Articles in ‘History’

Dr Isaac Featherston, the editor of the Wellington Independent, strongly attacked the New Zealand Company’s land policy in his newspaper on 24 March 1847. Colonel William Wakefield, the Company’s Principal Agent in New Zealand, interpreted this editorial as a thinly disguised accusation that he was a thief. He challenged Featherston to a duel that apparently took place at Te Aro…

I’m a hostile spy from, ohhh, let’s say China. No, Israel. Or Russia. Whatever: the most important thing is that I’m a spy. I’m wanting to know where all of New Zealand’s defences are located, who is manning them, when these defences are most vulnerable, and how many soldiers and weapons New Zealand has. I could do a Google search, comb through Wikileaks, or look for an…

CelticNZ https://www.youtube.com/@AncientCelticNewZealand Summary Russell Price, an amateur archaeologist, conducted extensive archaeological digs at Pukawa in New Zealand over a period of 25 years. He discovered undeniable proof of ancient human occupation spanning 7,000 years, predating the arrival of the Polynesian Maori. Price used tephra stratigraphy, the study of volcanic…

Three hundred years ago, a cultural revolution exploded out of East London. The narrow lane of Paternoster Row, today lined with trendy cafés and sushi shops, feels like an unlikely spot for the birth of the pirates of the Caribbean. But this was once the heart of the English capital’s publishing industry—and a place of justice for the most dreaded brigands. Paternoster Row…

In the Northern Hemisphere the traditional ‘May Day’ celebration is an ancient festival whose origins are shrouded in the mists of time. It is said that the earliest May Day observances began in pre-Christian times out of the Roman empire, a dedication to the Roman flower goddess Floralia, or Flora and a celebration of the advent of the arrival of Summer and blossoming flowers. Ho…

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. My Father served his Queen throughout the Boer War 1899 – 1902 A son remembers By Kenneth Bliss On their way from England to settle in New Zealand in 1875, my grandparents William and Maria Bliss broke…

The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February is an appropriate time to reflect on the Treaty, and what it means for New Zealand today. The signing of the Treaty marked the beginning of the formation of the modern nation of New Zealand. Today New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity, race or national origin…

Scientists have, for the first time, unearthed incredibly well-preserved stomach contents from within a fossilized skeleton of a young tyrannosaur, which has led to a curious discovery about the growing beast’s paleo palate. The preserved Gorgosaurus libratus specimen was found in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Canada’s historic region that has so far unearthed the fossils of 58…

The Reason for the Existence of the Treaty This is T.L. Buick’s account of the petition from 13 Ngapuhi chiefs that the King responded to with the Treaty. It is a reminder from the people of the time of the intended sentiment behind the treaty. For ease of reading, I’ll spread out the words below. Then I’ll show you some blow-ups of relevant parts of the original English and…

December 13, 2023 While staff at Te Papa museum in Wellington ponder what to do with the treaty display that was defaced by protesters on Monday, I suggest that the Busby February 4 document, which is also known as the Littlewood treaty, is the perfect fit. The protestors want a direct translation of the Maori text added to the display so that visitors could understand clearly…

The Te Ora report stated that the number of hospital admissions that could have been prevented by access to timely and competent general practice care (Ambulatory Sensitive Hospitalisation – the ASH figure) were 2171/100,000 for the non–Maori population, and 3686/100,000 for the Maori population between the years of 2007 and 2018. Taking the population at 5,000,000 with Maori…

With the New Year having been brought in by any number of ways, its highly probably that you will have sung a familiar favourite at least once. That song is Auld Lang Syne and is a song written by Robert Burns in the 1780s, and today has become an anthem sung the world over at New Year. In 1788 Robert Burns sent the poem ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to the Scots Musical Museum, indicating…

So, it becomes very clear what had happened with the various documents: (a) Reverend Maunsell had not been able to use his official document, sent to him from Government House in the Bay of Islands and signed by acting Lieutenant Governor, Willoughby Shortland, as it had arrived 3 days too late. He had used, instead, materials on hand to conduct his meeting on the 11th before…

His words live on. This month we are observing the words of a man whose footprints across the pages of history are indelibly tattooed into the global psyche in such a manner as never before seen in modern history. That the world is still fascinated by this man’s life and compellingly by his death lies not so much within the allegory of the mythic hero being cut down in his…

Guy Fawkes And The Gunpowder Plot Every year we celebrate the attempt by a group of English dissidents to blow up the English parliament over 400 years ago. Every November the letting off of fireworks results in a flood of claims to ACC, sends horses through fences and terrorises cats and dogs, keeps fire brigades busy battling blazes and has insurance companies running for…

THIS IS THE ONLY TREATY DOCUMENT EVER ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR USE IN THE TREATY PRESENTATION AND SIGNING ASSEMBLIES AT MANUKAU, PORT WAIKATO AND KAWHIA. NOTE: IT IS IN THE MAORI LANGUAGE! The foregoing is the ONLY official treaty document (handwritten by James Stuart Freeman in Maori) ever issued by the colonial government for use in the signing ceremonies at Manukau,…

From the horses that powered commerce to the occasional whale spotted in the Thames, animals were as much a part of as the English capital as its people. Claire Martin explores the menagerie of creatures that kept medieval Londoners moving, fed and entertained… With a population that peaked at approximately 80,000 in 1300, and plateaued in the wake of the Black Death at around…

Lord Normanby’s brief to Hobson was written by James Stephens, Permanent Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office (London) and son of a prominent abolitionist. The brief was essentially written by the anti-slave movement of Britain, initiated by William Wilberforce (1759-1833). The Mission of William Cornwallis Symonds. On the 13th of March, Shortland sent a newly made, signed…

Without adequate supervision or a stringent directive to remain singularly consistent in despatching only one strictly worded English version of the Treaty of Waitangi, Freeman produced several variations. For these, he simply dipped, at will, into the 12-pages of rough, superseded and now obsolete draft notes in his possession and extracted text to make ad-hoc composite treaty…

How did the Treaty of Waitangi, intended as it was from the outset to be a formula for unification and a totally egalitarian fair and friendly society, get so distorted after 1975? The true meaning and intent of the treaty was well understood for 135-years, until tampered with and maliciously reinvented by self-serving greedy opportunists. These twisted individuals, their…