Moturoa

File:Moturoa Island, New Plymouth.jpg, the namesake of the suburb]]

In 1832 Richard (Dicky) Barrett and his former crewmates (recalled as Akerau, probably Akers, Tamiriri, probably Wright, Kopiri probably Phillips, and Oliver in 1873)[https://archive.org/stream/historytaranaki00wellgoog/historytaranaki00wellgoog_djvu.txt History of Taranaki: B Wells 1878] {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/912955858 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/912880409 cite #4 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}} joined local Maori in the Otaka pā{{Cite web|url=https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/34347|title=Dicky Barrett at the defence of Ngamotu Pa, feb 1832|website=Puke Ariki Museum Libraries Tourist Information Taranaki New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}} at Ngamotu, (Where the freezing works are)[http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-SmiHist-t1-body1-d19.html&ved=2ahUKEwjopsfD5KbkAhVaT30KHbVECfEQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw3VeFGdS1U3kp84G245Kdhl] to aid their defence in the face of an attack by heavily armed Waikato Māori, firing on the invaders with three cannon, using nails, iron scraps and stones for ammunition. The siege lasted more than three weeks before the Waikato withdrew, leaving a battle scene strewn with bodies, many of which had been cannibalised. In June Barrett, and John (Jacky) Love, migrated south with as many as 3000 Atiawa Māori.{{cite web |url=http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/immigration/barrettbattle.asp? |title=The Story of Richard (Dicky) Barrett - Part 2: Battle at Otaka Pa |publisher=Puke Ariki |date=12 November 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503081209/http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/immigration/barrettbattle.asp |archive-date=2007-05-03 }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/912955858 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/912880409 cite #5 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}

Jacky Love, was Captain of the 60 ton schooner Adventure. The Adventure’s arrival in New Zealand came almost 60 years after Captain James Cook’s first voyage in 1769.

Barrett and Love both married into the local iwi.{{Cite web|url=https://barretthoneyfield.com/2015/07/16/dicky-rawinia-and-family/|title=Richard (Dicky) Barrett and Wakaiwa Rawinia (Lavinia)|date=2015-07-16|website=Barrett Honeyfield Tupuna / Ancestry: their lives, the times and their legacy|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}

As well as being a trader, Dicky went on to become an explorer, a whaler, interpreter and agent to the NZ Company, a publican and farmer. Barrett's whaling business suffered heavy losses and, after he was forced to sell his hotel in 1841, he led a party of Te Ātiawa back to Taranaki and went on to help establish settlers in New Plymouth.

Barrett died at Moturoa, on 23 February 1847, possibly from a heart attack or following injury after a whaling accident, and was buried in Wāitapu urupa (cemetery) at the seaside end of Bayly Road, adjacent to Ngāmotu Beach, New Plymouth, alongside his daughter Mary Ann, and later on by his wife Wakaiwa Rawinia, in 1849. Wāitapu was the first cemetery in New Plymouth and the first recorded burial was Mary Ann.

The natural harbour at Port Taranaki before reclamation was once called the Port of Moturoa on early cadastral survey maps. Cargo was transported by small vessels to ships waiting out at sea until the port was opened in 1881.{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/taranaki-region/page-14|title=14. – Taranaki region – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|last=Taonga|first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|website=teara.govt.nz|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}

In 1865 the Alpha well was drilled near Mikotahi at New Plymouth.{{cite book |last=Lambert|first=Ron|title=In Crude State - a History of the Moturoa Oilfield New Plymouth |publisher=Methanex New Zealand|year=1995|isbn=0-473-03428-X}} This was the first oil well in what is now the Commonwealth and one of the first in the world. A petroleum industry developed at Moturoa, including producing wells and refineries,{{Cite web|url=https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/33156|title=Oil refinery at Moturoa, early 1913|website=Puke Ariki Museum Libraries Tourist Information Taranaki New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-08-31}} known as the Moturoa oilfield.{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/8920/moturoa-oilfield|title=Moturoa oilfield|last=Taonga|first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|website=teara.govt.nz|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}} The last refinery there was closed in 1972. The field continues to produce small quantities of oil.{{cite web|title=Moturoa black gold - "the good oil"|url=http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/businessAndIndustry/moturoaoil.htm|last=Hoskin|first=Sorrell|date=19 November 2004|website=|publisher=Puke Ariki|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408094447/http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/businessAndIndustry/moturoaoil.htm|archive-date=2009-04-08|accessdate=2009-07-25}} There was once an ironworks, oilworks, dairy and meat cool store.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/taranaki-daily-news/1915/06/24/2|title=Moturoa News|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-08-28}}

