1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820294003321

Autore

Ashton Jennifer

Titolo

At the Margin of Empire : John Webster and Hokianga, 1841 - 1900 / / Jennifer Ashton

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Auckland, New Zealand : , : Auckland University Press, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

1-77558-781-9

1-77558-778-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (276 p.)

Disciplina

822.3

Soggetti

Dramatists, English - Early modern, 1500-1700

Colonists - New Zealand - Far North District

Māori (New Zealand people) - New Zealand - Far North District - History - 19th century

Pioneers - New Zealand - Hokianga County

Economic development - New Zealand - Hokianga County - History - 19th century

Noho-ā-iwi

Pākehā

Kōrero nehe

Taipūwhenuatanga

Far North District (N.Z.) History 19th century

Far North District (N.Z.) Race relations History 19th century

Hokianga County (N.Z.) Colonization

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents --  Map --  Introduction --  Chapter One: The Making of an Imperial Man --  Chapter Two: Hokianga and the River Trade --  Chapter Three Among the Queen's People: The Northern War, 1845-1846 --  Chapter Four: A Voyage through the Pacific,1848-1851 --  Chapter Five: Hokianga's Timber Baron, 1855-1870 --  Chapter Six: War and Politics in the 1860s --  Chapter Seven: Hokianga Old and New, 1870-1890 --  Chapter Eight: Unquiet Retirement, 1880s-1900



--  Epilogue --  Plates --  Acknowledgements --  Notes --  Sources and Bibliography --  Index --  About the author.

Sommario/riassunto

In telling the story of John Webster's long and colorful life for the first time, this biography also explores the wider transformation of relationships between Maori and Pakeha during the 19th century. In this remarkable biography, Jennifer Ashton uses the life of one man as a unique lens through which to view the early history of New Zealand.

"Born in Scotland in 1818, John Webster came in New Zealand via Australia in 1841 after narrowly escaping death in the outback following a violent encounter with a group of Aboriginal men. He spent most of the rest of his life in the Hokianga region, carving out a fortune as the region's leading timber trader and cultivating connections with the leading political figures of the day. As he settled into this new home his life became intimately entwined with Māori. He fought alongside Tāmati Wāka Nene in the Northern War against Hōne Heke, married one of Nene's relatives and built up his kauri timber business through trade with local chiefs, but also awoke one day to find a plundering party had arrived on his front lawn. Webster was also engaged with Pākehā and the Crown - friends with Frederick Maning, visited by George Grey, Richard Seddon and others. Ashton takes us into Hokianga to reveal how the evolving intimate relationships and economic transactions of everyday life reflected larger shifts in colonial power. She argues that through his daily interactions, Webster helped slowly shift the balance of power in the North: the credit that he extended to his customers and kin saw them selling land to pay debts, helping push Māori into economic dependence"--