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Northern War Tours, Warkworth (2024)

11/06/2022

Kia Ora voyageurs, today’s post is on uniforms in the British army and how they changed. The red coat is the distinctive feature of the British regiment of the line (infantry) and soldiers were nicknamed “Tommy Lobster” due to this colour. The Royal Navy sailor was commonly referred to as “Jack Tar” as tar was used to waterproof and keep supple the rope rigging of a ship as well as waterproofing. (‘Jack’ is the traditional name in the RN for a sailor, and the ‘Andrew’ refers to the Navy.)

Fighting in North America had its impact on British uniforms, as did the campaigns in India and South Africa. The “beautiful red coats, our shakoes (head wear), our white belts and glittering breastplates “ made ideal bulls eyes for an enemy sharpshooter. Fighting in the undergrowth in North America saw the reduction in length of the red greatcoat, and a short shell jacket was widely used in India. The Indian Mutiny of 1857-58 saw the large scale adoption of practical uniform, two white jackets and sufficed for most. Khaki (from Persian for dust coloured) trousers, turbans and tunics were adopted in a hasty manner. But the Army’s attachment to the red coat proved remarkably durable, partly because of its ‘seductive principal.’

Henry Mayhew, in his interview based study of the London labour and the poor, thought it a major ingredient in soldiers’ success with ‘dollymops”: servant girls, nursemaids and shop girls, neither professional pr******tes or of adamantine virtue. Nursemaids in particular, he maintained, were always eager to succumb to what he called ‘scarlet fever.’

The widespread use of khaki as a colour made its appearance in the Mutiny when white uniforms were dyed locally with materials that included coffee, curry, powder and mulberry juice. Washing white gear took far longer than khaki coloured clothing, thus a good colour for service.

However, khaki was never really popular with soldiers who preferred to cut a more flamboyant figure. It did not become standard campaign dress in India until the Second Afghan War of 1878. In the Zulu war of 1879, British regulars still fought in red coats. But it could be costly. In 1881, the 58th lost 171 officers and men at Laing’s Nek in South Africa attacking the Boers in close order, bayonets fixed and Colours flying, in the expectation that the tough Boer farmer would be terrified by the spectacle. They weren’t and shot the British column to pieces. The Egyptian campaign of 1882 was the last time British soldiers wore red coats in action, though it remained standard peacetime walking-out dress until 1914.

The infantryman lived like some huge red hermit crab with most of his possessions girt about his person. In the 18th century, buff leather cross belts with a brass shoulder-belt plate, at their intersection (chest level), whitened with pipe-clay supported an ammunition pouch and bayonet. A white linen haversack painted brown or yellow, sat squarely on his back. From 1805 a wood framed canvas haversack came into service. It was universally hated and soldiers would loot French casualties for their more comfortable calf skin backpacks. The soldier’s grey greatcoat, and tent, if he had one, were often rolled and strapped to the top of his haversack. The whole assembly was anything but comfortable especially if you were wearing your leather stock around your throat. This was a 2 inch Leather band or ‘stock’ that wrapped around your throat in order to keep your head upright and so adopt a ‘manly bearing.’ It is still to be seen in the US Marine Corps, hence their nickname ‘leathernecks.’

I’ll leave the last words to Rifleman Benjamin Hariris who when he disembarked in Portugal in 1808 remarked: “ The weight I toiled under was tremendous and I often wonder how I found the strength to endure it. Its weight would impede the free motions of a donkey. Besides my well filled kit, was a greatcoat rolled on top, my blanket and my camp kettle, my haversack stuffed full of leather for repairing my shoes, together with a hammer and other tools..ships biscuit, beef for three days. I also carried my canteen filled with water, my hatchet and rifle, and eighty rounds of ball cartridge in my pouch.”

The inexperienced made a rod for their own backs by carrying non essentials. Officers however, bless them, were not expected to carry their own kit, which frequently travelled with the regiment baggage or, as was frequently the case, on privately-purchased horses or mules escorted by a soldier-servant. Even when stripped down to the basics, an officer’s kit could still be substantial. William Keep pruned his portmanteau to contain: “half a dozen shirts only, one pair of boots, pantaloons and a great coat, four pairs of cotton stockings and three of worsted.” Lt Gleig of the 85th settled for two portmanteau that contained: “my regimental jacket with all its appendages of wings, lace etc, two pairs of grey trousers, sundry waistcoats, white coloured and flannel, a few changes of flannel drawers, half a dozen pairs of worsted stockings and as many of cotton. I also had six shirts, two or three cravats, a dressing case completely filled, one undress pelisse, three pairs of boots, two pairs of shoes with night caps, pocket handkerchiefs etc in proportion…” (Poor old Tommy Lobster, or Tommy Atkins as he was later to be called.)

