1908
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 90

and administrators of the estate of the said Wi Haronga,
apply for an inquiry into the transactions whereby Percival
Barker, of Whataupoko, Poverty Bay, sheep-farmer, claims
to have acquired the interest of the said Wi Haronga in the
said block, and into the circumstances surrounding and
attending the said transactions, and into the dealings and
transactions of the said Percival Barker with the interest of
the said Wi Haronga in the said block.

b. The applicants desire to appear before the Validation
Court on Monday, the 27th day of January, 1896, at the
hour of 10 o’clock in the forenoon, or at the first sitting of
the Court thereafter.

c. The nature of the transactions which the applicants
desire to be inquired into is,—

(1.) A deed of mortgage, dated the 10th day of August,
1869, purporting to be executed by the said Wi
Haronga and other Native grantees of the
Whataupoko Block to George Edward Read.

(2.) A deed of agreement, dated the 1st day of December,
1871, and made between the said George Edward
Read of the one part, and Robert Rowland Curtis
of the other part.

(3.) A deed of agreement, dated the 17th day of June,
1875, and made between the said Robert Rowland
Curtis of the one part, and the above-named
Percival Barker and Allan McDonald of the
other part.

(4.) A deed of conveyance, dated the 24th day of May,
1877, purporting to be executed by the said Wi
Haronga in favour of the said George Edward
Read.

(5.) A deed of covenant, dated the 24th day of May,
1877, purporting to be executed by the said
George Edward Read with the said Wi Haronga.

(6.) A deed of conveyance, dated the 18th day of May,
1878, purporting to be executed by the said
Percival Barker and Allan McDonald in favour
of Joseph Francis Nixon.

(7.) A deed of conveyance, dated the 31st day of Decem-
ber, 1883, purporting to be executed by the said
Joseph Francis Nixon in favour of the said
Percival Barker.

(8.) The circumstances surrounding and attending an
auction sale held at Gisborne on or about the
18th day of August, 1878, and the sale alleged at
the said auction to have been made by the said
Percival Barker and Allan McDonald to the said
Joseph Francis Nixon.

(9.) The circumstances attending and surrounding the
dealings and transactions, and the dealings and
transactions themselves, of the said Percival
Barker with the interest of the said Wi Haronga
in the said Whataupoko Block.

(10.) A deed of conveyance, dated the 20th day of July,
1892, made between William Read Bloomfield,
John Lucas Read Bloomfield, George Frederick
Read Bloomfield, Henry Herbert Read Bloom-
field, and Ernest Albert Reginald Read Bloom-
field, and the said Pera te Hikumate and Maata
te Ao.

d. The land which the said deeds of conveyance purport
to convey is all the interest of the said Wi Haronga in the
Whataupoko Block, situate in the District of Poverty Bay,
containing by admeasurement 19,200 acres, more or less, and
comprised in Crown grant dated 25th April, 1871.

e. The estate or interest in the said land which the appli-
cants seek to obtain through the aid of the said Court is an
estate in fee-simple in and of the original interest of the said
Wi Haronga in the said block, being the land affected by the
said deeds of conveyance, or the equitable estate in the said
land by the said Court declaring the said Percival Barker to
be a trustee of the interest of the said Wi Haronga in the
said lands for the applicants, or the value of the said interest
of the said Wi Haronga in the said lands, and the rents and
profits derived or received by the said Percival Barker from
such interest, or which ought to have been so derived or
received, and interest on the several sums so derived or
received as aforesaid or which ought to have been so derived
or received as aforesaid.

f. The manner in which the applicants claim to be
invested with the title or rights which they now claim to
hold, and the date of their being invested with such title or
rights, is as follows:—

(1.) Crown grant, dated the 25th day of April, 1871,
issued under the provisions of “The Poverty Bay
Grants Act, 1869,” to Wi Haronga and other
Natives of the land known as the Whataupoko
Block.

(2.) Deed of conveyance, dated the 24th day of May,
1877, Wi Haronga to George Edward Read.

(3.) Deed of covenant, dated the 24th day of May, 1877,
George Edward Read to Wi Haronga.

