The Meeting Place - A New Zealand History Blog

Following Prince Harry’s recent visit to the Whanganui region, where he met with local iwi representatives (and impressed Tariana Turia ), much older connections between local Māori and the British royal family are worth remembering. In my recently-published book Haerenga: Early Māori Journeys Across the Globe I tell the story of Whanganui chief Hoani Wiremu Hipango, known to many Europeans as John Williams. In 1855 Hipango accompanied the Whanganui-based missionary Richard Taylor on a journey to England. During the course of his stay, the young Whanganui leader and Taylor met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Buckingham Palace. Hoani Wiremu Hipango (right), with Richard Taylor (seated) and his son Basil, PAColl-5185, ATL Hipango presented the Queen with a prized pounamu weapon, a large cloak made of kiwi feathers, and other items. Victoria took a great interest in the gifts and assured Hipango that she had the welfare of the Māori people in her heart. ...

My new history of early Māori travel has been released today as part of the BWB Texts series. Here is some information on it from the publisher's press release: Acclaimed historian Vincent O’Malley has written the latest addition to Bridget Williams Books’ Texts series, Haerenga: Early Māori Journeys Across the Globe . O’Malley’s book tells the stories of early Māori voyagers who, from the eighteenth century on, left New Zealand to travel overseas in search of adventure, commercial opportunities and political recognition. ‘Europeans began to visit New Zealand from 1642 and in earnest after 1769,’ says O’Malley, commenting that while this fact is generally well known, what is less well known is that many Māori took advantage of these new links with the rest of the world to join European ships and make their own voyages of discovery. According to O’Malley, ‘an almost insatiable appetite to travel, explore and discover the rest of the world was unleashed, and over the com...

The history of Māori travel and engagement with the outside world is a remarkable one. It is explored in a new work to be released as part of the BWB Texts series in March 2015. Here is some information on the work from the publisher's website . The Māori monarch and his entourage found sympathetic ears in the British press and public. Newspapers published tips on correct pronunciation of his name, explained his illustrious lineage and the troubled history of war and confiscation suffered by the Waikato tribes and printed sketches of the party. Socially, too, they were in high demand. London’s bobbies found it impossible to control crowds gathered to witness some of the party’s early outings. From the late eighteenth century, Māori travellers spread out from New Zealand to Australia, Britain and the world. Most travellers eventually returned home, bringing something of their own ‘new world’ experiences with them. This book is a series of vignettes of this histo...