Articles in ‘History’

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…

The following is a letter, that speculation claimed that Albert Pike wrote to Giuseppe Mazzini in 1871 regarding a conspiracy involving three world wars, that were planned in an attempt to take over the world. The Pike letter to Giuseppe Mazzini was on display in the British Museum Library in London until 1977. This letter has been claimed by many internet sites to reside in the…

I recently discovered a fascinating book, ‘The Titanic and the Indifferent Stranger’, by Dr Paul Lee, a physicist. In it he outlines a compelling argument that the Titanic was not lost in a collision with an iceberg in April 1912, but instead went on to serve as the Olympic, her almost identical twin sister. The saga began on September 20, 1911, when the Olympic was involved in a…

By Julie Halligan Situated on the picturesque Otago Peninsula perched atop a rising ridge stands the imposing and lasting monument to one man’s insistent desire to announce to the world that he had arrived, that he was someone and that he had ‘done good’. William Larnach had grown up on the rural estate of Rosemount, in the Patrick Plains of the Hunter Valley near Singleton in…

The wreck of one of the most famous exploration ships in history has been located. Using a robotic submersible, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust has found Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, which was crushed in the Antarctic pack ice in 1915. In the wake of Roald Amundsen's 1911 expedition that became the first to successfully reach the South Pole, Sir Ernest Shackleton…

Nellie Bly became a star journalist by going undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887 and exposing its terrible conditions in the New York World. Nellie Bly became a star journalist by going undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887 and exposing its terrible conditions in the New York World. Her reporting not only…

Ada Lovelace (1815–52) is now regarded as one of the most important figures in the early history of the computer despite being relatively uncelebrated during her life. Born in the early 19th century, she had a fascination with science and mathematics that defied the expectations of her class and gender at the time. She was introduced at the age of 17 to inventor Charles Babbage,…

Nancy Wake (aka The White Mouse) was the Allies most decorated woman during World War 2, saving thousands of soldiers and eventually becoming the #1 most wanted person by the German Gestapo in 1943. Nancy never believed that women should just stay at home or stand on the sidelines while men went to war and proved herself to be a fantastic leader during the French Resistance, in…

Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, ruling Egypt from 51 BC - 30 BC. She is celebrated in many historical records for her beauty and her love affairs with the Roman warlords Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, but was a powerful queen before her interaction with either and a much stronger monarch than any of the later Ptolemaic Dynasty. Fluent in a number of…

The Advent Calendar Advent calendars are undoubtedly a festive staple in New Zealand as in many countries around the world, with children and adults alike leaping out of bed to discover what is behind the little numbered door that day. Modern advent calendars can hide anything from chocolate to wine behind their doors as we count down to Christmas. But where did advent…

November 26th 1961 – The Drug Thalidomide is withdrawn from the market after affecting over 10,000 babies worldwide Thalidomide changed our relationship with new medicines for ever. It took five years for the connection between thalidomide taken by pregnant women and the impact on their children to be made. Not only did thalidomide change people’s lives, but it resulted in…

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, died last month at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. She died peacefully at her Scottish estate, where she had spent much of the summer, with family by her side. Her last duty, just two days before her death to appoint the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, which she did with her usual grace and smile. Her…

Death of a Legend – Jimi Hendrix September 18th, 1970 A performance by Jimi Hendrix was sure to be frenetic, full of energy, and wild. He would rip fast on his guitar and at times smash his instrument to pieces at the end of a show. Watching Hendrix play was more than merely observing a performance — it was an experience. But it all ended when he was found dead on September 18th,…