Soldiers of Empire goes to the NZHA

The biennial New Zealand Historical Association conference was held this year at Auckland University over 28 November to 1 December. Wednesday morning began with a wonderful welcome onto Waipapa Marae, where, on Friday morning, our ‘Auckland at the Crossroads of Nineteenth-century Military and Civilian Worlds’ panel had the great honour of presenting in the wharenui.

Photo credit: Auckland University website: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/on-campus/life-on-campus/maori-life-on-campus/waipapa-marae.html

The conference was filled with fantastic papers across a broad range of topics that have left us with much to think about. Several papers were of particular relevance to this project.

One such was a fantastic and moving session by our VUW colleagues Arini Loader, Mike Ross, and Kelly Keane-Tuala, ‘He aroha hoki nōku ki te iwi: An Expression of my Affection for the People’, looking at the waiata recorded by prisoners of the battle of Rangiriri. A short interview with them here, recorded for the conference

Arini, Kelly, and Mike. Photo credit: Hirini Kaa, via Twitter (@revhirini)

One of our core partners, Puke Ariki, was also at the NZHA Conference in the form of Andrew Moffat, Heritage Collections Lead/Pouarahi Tukuihotanga at the museum. Andrew gave a terrific paper exploring the heroic mythology with which Gustavus Von Tempsky surrounded himself, and with which he continues to trail through to the present. Andrew introduced us to a dazzling, troubling, amusing array of Von Tempskyana. We look forward to seeing this in print or on screen soon.

​Jamie Hawkins Elder, a VUW MA student working with Charlotte, presented on Thursday afternoon on aspects of her MA research, looking at the ‘emotional and practical responses to refugee settler women during the New Zealand Land Wars 1860-1872’. In that same session Lyndon Fraser presented on death at sea as detailed in 19th century shipboard accounts, leaving us to further examine what similarities there might be between these practices and those among imperial soldiers dying on their way to New Zealand.

Detail from Tom Bent, 'Col Carey arguing with armed New Plymouth women', ARC2002-702 , Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, from Jamie's presentation

We (Charlotte and Rebecca, with John McLellan) presented our panel to a wonderful audience who left us with much to ponder. Charlotte presented on ‘Auckland via Calcutta: Military Cosmopolitanism in the Mid-nineteenth Century’, Rebecca on ‘Death and Disease in 1860s Garrison Auckland’, and John on ‘Soldiers and Colonists: Lives of Imperial Soldiers as Settlers in Nineteenth-century New Zealand’ Though it would have been wonderful to have been joined, as had been the original plan, by Daniel Thompson, presenting on his MA work regarding the Enfield Rifle, Daniel’s absence did mean we had an extra half hour for discussion at the end of our papers which was great. We’re very grateful to all those who asked questions, and who provided some tips and avenues for follow up, in the session itself and in subsequent conversations.

Photo credit: Kathryn Street

Our congratulations to Vincent O’Malley for winning the Mary Boyd Prize for best article on any aspect of New Zealand history published in a refereed journal for his article ‘Recording the incident with a monument’, charting the changing perceptions of the Waikato War in national memory and consciousness.