(4.) Deed of conveyance, dated the 20th day of July,
1892, William Read Bloomfield, John Lucas Read
Bloomfield, George Frederick Read Bloomfield,
Henry Herbert Read Bloomfield, and Ernest
Albert Reginald Read Bloomfield, to Pera te
Hikumate and Maata te Ao.

(5.) Will of the said Wi Haronga, deceased.

(6.) Probate of the said will, dated the 6th day of April,
1888, to Frederick Green Skipworth and Pahoi te
Amaru, the executors of the said will.

g. The address for service of the applicants is at the
office of Messrs. Nolan and Skeet, solicitors, in the Town of
Gisborne.

h. The applicants name Percival Barker, of Gisborne,
sheep-farmer, as the person upon whom the applicants
require that a copy of this application shall be served, and as
the person whose estate and interest the applicants desire
shall be bound by the decree of the said Court.

i. The grounds upon which the applicants base their
claim are (inter alia) as follows:—

(1.) That the said Wi Haronga had, prior to the 1st day
of December, 1871, discharged and paid off all his
liability to the said George Edward Read under
the said deed of mortgage dated the 10th day of
August, 1869.

(2.) That at the time the said Robert Rowland Curtis
agreed to transfer his interest derived under the
agreement between him and the said George
Edward Read to the said Percival Barker and
Allan McDonald there was no money due to the
said Robert Rowland Curtis by the said Wi
Haronga in respect of the said deed of mortgage,
and that the said Percival Barker and Allan
McDonald had full knowledge of the facts.

(3.) That at the time that the said Percival Barker and
Allan McDonald purported to exercise the power
of sale under the said mortgage—namely, on or
about the 18th day of April, 1878—they each knew
well that they were not entitled so to do.

(4.) That they had full notice of and knowledge of the
deed of conveyance dated the 24th day of May,
1877, and of the deed of covenant dated the 24th
day of May, 1877.

(5.) That the proceedings at the said auction sale were
contrived for the purpose of improperly and in-
equitably depriving the said Wi Haronga of the
benefit of the said deed of covenant and of his
interest in the said land.

(6.) That the alleged sale and the said conveyance to
Joseph Francis Nixon was a pretended sale and
conveyance only, and no consideration passed
from him to the said Percival Barker and Allan
McDonald, and the said sale and conveyance was
in furtherance of the said improper and inequi-
table purpose.

(7.) That the conveyance from the said Joseph Francis
Nixon to the said Percival Barker was also in
furtherance of and a part of the same improper
and inequitable purpose, and that the transac-
tions between the said Percival Barker, and
Allan McDonald, and Joseph Francis Nixon and
between the said Percival Barker and Joseph
Francis Nixon, were collusive, and contrived for
the purpose of enabling the said Percival Barker
to become improperly and inequitably possessed
of a legal title to the interest of the said Wi
Haronga in the said Whataupoko Block, and so
to deprive the said Wi Haronga of the benefit of
the said deed of covenant and of his interest in
the said block.

(8.) That the conveyance of the 20th day of July, 1892,
vested or ought to vest in the applicants Pera te
Hikumate and Maata te Ao the interest of the
said Wi Haronga in the said lands.

(9.) That the applicants did on the 22nd day of June,
1894, institute a suit in the Supreme Court of
New Zealand, Northern District, against the said
Percival Barker, claiming relief for the matters
hereinbefore set forth, and that the said Supreme
Court did, on the motion of the said Percival
Barker, by judgment of the said Court on the
13th day of February, 1895, determine the said
action on the ground that the proper Court in
which the applicants must apply for relief in
respect of the said matters heretofore set forth is
the Validation Court, and that the said Supreme
Court had no jurisdiction to hear the suit, its
jurisdiction having been taken away by the pass-
ing of “The Native Land (Validation of Titles)
Act, 1893,” and the amending Act, 1894.

Dated at Gisborne, this 11th day of November, 1895.

NOLAN AND SKEET,
Solicitors and Agents for the Applicants.
To the Registrar of the Validation Court, Gisborne. 888