After all that, time to do some washing! Stay we’ll, nga mihi Peter

25/05/2022

How to be an officer in the British Army in the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries…my theme for this post today

In todays armies, a young person would need to undergo leadership selection assessment and if successful attend an officer commissioning course (in NZ, one year) before graduation as a Second Lieutenant.

However, in the past, officers were mostly appointed by purchasing their commission. It was simple enough. A young man bought his first step, as ensign in the infantry, or cornet in the cavalry, and then bought successive promotions as vacancies appeared because officers retired, or were killed (wars are good for this !), or sold their commissions or transferred to another regiment. Commissions were bought from, and sold back to the Crown but they were often deemed more valuable than the price laid down by the Crown, and so an additional private ‘premium’ was paid to the owner. This transaction was usually handled by the regimental agent since it was in theory illegal to pay more than the warrant by the Crown.

But this investment was expensive. In 1854 Edward Hodge who commanded the 4th Dragoon Guards in the Crimean War reflected on his own commissions. His cornetcy cost him nothing having been given to him through the Duke of York’s patronage. It would normally have cost him 840 pounds. To the regulation price of his lieutenantcy (1200 pounds) was added a non regulation 250 pounds. His captaincy was 2,035 pounds on top of his lieutenancy with 1200 pounds extra. His majority was 1350 pounds more than the value of his captaincy with 1435 pounds extra, and his lieutenant colonelcy 1600 pounds more than his majority with an added non regulation 1400 pounds. He estimated that he had actually paid 9,620 pounds of which 4285 pounds was in non regulation payments. (One British pound in those days is worth about 130 pounds today, so all his purchases cost about 1,250,600 pounds which is about NZ $ 2.5 million, give or take the small change!) Whew and he never did any military training courses! (His regiment of dragoons was a very fashionable one.)

Until the Duke of York as head official of the army changed regulations in the late 18th century, commissions could be sold to children. This practice had begun during Charles II’s reign but in 1711 it was ordered that commissions were not to be sold to persons under 16, but it was frequently breached. Lord George Lennox became an ensign in 1751 at the age of 13 and was a Lieutenant Colonel at 20. The Duke of York, as commander in chief, tightened things up insisting on a minimum age of 16, and that an officer had to serve a certain number of years in a rank before purchasing the next step up.

This purchasing of commissions seems bizarre in our eyes today and was indeed increasingly perceived to be unsatisfactory, but the Duke of Wellington admired it as it “brings into the service men of fortune and character.” But breeding did not ensure dunderheads were not available…Lord Dunkellin, a Captain in the Coldstream Guards, was out with a working party during the Crimean War, and they wandered a little away from the rest, when a number of men were sighted in the dawning light in front of them. “There are the Russians, “ exclaimed one of his men. “Nonsense. They’re our fellows,” said his Lordship and off he went towards them, asking in a high tone as he got near. “Who is in command of this party?” His men saw him no more as he was promptly captured.

Hodge’s contributions if he were killed would be lost, indeed as he said he paid 4,445 pounds (wobbly maths?) ’for graciously allowing me to serve my country.’ But exceptions were often made for gallant service and an officer’s dependents were sometimes allowed to sell the commission, but not the non regulation payments.

An officer selling his commission was generally obliged to sell it to the next most senior officer in his regiment of the rank immediately below his own. If this officer was unable (too expensive) or unwilling to purchase, then it would be offered to the next in seniority. A vacancy in rank created a chain reaction in a regiment since nobody could move up the ladder without at the same time selling, requiring a chain of purchases. A vacant Lieutenant Colonelcy meant five other vacancies as everyone moved up a rank. The appearance of a vacancy signalled a burst of activity amongst junior officers who often clubbed together to find sufficient money to persuade their senior to sell out and start a chain reaction from which all would profit as seniorities existed within a rank. (I’m hoping you understand the military concept of ‘seniority’ as it all depends on your date of commission, or gradution in todays armies.)

An officer who wished to quit active service could either sell out altogether, receiving the price of his commission as his pension. Or if he wanted to receive a regular income and to retain the value of his commission without selling it, he could go onto half pay. In the case of death, the iron rule of seniority applied and the next senior officer stepped up to fill the slot. Promotion by seniority was always slow.

