Any males who are directly descended in an unbroken male line from Te Here West may be interested in joining the
West DNA project on FamilyTreeDNA, regardless of whether they carry the 'West' family name
or not (i.e. adoption cases).
Te Here was born prior to 1840 to a Māori community that did not keep written records.
Te Here died on March 26 1904 with a recorded age of
68,[1] so he is calculated as being born in 1836 or 1837, probably at the kaik at
Otago.[2]
In about 1839 Te Here's mother Titapu became the wife of Francis Octavius Harwood and died three years later, in 1842, of
tuberculosis.[3] A portrait of Te Here
was done in 1843, him looking to be about six years old. The lithograph of ‘Harry Bluff’ first published in 1852 describes him living with his
‘doting old grandfather’ and having interesting manners and appearance. The author expresses worry for Te Here, noting how he has ‘already
learned’ to play cards and smoke a
pipe.[4] His step-father Francis also looked after
him.[5]
Edward Shortland who conducted a census of the South Island from Akaroa to the Bluff in 1843 published in his 1851 book about his
travels;[6] on pages 15 and 16 he is describing Pokeni living 'near [Ōtākou]' and how he is usually accompanied by 'his wife's elder brother's
great-grandson'.[7] There seems to be a miscommunication or misunderstanding for Shortland as other sources describe his own grandson (Te
Here)[8] which makes more sense. However, Shortland describes on page 18 that the boy's name was 'Timoko', four years old, and his father was
Kohi (wife
Piro)
who lived at Koputai (known to Europeans as Boiler Point, near Port Chalmers) and was beaten by Karetai and Te Matahara, just before Shortland arrived.
Strictly-speaking, the account given to Shortland says Kohi strangled himself with a rope which Taiaroa tried to tie around him to save him dying at
Te Matahara's hand.
Francis Harwood had a daughter, Mary Piro Harwood, whose mother was apparently also a Piro. According to several Ancestry members' trees,
she is 'Piromate' and is indeed the wife of 'Rakatira Kohi' and mother of Timoko or 'Timothy'. These Ancestry trees only cite each other as sources,
and several suggest he died 'abt. 1852' when Shortland published his book. According to Mac Harwood, Piro was Pokene's
niece,[9] so any child of hers is actually Pokene's own grandnephew.
Te Here was baptised in 1845 as Hoani
Wetere.[10] The 1925 ‘Blue Book’ relaying census information from 1848 records Te Here and his grandparents Pokene and Hinetaumai living in
Southland.[11] There seems to be confusion in the census which labels a Titapu Pokene as our ancestress when our Titapu was apparently deceased, compare:
Te Here moved south to Ruapuke where he ('Henry West') married Dorcas Honor in
1858.[12] After moving to Rakiura, he was on the first school committee in
1874.[13]
Te Here’s second marriage was to a Martha West in
1888[15] on Rakiura, apparently daughter to Te Tuini Pihawai West born in Campbelltown in 1848, who was apparently Te Here’s half-brother. Martha was born in
Kaiapoi 1857. Te Tuini’s son, Tame Whakamaua Pihawai West, was also born about 1874 in
Campbelltown.[16]
The family rumour
Consider joining the African DNA project,
especially if you have a significant amount of African DNA.
Eunice (Te Here’s great-granddaughter) and her son Joseph passed on to their descendants that Te Here West’s father was from the West Indies.
This seems to be true, as the common African DNA across descendants’ ethnicity estimates suggests.
The graph to the right displays the ethnicity
estimates of just two descendants of Te Here; his daughter Sarah West married a Gilroy while Hannah West married a Skerrett. This suggests that the
African DNA could only have come from either Te Here West or his wife.
An elaborated version of the rumour says that Te Here’s father had origins in Barbados.
Y-chromosomal DNA
When we talk about 'Y-DNA' we are referring to Y-chromosome DNA, which is inherited from father to son only, and is a type of DNA separate to that which
AncestryDNA tests for (it tests for autosomal DNA, which can only track about five generations back before it becomes sketchy).
As Y-DNA only passes from father to son, testing it can be effective in answering certain questions related to paternity and how last names have been
passed down the generations.
