Phillip Tapsell was the assumed name of Hans Homman Jensen Falk. He was from Denmark and made his way to New Zealand around the early 1820s. His first Māori bride left him on the same day as the marriage. He went on to marry Karuhi, a daughter of the Ngāpuhi chief Wharepoaka. At the invitation of Te Arawa chiefs he settled at Maketū, where he supplied muskets and powder for flax. When Karuhi died Tapsell married Hine-i-turama, a high-ranking woman from Ngāti Whakaue. Like a number of early traders he was under the mana of the tribal groups amongst whom he lived.
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