TUROA, TOPIA (? 1818-93), another son of Te Peehi Turoa, was a chief of very high birth and strong character and had great influence throughout his life in the upper Whanganui district, Taupo and southern Waikato. He was baptised by a Roman Catholic missionary and took the name of Topia (Tobias). Physically he was a fine specimen of the Maori race, with a peculiarly large head (measuring 23 inches). Topia held the rank of major in the Colonial forces in 1861.

A few years later he came under the influence of the Hauhau movement, and as a professor of the Pai-marire faith he accepted responsibility for the murder of Volkner (q.v.) at Opotiki (1865). Turoa's village lay between Pipiriki and Huraroto. Incensed by the occupation of Pipiriki by the Colonial forces, he took the field against the Government. After the battle of Ohoutahi he visited Wanganui, but as he refused to take the oath, Sir George Grey sent him away. He remained associated with the Hauhau until 1869, when, owing to the killing of a relative by Te Kooti at Taupo, he offered his allegiance and threw his influence wholeheartedly on the side of the Government. This action of his and the defection of his contingent (which he took to join the Colonial forces in the Opotiki district) inflicted a severe blow on the Hauhau cause. Turoa served with distinction and success in this campaign. In the fighting in 1870 he refused to hand over to Ropata for execution the Hauhau prisoners taken by his contingent.

On 30 Mar 1873 Turoa held an important meeting at Tokaanu to discuss Maori claims. Though enjoying a pension of £200 from the Government, he remained dissatisfied. In 1879 he begged Te Whiti to seek redress in the courts, and he was one of the chiefs who accompanied Tawhiao on his visit to England (1884). In the belief that the Imperial Government would grant redress, he continued to oppose the Government and he resisted the construction of roads and railways in the King Country even after his people as a whole had been converted. At a meeting which he convened at Roto-aira in Aug 1885 he formulated a series of resolutions demanding complete autonomy for the Maori of the North Island, with independence of Parliament.

Topia attended the welcome at Rotorua in 1901 to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. He died on 26 Oct 1903.

App. H.R. (notably 1865 E4, p. 36); Rev W. G. Williams (information); Downes, Old Whanganui; S.P. Smith, Wars and Taranaki; Crawford (p); Nicholls; Power; Cowan, Wars (p); Taylor; Gudgeon; Wakefield; Rusden; Polyn. Jour., vol. iv, 29; v, 70; vii, 195; ix, 73, 74, 84; x, 163; 252, 253; xiv, 59, 133; xvii, 28, 31; xviii, 38, 166; xxvii, 218; White, Ancient Hist, i, 8; iv, 9, 21, 57; vi, 26, 36, 50, 90, 98, 101; Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, 326, 358, 528; Trans. N.Z. Inst., v, 61, 84; xxvi, 574; xxxviii, 126; Waka Maori, 6 Oct 1874; Wanganui Chronicle, 17 Jun 1865, 4 Nov

Reference: Volume 2, page 207

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