Kaitaia's fallen ancient oak spawned two related trees

One of the Kaitaia Primary School oak trees bursting into leaf for its 184th (or thereabouts) summer.

Te Waimate Mission manager Alex Bell was reported last week as hoping to propagate cuttings from New Zealand's oldest oak tree, which succumbed to wind a week ago on Sunday, but he might not have to bother.

Malcolm Matthews, a great-grandson of Kaitaia mission founder Rev Joseph Matthews said it was almost certain that two oaks at Kaitaia Primary School were descended from that tree, and there is at least one other, a further generation on.

The Waimate North oak was planted at Paihia in 1824 by missionary Richard Davis, who arrived in the Bay of Islands with a number of acorns from his family farm, Goat Hill, in Dorset. He subsequently grew a number of trees, but only one survived a fire when they were little more than saplings.

He took the survivor to to Waimate North in about 1830, where it reached magnificent proportions, and was admired by Charles Darwin in 1835.

It began showing signs of its great age some years ago, however, and was a shadow of its former self when it finally blew over on September 9. And efforts by the current land owner to gather acorns from it came to nought, as by that stage it had ceased producing them.

Mr Matthews said he had no doubt that the Kaitaia Primary School trees had begun life as acorns from the Waimate North tree however.

The trees had been planted by his forebear and/or fellow missionary William Gilbert Puckey, and the Waimate North tree would likely have been the only oak that could have provided them.

"It's totally feasible that these trees are descended from Davis' acorn," he said.
"There doesn't seem to be any other likely explanation."

Both Matthews and Puckey, who married Richard Davis' daughters Mary Ann and Matilda, had spent time at Waimate North before moving north to Kaitaia.

The Waimate North tree had been in fine fettle when he last saw it, he added, about 10 years ago, complete with a native tree orchid that was happily growing within it.

Eighty-years or more after it was planted one of the primary school oaks supplied the acorn that Aline Honor Puckey, great-granddaughter of both William Gilbert Puckey and Joseph Matthews, who enrolled at the school c1918, planted at her parents' home in Bell's Rd, just north of Kaitaia, now owned by Bill and Rosaleen Steed, which appears to be in rude health — but has never produced acorns.

Meanwhile the fate of the now deceased Waimate North tree is not yet clear.

It remained the property of the land owner, albeit subject to a covenant, but Heritage New Zealand would be discussing the next step with the owner, spokesman John O'Hare said.
He did not not believe there was a great of deal of salvageable wood to be had, however.