Also in the army were those classified as ‘volunteer gentlemen.’ They has the same social status as the officers but did not have the money to purchase. The only way to advance was to be commissioned without purchase by exposing ther selves to danger in battle. Some succeeded.

Time for a break! I hope your brain in not too fuzzy after all the above but that was how it worked until the 1870s. More to follow…

Stay well, nga mihi Peter

16/05/2022

Beards and Moustaches! Now for something completely different to my previous posts - facial hair in the military!

In the NZ Army in my time, moustaches were allowed, and still are, but not to protrude below the upper lip (I think!) With ‘Movember’ there is a little bit more latitude,but beards were a no go. Compare that to photos of Victorian soldiers and you can see the difference!

‘ Sideburns’ as a word originates from the Union General Ambrose Burnside who served during the American Civil War and had luxuriant facial hair that connected with his moustache but left his chin clean shaved. Sort of like ‘muttonchops.’ They were popular in Europe and especially South America, and are depicted on numerous coins, banknotes and paintings. (Ambrose was to achieve notoriety during the bloody battle of Fredericksburg when his Union forces were repeatedly shot to pieces in suicidal charges against the entrenched Confederates behind a stone wall. Over 12,500 Union soldiers became casualties, and Ambrose threw his soldiers again and again at the position of Marye’s Heights, simply because he knew of nothing else to do.) The horror of Fredericksburg broke him.

Sideburns became redundant during the First World War as gas masks for soldiers needed a tight fit on the face. The Royal Navy has always allowed beards but since 1850 it permits its members to wear only a “full set,” (full beard and moustache.) A sailor has to seek his commanding officer’s permission to stop shaving and after a fortnight, if it doesn’t look ‘good,’ then he’s told to start shaving again!

Facial hair until the mid 19th century was unusual in the British Army except for the infantry pioneers. A small minority of officers grew moustaches but this changed during the century due to the Asian wars. Many Middle Eastern and Indian cultures associated facial hair with wisdom and power and it became increasingly common amongst the British. During the 1850s Crimean War, all ranks were encouraged to grow large moustaches and full beards during winter. After the war, serving soldiers were forbidden to shave above their top lip, in essence making moustaches compulsory. This remained in place until 1916. Nowadays in the Army and Air Force only moustaches (trimmed) are allowed although exceptions can be made for medical reasons (skin irritations) or religious (Sikhs and Moslems.) Regulations, however, can be flouted especially in the RAF, where ‘handlebar’ moustaches (fighter pilots in the Second World War eg) were common. Some ranks and occupations are allowed beards such as the infantry pioneer warrant officers, colour sergeants, drum major and pipe major in Scottish and Irish regts, goat majors in Welsh regts, and so on.

In the RNZAF, beards were allowed in 2019 but have to be styled properly. For those of us old enough to remember the Oyster hair clippers that mum or dad vigorously wielded when we were kids (remember if they were blunt, they would ‘chew’ rather clip!), they are now museum pieces. Recruits traditionally must be clean shaven even when ‘in the field’ (on exercise); wet shaving was compulsory (electric razors are too noisy), try doing this on a freezing morning with no hot water in a Waiouru winter! Beards can be quite common on operations as they are easier to maintain.

Other countries: Russia. Traditionally beards were common but Peter the Great completely banned them, even for civilians but not Orthodox clergy. Peter made moustaches compulsory for all.
France: elite troops such as Napoleon’s grenadiers had to wear large moustaches, and hussars (cavalry) in addition to a moustache usually wore two braids in front of each ear to protect their neck from sword slashes (not sure how effective this was.) In the French Foreign Legion, sappers (engineers) are encouraged to grow a large beard and if chosen to participate in the Bastille Day Parade are ordered to stop shaving so that their beard will be impressive.
In Israel, a beard may be allowed on the grounds of ‘free will’ as it can be part of a soldier’s identity and self esteem. (Try telling that to a NZ Warrant Officer or NCO during recruit training!)
India: Sikh servicemen are allowed full beards and beards are permitted in Pakistan.
Philippines forbids all facial hair for all ranks and can be grounds for disciplinary action.
United States: Generally beards are prohibited on the basis of hygiene and the need for a good seal for chemical weapon protective masks. The official position is that a uniform personal appearance and grooming contribute to discipline and camaraderie. Moustaches are generally allowed but they must be “neatly trimmed, tapered and tidy…no portion of the moustache will cover the upper lip line, extend sideways beyond a vertical line drawn upward from the corners of the mouth..or extend above a parallel line at the lowest portion of the nose…”. !!!

