Research Catalog

Title

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

Author

Ashton, Jennifer, 1968-

Publication

• Auckland, New Zealand : Auckland University Press, 2015.
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

257 pages : illustrations (some colour), map; 23 cm

Summary

"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"--Publisher information.

Subject

• Webster, John, 1818-1912
• 1800 - 1899
• Colonists > New Zealand > Far North District > Biography
• Māori (New Zealand people) > New Zealand > Far North District > History > 19th century
• Noho-ā-iwi
• Pākehā
• Kōrero nehe
• Taipūwhenuatanga
• Colonists
• Māori (New Zealand people)
• Race relations
• Far North District (N.Z.) > History > 19th century
• Far North District (N.Z.) > Race relations > History > 19th century
• New Zealand > Far North District

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The making of an imperial man -- Hokianga and the river trade -- Among the Queen's people : the Northern War, 1845-1846 -- A voyage through the Pacific, 1848-1851 -- Hokianga's timber baron, 1855-1870 -- War and politics in the 1860s -- Hokianga old and new, 1870-1890 -- Unquiet retirement, 1880s-1900.

ISBN

• 9781869408251
• 186940825X

OCLC

• 903363759
• SCSB-11581269

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library