New Plymouth's electric tramway system (proposed as early as 1906){{cite web|title=Electric Trams for New Plymouth|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TH19060410.2.16|work=Taranaki Herald|accessdate=25 July 2013|pages=2|date=10 April 1906}} began operations on 10 March 1916 between Fitzroy and Weymouth Street (a short distance past the railway station).{{cite book|last=Rudd|first=Don|title=New Plymouth tramways 1916–1954|year=2010|publisher=D.H. Rudd|location=[Paraparaumu, N.Z.|isbn=978-0-473-17432-3|page=9}} In the first week of operation, 18,213 passengers rode the trams.{{cite web|last=Heazlewood|first=Kathy|title=New Plymouth Trams 1916 - 1954|url=http://www.pukeariki.com/Research/TaranakiResearchCentre/TaranakiStories/TaranakiStory.aspx?id=663|work=Pukeariki website|accessdate=22 July 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130722105940/http://www.pukeariki.com/Research/TaranakiResearchCentre/TaranakiStories/TaranakiStory.aspx?id=663|archive-date=22 July 2013|url-status=dead}} Weymouth Street through Moturoa to the Breakwater at the port opened on 21 April 1916. The closure of the system on 23 July 1954.

Moturoa Street was once known as Medley Lane and lined with houses but these have mostly disappeared. They have been replaced with commercial premises or are vacant sections. The street was nicknamed as "Melody Lane" by Tigertown residents.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/103969305/word-on-the-street-moturoa-st-used-to-be-known-as-melody-lane|title=Word on the street: Moturoa St used to be known as Melody Lane|website=Stuff|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}

The Hongi-hongi stream has its source to the east of Eton Place. The stream once made its way to a lagoon and then into the sea at Ngamotu Beach. The Honeyfield residence, built by Dicky Barrett, was close by on the eastern side, with sand dunes on the western side.{{Cite web|url=https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/25796|title=Untitled (Honeyfield Residence)|website=Puke Ariki Museum Libraries Tourist Information Taranaki New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-08-31}} The stream and lagoon, in Sir George Greys' Polynesian Mythology, were said to be named by "Turi" in relation to the strong smell of "sulphuretted hydrogen gas".{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TH19060511.2.58|title=The Hongi-Hongi Stream, Moturoa|newspaper=Taranaki Herald|date=11 May 1906}} The stream is culverted from the end of Harbour Street, going under Breakwater Road, through to the western end of what remains of Ngāmotu Beach.{{Cite web|url=https://terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com/all-stories/spotlight-on-the-collection/the-playshore-of-the-pacific/|title=The Playshore of the Pacific|website=terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-09-01}}

Ngāmotu Beach was labelled "The Playshore of the Pacific". The New Year's celebration and other carnivals at Ngāmotu became annual events, drawing crowds from all around Taranaki till they began to decline in popularity from the late 1950s. The final carnival was held at the beach in 1966, giving way to other, more fashionable, forms of family entertainment.

It is home to the 1st Mikotahi Sea Scouts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scoutgroupdirectory.co.nz/1st-mikotahi-sea-scout-group/|title=1st Mikotahi Sea Scout Group {{!}} SCOUTS New Zealand - Group Directory|language=en|access-date=2019-09-02}}

Moturoa, including Kawaroa, covers {{Convert|2.15|km2||abbr=on}}{{Cite web|title=ArcGIS Web Application|url=https://statsnz.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6f49867abe464f86ac7526552fe19787| access-date=3 March 2023|website=statsnz.maps.arcgis.com}} and had an estimated population of {{Decimals|{{formatnum:{{NZ population data 2023 SA2|Moturoa|y}}|R}}+{{formatnum:{{NZ population data 2023 SA2|Kawaroa|y}}|R}}|0}} as of {{NZ population data 2023 SA2|||y|y||,}} with a population density of {{Decimals|({{formatnum:{{NZ population data 2023 SA2|Moturoa|y}}|R}}+{{formatnum:{{NZ population data 2023 SA2|Kawaroa|y}}|R}})/2.15|0}} people per km².