Whew, that’s it for me today. Time to go and have my weekly shave! Stay safe and well, nga mihi. Peter

10/04/2022

Kia Ora voyageurs, the Scots last week, now for the Irish in the British Army….I had mentioned in my last post that the Scots had achieved a sort of respectability in Victorian English society but for the more numerous Irish in the army there was ambivalence. They were accused by the English of being dirty and verminous, resented as a source of cheap labour and alleged to support the exiled Stuarts as they ‘owed allegiance to the Pope.’ Thus they were ‘treacherous’ in all three spheres: economic, political and religious. They were the butt of frequent jokes. When General Howe, c-in-c in North America evacuated Boston in 1776, an Irish officer was detailed to scatter ‘crow’s feet’ (sharp four pronged irons that always lay with one point up.) “Being an Irishman” sniggered an English officer, “he began scattering the crow feet about from the gate to the enemy and of course had to walk over them on his return, and was nearly taken prisoner.” But it was not always safe to chuckle at such jests. The eccentric Lord Hervey entered a coffee house to find his way barred by a man who ostentatiously sniffed the air and declared “I smell an Irishman.” Hervey snatched a carving knife from a nearby table and slashed off the man’s nose, remarking, “You’ll not smell another.”

The battlefield performance of Irish soldiers mocked the cliches. In the peninsula war in Spain, the 88th (Connaught Rangers) had a fighting record which placed it amongst the bravest of the brave. Lt William Gratton was full of praise for the Irish soldier, “Give him a pipe of to***co and he will march for two days without food and without grumbling, give him, in addition, a little spirits and a biscuit, and he will work for a week.”

Captain George Napier of the 52nd was an Englishman and commented that a drunken rogue in his company, Private John Dunne, walked seven miles to see his brother in hospital in Spain. “I’ve come to see you is after your wounds. And sure I thought you was kilt. But myself knew you wouldn’t be plaised if I didn’t folly on after the villains, so I was afeared to go pick you up when you was kilt, so long life to you!” Napier noticed that Dunne’s arm was bandaged. “Why sure it’s nothing, only me arrum was cut off a few hours ago below the elbow joint, and I couldn’t come until the anguish was over a bit. Thank God for your honour’s arrum is not cut off for it’s mighty cruel work. By Jaysus, I’d rather be shot twinty times.”

A common thread of nationality linked Irish soldiers, and Irish regiments greeted each other with enormous and characteristic enthusiasm. F***y Duberly was married to the paymaster of the 8 th Royal Irish Hussars and when they encountered the Connaught Rangers on march in Crimea gave out what she described as a ‘wild screech’ and played ‘Garry Owen’ with all their might.

Yet the uncomfortable fact remained that Ireland was a country under occupation by the very army in which Irishmen, officers and soldiers alike, played an important role. In the last analysis the Irish state rested on military power. The terrifying rebellion of 1798 was ever present in the government’s mind. Whenever Britain found herself at war with the French or Spanish she faced the prospect of a descent on Ireland, in which foreign troops would form the rallying point for disaffected Irishmen. The 1798 rebellion was put down with the loss of 30,000 lives. The ambivalent position of Irish soldiers, so many of them Catholic in a Protestant army,and loyal servants of a state in which their countrymen periodically rebelled, was not lost on leaders and comrades alike. Many saw nothing wrong in singing rebel songs as they marched to do the bidding of a government in which they had no personal interest.

So much then for the Irish who comprised 40% of the British army in the 1830s. Many joined for employment and pay, rather than face a life of destitution on the land. The horrific potato famine in the mid 1840s saw Ireland’s population of 8.4 m reduced to 6.5m. An estimated one million perished, and for a time half the immigrants to the USA were Irish. Many impoverished Irish now chose emigration, ‘the curse of a nation’ to life in a red coat. Much was to change in the early years of the 20th century as Ireland fought for its independence, but that’s another story.

Stay safe and well, nga mihi Peter

04/04/2022

Kia Ora again voyageurs. My last post was about the costs of living and as is my want, I will skip around and now talk about the Scots and the Irish in the British army!

This post is about the Scots, so for all of you who are Scottish or have Scottish tupuna, here we go!

The proportion of Scots in the army remained fairly static, around 8% between 1879 and 1912. (This is about the same % in todays British army.) Previously it had been around 14%. Highland regiments wore the kilt, (it had been outlawed after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746) but it had become more ‘fashionable’ amongst society (favoured by Queen Victoria - John Brown’s influence?) and the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

Following the Jacobite defeats in 1715 and 1745 -46, Scots were unpopular in England (has anything changed!?), indeed they were often referred as “north British.” The Royal Scots Greys were originally named the ‘Royal North British Dragoons.’ The 1st Foot - the trousered Royal Scots - were recruited from the largely English speaking lowlands.

