Mttarawera eruptiontragedy remembered
This year marks 136 years since the eruption of Mt Tarawera near Rotorua, the destruction of the village and the pink and white terraces tourist attraction, as well as the tragic loss of life.
One of the few ¯survivors of the June 10, 1886 catastrophe was Amelia Jane Haszard who is buried at Purewa. Amelia lost her husband, Charles Albert Haszard, who was the headmaster at the local Maori school along with three of her five children in the disaster.
Amelia and two of her daughters managed to escape and were rescued the next day. About 120 people died in the sixhour eruption and the village of Te Wairoa later became known as the Buried Village and remains a tourist attraction today.
The Haszard family had celebrated her birthday and later gone to bed when they were abruptly woken by violent earthquakes and huge explosions.
Amelia was born in 1843 on Prince Edward lsland in Canada, and came to New Zealand with her parents in 1859. In 1863 she married her second cousin Charles.
To mark Women’s History Month, Purewa will publish a new profile on Amelia and her friend, Maori guide Sophia Hinerangi. The experience of Te Wairoa’s Maori and Pakeha residents speaks to modern concerns about relationship with nature and the value of traditional ethics.
It is the first of many new stories planned by the Friends of Purewa to honour the
lives of those whose memories Purewa holds in trust.
Amelia Jane Haszard died aged 82 in 1925 and is buried at Purewa Cemetery, Block A, Row 12, Plot 12C. The Friends of Purewa will plant a flower bed to mark the
anniversary of Tarawera’s eruption, and post a commemorative video to the Purewa website.
You are invited to learn more about the
Friends of Purewa. Please visit, https:/ /purewa.co.nz/notable-graves/ for more information and a video introduction to Amelia and the Tarawera saga.