All articles in ‘History’

In August 1838, the New Zealand Association reformed as the second New Zealand Colonisation Company. It required massive capital to start up, but there was still interest following the first New Zealand Company which had been propelled by positive report…

Today, Moriori are trying to restore their place in the public consciousness as the tchakat henu (tangata whenua) of the Chatham Islands, but they’re up against some competition. Recent vandalism of Moriori cultural artefacts recalls an ancient feud whic…

There are very few of the older generation who have not heard of a de Havilland Mosquito. But few have had the good fortune to see one in the air, although many enthusiasts have seen them as static displays, essentially museum models. No matter when or h…

Last issue, we read of a family being slain in cold blood in the Bay of Islands, and the first test of British justice. Now it’s Part 3 of New Zealand’s Bloody History, the Battle of Pukekohe: our town turned to battleground. In September 1863, the Briti…

After his death, James Cook’s memory was revered and his mana grew, while ‘his reputation spread across the Pacific’.[^2] However, it was in only those places, such as Hawaii and Tahiti, where ‘Cook had forged a ceremonial friendship with a paramount chi…

Last issue, we heard of the terrible conquest of Hongi Hika, a warlord whose bloodlust began by avenging Ngāpuhi. But there have been other killers in New Zealand’s past, who didn’t need war to justify their slaughter. Meet young Maketu, son of a Ngāpuhi…

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 an…

On his return to England in July 1775, Cook accepted a position with the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, claiming his sailing days were over, probably to the relief of his wife. Before long, the lure of the ocean had Cook agreeing to lead a two-ship expedit…

New Zealand has its noble history – the glossy version which is safe for our children to learn about in school, the version of peace, pasture and parchment. But then there’s the other history of New Zealand, a history in which men like Hongi Hika orchest…

Still believing a Southern Continent existed, and keen to locate it, Joseph Banks pushed hard for a second Pacific voyage. To his disappointment, the Admiralty called on Cook to lead the expedition, with instructions to find a suitable ship. He found two…

In May 1768, having secured a naval commission, forty-year old Lieutenant Cook was finally given the command of his own ship. Officially, Cook was sent to the South Pacific to observe the Transit of Venus. An accurate calculation of ‘the distance of the …

Most of our readers are too young to remember the great airships that sailed, ever so majestically, across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. Those fortunate enough to do so, remember them as a sight never to be forgotten. Probably the best re…

James Cook’s quest to ‘range’ further than any other man began incrementally. Having declined the offer by his employer, John Walker, to take command of one of his ships Cook volunteered for service with the British Royal Navy. Walker was unsurprised at …

The history of gold stretches as far back as the beginning of civilization. Humans have long since realized the value of gold for both decoration and currency due to its rarity, lustre and ease of exchange, and while it remains a global business with no …

As a terrible storm raged over the North Island coast in December 1769 the ships of Captain Cook and the French explorer Jean-François-Marie de Surville unknowingly passed within a relatively short distance of each other. Both the British and the French …

This year, between October and December, a replica of the Endeavour will sail around New Zealand to commemorate a significant event in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history: Captain James Cook’s first visit to New Zealand. While not the first European to visit …

In the early decades of the 18th century New Zealand was enjoying the profitable beginnings of international trade with its nearest neighbour, New South Wales. The establishment of a British penal colony in Sydney was Great Britain’s solution a group of …

Agathis australis, or Kauri in Maori is one of New Zealand’s oldest and mightiest coniferous trees that can grow upwards of fifty metres and can live around two thousand years. Found in the northern districts of New Zealand, the Kauri was once prolific c…

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 t…

The white man who figuratively held the gun for a chief to pull the trigger thus igniting the worst holocaust New Zealand in New Zealand’s history. In 1799 a ‘new dissent’ had been afoot for some several decades, the intense and radical revivalist child …