Jane Clendon - respected in both Māori and Pakeha society

Born in 1838, Jane Takotowi Clendon was the daughter of Northland trader Dennis Browne Cochrane and his wife Takotowi Te Whata, a rangatira of Mangamuka. Jane grew to be an accomplished young woman who operated confidently in both Māori and Pākehā society. She was well-educated, likely by the missionaries at Māngugnu, and an accomplished writer as evidenced in her later letters.

Jane's marriage to James Clendon

On 9 January 1856, at Paihia, aged only 18, Jane married James Clendon, a prominent English settler and local politician who was almost 40 years her senior. James Clendon was a widow, his first wife Sarah having died the year previously, leaving six grown children. He had a longstanding association with the Hokianga and would have known the Hokianga community well.

Jane and James Clendon had eight children together. Early in 1862, after a brief residence at Kerikeri, the Clendons settled at Rāwene. As magistrate there under the Native Circuit Courts Act, with his son James acting as clerk of court, Clendon dispensed justice in informal surroundings and in conformity with Māori conceptions. His reputation was already well established; while resident magistrate at Russell in 1858, he had visited Hokianga and successfully settled 67 European–Māori disputes. 

Jane Clendon: a widow at 34 who overcame frightening debts

Tragically, on 24 October 1872, James Clendon died at Rāwene. Jane was widowed at 34, with eight children under 17 years old. Jane was confronted with the fact that while the house was insured for a few hundred pounds, James was thousands of pounds in debt.

Her home and a decent future for her children were threatened. Jane set about using her standing in both Māori and Pākehā communities, and knowledge of commerce and relationships to pay the debts and educate her children, all whilst remaining in their family home.

Within weeks of her husband's debts, the young widow set out for Auckland to face James' creditors, leaving the children at home in the care of her eldest boy, 16-year old George. During her time in Auckland, Jane managed to arrange very favourable settlement terms with the firm who held the largest debt.

Jane was unrelenting in her efforts. She paid some debts with small amounts of land and cash. She wrote persuasive letters to her creditors. She traded in gum, bark, firewood and garden produce – anything that would enable her to stay in her house. Finally in January 1881, the Auckland firm agreed to accept the merest fraction of the original debt 'as full satisfaction for Mrs Clendon's indebtedness'. Amazingly, Jane managed to clear the family's debts and lived in the house until she died in 1919 at the age of 81.

Thanks to Jane, the house at Rawene remained the family home and focus for wider Clendon family until it was sold to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1972. 

Visit Jane’s home, Clendon House at Rāwene, Hokianga, in Northland.

Clendon house is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga