Maata Mahupuku
Maata Mahupuku aka Martha Grace (10 April 1890 – 15 January 1952) was the muse and lover of short story writer Katherine Mansfield. Of Māori ancestry, descended from a New Zealand tribal leader, she identified with the Ngati Kahungunu iwi.
Maata Mahupuku | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1890 |
| Died | 1952 Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Other names | Martha Grace |
| Occupation | Landowner |
| Known for | muse of Katherine Mansfield |
Life
Mahupuku was the granddaughter of a Maori chief, Wiremu Mahipuku.[1] She was born in Greytown, Wairarapa, New Zealand on 10 April 1890. Her father, Richard William Mahupuku, farmed sheep. He died when she was young and her mother, Emily Sexton, married another sheep farmer, Nathaniel Grace. She became known as Martha Grace.[2]
She is best-remembered for her relationship with the writer Katherine Mansfield who was two years older than her,[1] initially while they were both at school in Wellington and then later in London and by correspondence.[2]
Mahupuku inherited substantial land and despite her lawyer embezzling some of her funds she was a rich woman.[2] Her first husband was George McGregor, the son of well-known Wanganui residents George McGregor and Pura Te Mānihera.[3]
Mansfield started a novel about her which Mahupuku claimed to have a full text of, but after Mansfield's death only a chapter and a plan were found.[2]
References
- Katherine Mansfield; Gillian Boddy (1996). Katherine Mansfield: A "do You Remember" Life : Four Stories. Victoria University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-86473-297-2.
- Angus, Barbara. "Maata Mahupuku". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Maata Mahupuku". Retrieved 14 October 2018.
Further reading
- Lawlor, P. (1946). The mystery of Maata: A Katherine Mansfield novel. Wellington, N.Z: The Beltane Book Bureau. Re-published in 1977.