Manuel Jose descendants to gather for three Gisborne events over Labour weekend
Spanish trader Manuel Jose has more than 30,000 descendants, and some of them will be in Gisborne for a “family” gathering over Labour weekend.
“I wouldn’t call it a reunion as such,” said Doris Sadlier-Horomia, who is part of a group planning the event celebrating the man who came to the East Coast in the 1830s and made a life for himself.
“We had reunions and they were 2000-plus ... it’s just got so big now that there’s more than 30,000 descendants throughout the world, so what we do now is hold events in the regions.
“It’s just everyone coming together and getting to know each other because we’ve got 10 generations now.”
The Gisborne get-together will feature a sports day at Sonrise Christian School from 9am to 3pm on Saturday, a dinner that night and a breakfast on Sunday.
She expects it will attract a lot of locally based descendants and a few from out of town.
For the sports day, people can just show up and enjoy games, a whakapapa quiz, face painting and a water slide for the kids plus a sausage sizzle.
Those keen on going to the dinner will need to book, as organisers need to know numbers.
Sadlier-Horomia recently moved back to Gisborne after 17 years in Brisbane, where she was involved in several Manuel Jose events.
Manuel Jose (Manuel de Frutos Huerta) came to New Zealand from Spain in the 1830s and eventually had five wives, all Ngāti Porou women.
“He came on a whaling ship from Spain and through to Peru and then to New Zealand, [where] he jumped ship,” Sadlier-Horomia said.
“There’s a lot of different stories about what happened. Some of them are very funny ones. But, yeah, he ended up staying up the coast, [and] he must have liked what he saw.
“He was a very busy man. He was a trader and he had a store at Port Awanui [near Tikitiki]. And that’s where an olive tree still stands today ... the olive tree he brought from Spain when he first came.”
Many of the descendants also had Portuguese ancestry.
“Manuel Jose’s daughter, Elizabeth Peti, married Manuel Lima, who was a Portuguese whaler. About 60% of Manuel Jose descendants are actually Manuel Lima descendants as well ... Portuguese and Spanish.”
Sadlier-Horomia has both flags raised at her home in Gisborne.
“I believe at the first reunion, Manuel Jose descendants were the biggest family in New Zealand, and I still think they are today.”
- For more information on the Labour Weekend event, email Doris Sadlier-Horomia at dorysh09@icloud.com or join the Facebook group Manuel Jose Ki Te Tairawhiti.