William Mair papers.

Soldier, Resident Magistrate, and Judge of the Native Land Court, William Gilbert Mair was born at Wahapu in the Bay of Islands in 1832. He was the second son of Gilbert and Elizabeth Mair (nee Puckey) and the third child in their family of 12. Mair was tutored by American settler John Fogan and then attended the Wiamate Mission School and St Johns’s College, Auckland. Mair learnt Maori as a child and spoke the language fluently, a skill which James Cowan remarked ‘largely determined the bent of his life’s work’ (Cowan, 1933, p 18). As a young man Mair worked on the family farm near Whangarei and spent three years in Australia working on the goldfields returning to New Zealand in 1855.

During the 1860s Mair held a range of civil and military positions. In June 1863 he joined the newly formed Auckland Defence Force Cavalry under the command of Colonel Marmaduke Nixon. Mair took part in engagements against Maori forces at Rangiriri, Rangiaowhia and Orakau pa in the Waikato. He also acted as an interpreter for the British commander Lieutenant General Duncan Cameron.

In 1864, Mair was appointed Resident Magistrate at Taupo and at Rotorua later in the year. In 1865 he was promoted to the rank of Major in the New Zealand Militia and given command of the Arawa auxiliary force operating against the rebel Hauhaus in the Bay of Plenty. In 1866 he was appointed Resident Magistrate at Opotiki, and took part in the Urewera campaign and the capture of Orangikawa pa.

Mair was appointed Registrar at Tauranga in 1870 but in 1871 moved to Alexandra (Porongia) to take up the position of Native Agent for the Waikato. Mair was Resident Magistrate in the Waikato from 1873 to 1881 and was largely responsible for establishing friendly relations between the Government and disaffected Maori leaders including King Tawhiao, Rewi and Wahanui.

Mair was appointed to the bench of the Maori Land Court in March 1882. Although not a trained lawyer, Mair with his knowledge of Maori language and customs proved to be a very capable judge,presiding over the complex Rohe Potae case in 1886, one of the Court’s largest, with great skill and tact.

In 1891 after a change of government, Mair was dismissed from his position with the Maori Land Court. Mair disputed his dismissal, which also left him ineligible for a Government pension, without success; however another change in government in May 1893 saw Mair reinstated as a judge in early 1894. With the exception of a brief period in 1899 when he was appointed British Consul for Samoa; Mair served the Maori Land Court for another 15 years, retiring reluctantly in 1909 aged 65. In retirement he moved from Auckland to a property near Lake Rerewhakaitu, Roturua where he farmed cattle and sheep. Mair died in July 1912. He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Andersen, J., & Petersen, G. (1956). The Mair family. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed.

Cowan, J. (1933) 'Famous New Zealanders: No. 9: The Mair Brothers, Soldiers and Pioneers'. The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 8, New Zealand Government Railways Department, Wellington. pp. 17-21.

'MAIR, William Gilbert'. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 September 2016 from http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/mair-william-gilbert