Updated 22 April 2024
This site commenced in 2015 as a collaboration between those who shared a common interest to develop an online repository of information and analysis around our tūpuna/ancestors, Richard (Dicky) Barrett and his wife Wakaiwa Rāwinia (Te Āti Awa) and their children; the numerous Honeyfield siblings who emigrated from Dorset, England in the 1850’s, and the lives of their descendants in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
We aim to include as much as we can about our whakapapa, hapū and our iwi, Te Āti Awa.
Much of the material covers people and events in New Zealand of historical significance, including:
- hundreds of years of Māori history in Taranaki prior to colonisation throught to the so-called ‘Musket Wars’ between northern iwi and Taranaki iwi
- pioneering European traders, farmers and whalers who, with their families, lived with and fought alongside their Māori kin
- Māori land sales to the New Zealand Company and subsequently to the Crown in the settlement of New Plymouth and surrounding areas, including Tataraimaka
- land wars between Māori and the Crown
- tracking the lives of Barrett / Honeyfield decedents over six generations in Aotearoa / New Zealand.
As more material becomes available and with ongoing research, the various postings will be revised on a regular basis, and new postings will go up.
The following people – all descendants of Honeyfields – have contributed material to the site:
Robin Beaty
Anne Hodgson
Kevin Honeyfield
John Honeyfield
Julie Adele Johns
Ron McLean
Andrew Morgan
Paul Roberts (Author/Editor)
Andrew Morgan has developed a Morgan Family Heritage Blog. John and William Morgan accompanied their first cousin’s, the Honeyfield siblings, in their migration from North Dorset, England in the 1850’s.
Anne Hodgson provided a great deal of information from her 40 years of research.
Ron McLean’s Master’s thesis on Dicky Barrett provided a substantial evidence base for five of the postings on this site.
Kevin Honeyfield’s speaking notes on a bus tour held as part of the 2015 Honeyfield family reunion provided very useful anecdotes and information.
Kevin Honeyfield collated/wrote much of the material in the documents prepared for the Honeyfield 150 celebrations.
Paul Roberts has supplemented the material with additional research, particularly on tūpuna Māori, and has authored all of the postings on the site. Paul is also responsible for developing and administering this website.
Paul’s pepeha (introduction) is:
Tēna koutou katoa
Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Whaitara te awa
Ko Te Ātiawa te iwi
Ko Ngāti Rāhiri te hapū
Ko ngā wai ora e rere nei
Ka rere ki uta, ka rere ki tai
Mai Te Rau o Te Huia ki Titirangi
Ko Ngāti Rāhiri e
Ko Owae te marae
Ko tōku honongā tūpuna ki a Ngāti Rāhiri ko te whānau Honeyfield
Ko Kara Honeyfield tōku tūpuna wahine
Ko te whaea o Kara Honeyfield ko Wakaiwa (Rawinia) Barrett he rangatira wahine whaimana
Ko te tane o Wakaiwa Rawinia ko Tiki Parete (Dicky Barrett), tōku tūpuna Pākehā/Māori
Ko John Rex Roberts rāua ko Margaret Wilma Honeyfield ōku mātua
Ko Ingarangi a Tiamana nga whakapaparanga mai
Ko Ngamotu tōku ūkaipo, turangawaewae a ahikā
Kei Ōrewa ahau e noho ana
Tēna koutou katoa
Greetings to you all
Taranaki is my mountain
Waitara is my river
Te Ātiawa is my iwi
Ngāti Rāhiri is my hapū
Living waters are flowing
Flowing to the shore, flowing to the sea
From Te Rau Te Huia to Titirangi
Ko Ngāti Rāhiri e
John Roberts and Wilma Honeyfield are my parents
Owae is my marae
My ancestral connection to Ngāti Rāhiri is the Honeyfield family
Kara Honeyfield is my great-great-grandmother
Kara’s mother was Wakiawa (Rawinia) Barrett, a female chief of the highest seniority and standing
Wakaiwa’s husband was Dicky Barrett, my Pākehā/Māori ancestor
I have English and German ancestry
I grew up in New Plymouth, the place where I can stand and where the home fires burn
I live in Ōrewa
Thanks to you all
If you would like to contact Paul please email: barretthoneyfield@gmail.com
Jason Fleming (grandson of Eunice Fleming (nee Honeyfield).
It is great to learn more of the history of the Honeyfield families. Will you be able to a post family tree in due course?
Many thanks
Jason
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Hi Jason, thanks for your comment. Good to see you’re getting something out of it. Putting up family trees is a possibility but there are alternative too, such as Ancestry.com. We could connect there if you are interested … that invite extends to others too! Cheers, Paul
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Hi Jason,
I’ve looked into the family tree situation & decided to develop a Barrett Honeyfield oriented site on barretthoneyfield.myheritage.com. Let me know what you think!
Cheers,
Paul
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Hi Paul – sorry just revisited and seen your message.I will work on getting our details of families for uploading. Thanks and regards Jason
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