kohimarama used to be part of the kohimarama block, land acquired by european settlers from the indigenous māori. this was a large area, from orakei-mission bay to the tamaki river and from the waitematā harbour to the outskirts of panmure. kohimarama’s former name was waiparera, ‘duck water’, as the area was a breeding ground of the parera, the wild grey duck. this name was used by the māori and by the european settlers, the pākehā, until 1870. arriving in auckland in 1841, william field porter, was a month too late for the first government auction, but became the first settler in today’s kohimarama after the second auction. then the area consisted of a lagoon, a raupo swamp and the kohimarama beach, the longest beach in the harbour. porter sent men to clear, fence and drain the area. one of these men was thomas kemp, later to be a landowner of the neighbouring suburb, mission bay.