What we would hope to gain by testing this on a West descendant is to find out whether Te Here's father's
directly-male lineage had distant origins in Africa or Europe. If in Africa, we may be able to compare with other close Y-DNA descendants from
the past 1,000 years and find some kind of story related to our African ancestors' origins, possibly identifying a tribal affiliation or tracking
movement across the Atlantic into the Americas. If the origin for this directly-male lineage is in Europe, we at least narrow down some of Te Here's
father's ancestry, and it will still be valuable information.
All humans are descended from a male ancestor with whom arose a Y-DNA mutation called haplogroup
'A-PR2921' – when reading 'haplogroup', it can be helpful to think of each string
of letters like these as specific 'men'. From A-PR2921 there are descended thousands of haplogroups which map as a giant, scientific-derived family
tree. FamilyTreeDNA takes its testers' trees into account to refine these dates which helps to map the scientific tree onto traditional genealogical
trees if enough data is available. Y-DNA haplogroups and their origins are incredibly varied and complicated,
but some which are associated with Africa are commonly descended from and prefixed with the A- or
E- 'megagroups'.
Those from Europe are most commonly R-.
It should be noted that the directly-male lineage for the West DNA is just one of a handful that might be relevant in identifying 'recent' tribal
affiliations from Africa. At least for now there is no easy way to identify any other lineages associated with Te Here's father.
In all cases, identifying the West haplogroup is the best first step.
American ships in Otago
It might, at first, occur to a researcher that ships which made it anywhere near the South Island (such as Cloudy Bay) around 1837 ought to be
considered in case Pokene and whānau (specifically Titapu) were migrating up and down the island to look for resources, or per the Kai Huānga feud,
or the Musket Wars, or British colonialism in general. After all, anything of the unknown is a possibility. However, as Pokene must have been at least
around 50 years old in 1837, he was probably a senior that stayed in Ōtākou instead of moving off to fight in the Musket
Wars.[17]
P. G. Canham in his 1959 thesis details the factors that discouraged and sometimes encouraged American whalers to visit ‘New Zealand waters’.
He touches on how all over the country, prostitution—especially between whalers and Māori—was rampant – this was partially so that these parties
could exchange goods with each other and build
relations.[18] Titapu was, for example, a daughter of the last upoko ariki’s paternal-side cousin.
Rev. James Watkin described Ōtākou as 'a place rivalling in proportion to its population the Bay of Islands in wickedness than which the sun shines
not on a worse in the whole
world.[19] ... 'the language is a good deal corrupted by [the] introduction of foreign terms, some the slang of sailors, English therefore, others belonging to I
know not what
language.[20]
The ship Friendship at Otago 1838 was captained by an Isaiah
West.[21] The voyage began 1837 August 13 however, which may prove too late as Te Here could
have been born in May 1838 at the earliest. The log for the voyage is
available online. On a previous voyage, Friendship was present in Lyttleton
Harbour until 25 September 1836, meaning that if Titapu had indeed been in the area, Te Here would have been born no later than June 1837.
Isaiah West would have probably been born in
Massachusetts.[22]
Another ship which actually had been at Otago and makes sense timewise was the Columbus, Fairhaven, mastered by Captain Ellis.
Octavius Harwood's mother's family, the Soutters, owned ships. Octavius worked some of these ships running to the West Indies and South Africa.
In May 1837 he joined the City of Edinburgh, which brought him to Australia. He travelled to the Otago region on the Dublin Packet in
April 1838.[23]
City of Edinburgh, built 1803 in Quebec. Used as a 'West Indiaman' (merchant, for exactly what it sounds like). Last recorded in 1822.
City of Edinburgh, built 1807 in France.
Foundered near the Região Autónoma dos Açores in 1812.
City of Edinburgh, built 1813 in Bengal. Transported convicts from Ireland to Australia twice in 1828 and 1832, and departed Port
Jackson towards Hokianga. 'She' again sailed for New Zealand in 1833 and reported to be near there in December 1837.
City of Edinburgh, built 1822 in London. Purchased by the General Steam Navigation Company in 1836.
City of Edinburgh, built 1824 in Leith for 'the Australian Company', abandoned in the Atlantic in 1841.