Omokoroa by Jenny Woods

This is a second-hand copy of the book Omokoroa by Jenny Woods.

Condition: This is a used book in good condition. The cover has some shelf-wear and residue from a price label on the front cover upper right - see photos.

Publisher: Don Cale Printing
Year: 1980(?)
Format: Softback
Pages: 170
Condition: Used (Good)

This biographical account of the life and times of the Rev J Tice Gellibrand (JTG) is a well-documented record of his pioneering of the Omokoroa; peninsular on the Tauranga Harbour. He went under his second Christain name and came to NZ in the mid-1870s after retiring from his missionary work in Tasmania (where he was born) for the Church of England, exhausted and in ill health although only in his mid-40s. After one exploratory visit to NZ, with the intention of moving there with his family, they left Tasmania in 1876, selecting the Tauranga area for their new home and soon purchased land at Omokoroa. By following the life of JTG by way of much research, the study of documents, letters and diaries the author has produced an excellent word picture of contemporary NZ, particularly with regard to pioneering in a relatively isolated environment. In addition to throwing much light on the founding days of the Omokoroa settlement, she also provides a background image of how the township of Tauranga, and its surrounding district, developed. In 1880 JTG sold most of his Omokoroa interests and, with deteriorating health, returned to Tasmania, to recross the Tasman again, to spend his final days in Omokoroa where he died in late 1887. He was buried in Tauranga's Old Cemetery where his wife already lay.