{{Historical populations|2006|4,071|2013|4,011|2018|4,137|percentages=pagr|align=left|source=}}

Moturoa had a population of 4,137 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 126 people (3.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 66 people (1.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,812 households, comprising 1,953 males and 2,184 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female, with 624 people (15.1%) aged under 15 years, 774 (18.7%) aged 15 to 29, 1,803 (43.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 936 (22.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 83.2% European/Pākehā, 15.4% Māori, 1.7% Pacific peoples, 7.9% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 20.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 49.0% had no religion, 38.0% were Christian, 0.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.6% were Hindu, 0.8% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 2.4% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 747 (21.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 633 (18.0%) people had no formal qualifications. 627 people (17.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,623 (46.2%) people were employed full-time, 537 (15.3%) were part-time, and 144 (4.1%) were unemployed.{{NZ census 2018|Moturoa (216600) and Kawaroa (216900)}}

Moturoa School is a coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of {{NZ school roll data|2203|y}} students as of {{NZ school roll data|||y|y||.}}{{TKI|2203|Moturua School}} The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1998.{{cite journal|url=http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/notices.php/notices.php?action=view&id=54178|title=Jubilees & reunions: Moturoa Primary School|journal=Education Gazette New Zealand|volume=76|issue=5|date=24 March 1997}}{{dead link|date=April 2009|fix-attempted=yes}}{{Cite web|url=https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/33428|title=View of Port and Moturoa School|website=Puke Ariki Museum Libraries Tourist Information Taranaki New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-08-31}} Since 2006 the school has been home to the two primary classes of the New Plymouth Montessori school, which was previously at the (now closed) Kaimiro School near Egmont Village.[http://www.montessori.ac.nz/foryourchild/foryourchild4.html NP Montessori website] Moturoa School was the first Enviroschool in Taranaki and has achieved Silver award level.{{Cite web |url=http://www.enviroschools.org.nz/show_region/?regionID=Taranaki |title=Taranaki Enviroschools |access-date=2008-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014014243/http://www.enviroschools.org.nz/show_region/?regionID=Taranaki |archive-date=2008-10-14 |url-status=dead }}

Association Football (soccer)

Moturoa is home to Moturoa AFC.

Moturoa AFC qualified for the 2024 Women's Central League with a 2-1 win over Horowhenua Coastal (Te Kotahitanga FC) in the promotion play-offs after winning the 2023 women's Central Region Federation League.

Rugby League

Western Suburbs Tigers Rugby League Club is based at the Ngamotu Domain in Moturoa.

Rugby Union

Moturoa Football Club was a short lived rugby football club. Started by the Breakwater Sports Committee at the Malva Tea Kiosk on 28 February 1914.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib/|title=Newspapers/Taranaki Daily News/1914/Moturoa Football Club}} Affiliated to the Taranaki Rugby Union at the general meeting with C.W.Williams as club delegate, on 27 March 1914.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Taranaki Daily Newspapers 1914}} The team was able to secure the prison reserve field opposite the freezing works for training.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Taranaki Daily News 1914, Moturoa Football Club}} Owing to more Thursday teams playing Saturday competitions, the club amalgamated with Star Rugby Football Club on 7 May 1914,{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Taranaki Daily News 1914 Moturoa Football Club}} retaining a junior team to play in white, the colour of Moturoa,{{cite news|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Moturoa Football Club|date=28 February 1914|work=Taranaki Daily News}} but wearing the Star emblem on the jersey.Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1914.

Cricket

The Moturoa Beachcombers was a cricket team in mid to late 1910s.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Papers Past National Library/Taranaki Daily News/Taranaki Herald/Cricket/Moturoa}} The team played against East End at East End beach,{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Newspapers/Taranaki Daily News/Taranaki Herald/Cricket/Moturoa/East End}} New Plymouth. And in January 1911 made a journey by motor launch to play Urenui at Urenui.{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|title=Newspapers/Taranaki Daily News/Taranaki Herald/1911/Cricket/Moturoa}} Players, among others were, Stohr, Humphries, McCord and Brown.Taranaki Daily News, 30.1.1911 and 7.1.1911. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

{{reflist}}

{{New Plymouth District}}

Category:Suburbs of New Plymouth