere tonu. Ka hoea tonuhia ngā waka tae noa atu ki te ahiahi rā anō kia kitea noatia kua nunumi kē te pā.
I taua wā tonu rā, i te haere hoki tētehi tira o Ngāti Rangitihi i te takiwā o Rangitaiki mā Rotomahana ka tūtaki ai ki a Warbrick mā i Te Ariki. I reira ka tangi ngātahi ngā tira e rua i tā rātau i kite ai.
Nā wai, nā wai, ka tonoa a Alfred kia ārahina tētehi tira ki Rotomahana kia kitea te otinga atu o Te Tarata me Ōtūkapuarangi i muri mai i te pahūnga. Ka heke rāua tahi ko tētehi kaipūrongo mā te taura ki tētehi rua pungatara kia kitea ngā tūāpapa. Ahakoa te uaua o tāna i kite ai, te āhua nei ko Ōtūkapuarangi kei raro i te paru, heoi, nā te mōrearea i mutu ai te tūhuratanga, ā, kua pērā mai i tērā wā ki tēnei rangi tonu nei.
I muri i te pahūtanga, ka hau te rongo o Alfred hei kaiārahi i tana kaha ārahi i te hunga manene ki Tarawera mā te riu o Waimangu. I te tau 1903, ka toro anō a Hine-nui-te-pō i ōna ringa kūreherehe ki ētehi i te pahūnga o te puia o Waimangu. Ko tētehi o te tokowhā i mate, ko tōna teina, ko Kaiārahi Joseph Warbrick (toki purei whutupōro).
E waru tekau tau te pakeke o Alfred Patchett Warbrick i tana matenga i te tau 1940. I whai wāhi ia ki ētehi kaupapa nui whakaharahara i te hītōria o Aotearoa.
Qualities: humility, wellbeing, diligence, innovation
Did you know?
‘Alf’ was himself a fine rugby player and one of New Zealand Natives Football Representatives led by his brother Joe
who toured Britain in 1888.
More to read:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2w7/warbrick-alfred-patchett
Read ‘The Night Tarawera Awoke’ in this article by Vaughan Yarwood and published by New Zealand Geographic:
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-night-tarawera-awoke
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/four-killed-by-geyser-in-rotorua
This entry is related to these other entries:
Joe Warbrick: Rugby hero; Tūhoto Ariki: The tohunga of who foretold disaster;
Sources:
Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa