CHAPTER
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THE BEGINNING
I te tīmatanga e pōuri ana te ao , a , kaore he mārama
In the beginning , the world was in darkness and there was no light
From 1886 until early in 1910 the headquarters of the Bay of Plenty Hospital and Charitable Aid Board , established under the Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act ( 1885 ), was located in Tauranga . In 1902 the Whakatāne County Council appointed Mr Frederick James Burt 1 and Mr Joseph Astbury Warbrick , both from the Matata Riding , as the representatives of the Whakatāne District on the Board .
In those days the East Coast railway was just a dream and Mr Burt and Mr Warbrick had to travel to Tauranga on horseback . It took them three days to get to Tauranga , attend the meeting and return to Matata . They received no financial recompense for their efforts . Joseph Warbrick served on the Board for less than 2 years , his contribution cut short due to his ‘ unfortunate death .... by the eruption at Waimangu ’ while Frederick Burt ( see Chapter 3 ) was destined to remain on the Board for 45 years until he died on 24 May 1947 .
Born on 1 January 1862 in Rotorua to Englishman Abraham Warbrick and his wife Nga Karauna Paerau of Ngāti Rangitihi , Joseph Astbury Warbrick was educated at St . Stephen ' s Native College in Auckland and started playing rugby at school . While still at school he appeared at full back for Auckland against Otago in his first match for the province in 1877 at the age of 15 , the youngest player to ever play first grade rugby in NZ .
In 1888 / 89 he coached , captained and played for the 1888 Native Team on their legendary overseas tour . The team played a record 107 rugby matches on the tour , the longest and most arduous rugby tour in history . They won 78 of them , lost 23 and drew six . He played his last game in 1894 ( aged 32 ) and is credited with the invention of the black jersey , silver fern and haka which were adopted by the New Zealand Union after its formation in 1883 .
He later became a tour guide in the geyser fields of Rotorua . Geyser tourism had been given a major boost in 1900 when the Waimangu ( black water ) geyser burst into life . It was the largest geyser recorded anywhere in the world between 1900 and 1904 . In August 1903 it exploded unexpectedly , killing Joe Warbrick and a party of three tourists . He was 41 years old .
Joseph Astbury Warbrick ( above ) and Waimangu Geyser ( below ). Photos : Te Ara - The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . [ teara . govt . nz ]
Joe Warbrick ’ s wider contribution to rugby was recognised in 2008 when he was inducted into the International Rugby Board ’ s Hall of Fame .
1
Tiena Jordan , Frederick James Burt , 1872-1947 : The Ultimate Sportsman , ( Historical Review , Whakatāne & District Historical Society , November 2010 ) Vol . 58 No . 2 , pp 64-70
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