After Culloden, the carrying of arms and wearing of Highland dress was proscribed by law, but if you joined a Highland regiment, then you could do both. As well, you could escape the destitution that threatened the Highlands as sheep drove out men during the ‘clearances.’ The enlistment of Highlanders also represented a good bargain for the government. It gave legitimate scope to a martial spirit that might otherwise be used against it, and conveniently met a need for recruits during the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic wars.

The suspicion of Highlanders, useful on active service, but less desirable in peacetime, had deep roots in an English population badly frightened by the ‘Forty Five’ with a long retained latent fear of a Jacobite revival of Catholic Highlanders backed by French bayonets. Two uniformed officers of Lord John Murray’s Scots regiment, just returned from Havana, went to see a play at Covent Garden in 1762, and were hissed and pelted with apples to cries of “No Scots! No Scots!” “I wish upon my soul that the Union was broke” said one, “and we might give them another Bannockburn!” (Robert the Bruce’s victory over Edward II’s English army in 1314. Still remembered in ‘Flower of Scotland’ sung by thousands of Scots at Murrayfield rugby tests, especially against England!) His companion, slipping into a comfortable vernacular commented, “if I had a grup o yin or twa o the tamd rascals I sud let them ken what they’re about.”

Eventually this anti Scots feeling was to recede, and Scotland went from “a tiresome frontier province, to being more fashionable.” By the 1850s most lowland regts had acquired pipers, and by 1881 had tartan trews, Highland doublets, and Scots head dress. The Highlander had come from a potential rebel to a martial pillar of the Victorian establishment!

More to follow, the Irish are next! Stay safe and well, nga mihi Peter

26/03/2022

Kia Ora again voyageurs, I haven’t done a Rip Van Winkle so thought I might say something on the costs of living expenses in our time period around the Northern War and a bit earlier. This comparative post means you need to ‘remember’ the days of pounds, shillings and pence! Or if you can’t, here’s a reminder. One pound consisted of 20 shillings, and a shilling consisted of 12 pennies. One pound at the turn of the 19th century is (very roughly) about NZ$350 today.

The British infantry soldier was paid in this time period, about one shilling (1/- or s) per day. Not much! Especially as he had ‘necessities’ or deductions from it which often left him with virtually nothing. An Act of Parliament had to be passed to ensure he received at least one penny per day.

Pay, bounties, prize money and loot played an important part in the motivation of officers and men alike,but this was much less the case in our NZ Wars period as there was simply not the ‘wealth’ amongst Maori combatants or dwellings.

Modern ideas of inflation have little relevance to our time period where inflation did not rise steadily but often went up and down sharply. Prices were generally stable. The prices I will use here apply to the Britain of the late 18th and mid 19th centuries, not NZ.

A British soldier would receive two (later three) meals a day, one of them would include plenty of beef, bread and small beer(less alcohol.)

Comparative wages (per day): London labourer 2s, craftsman 3s, a day labourer 2-3 p (pence or pennies), mason or joiner 2s, chair carver (highly skilled artisan) 4 pound, compositor 24s, saddler 15s, a Newcastle collier 13s 6p, Lancashire weaver 8s,

In 1850 a farm labourer was paid 11s per day, a school mistress 20
Pound per year.

Cheap gin was one penny per tot, beer 2 p a pint, and if you were drinking for effect, it was cheaper to go for liquor. A dozen bottles of claret was one pound. A bread and cheese supper cost 3p, cold meat, bread, cheese and beer 7p, a slap up meal in a ‘chop house’ was one shilling. A cheap room to rent 2s per week, a servant girl’s wages 8 pound a year, a clerk’s suit 4 pound 10s, a gentleman’s 8pound 8 s.

James Boswell’s father gave him an allowance of 25 pound every six weeks to stay in Westminster (London.) Lodgings cost him 22 pound per year, a small sword was five guineas, ( a Guinea was one pound and one shilling,) a ‘low brimstone’ girl (pr******te) charged him 6p to “dip my machine in the canal” and his surgeon five guineas to cure the resultant gonorrhoea!

A loaf of bread cost 6p and rose to one shilling by 1850, a model cottage (wood) cost 58 pound to build or 66 pound if brick.
Shoes were 7s a pair.

An unskilled labourer in London in 1860 took home 18 s per week, of which he would likely spend 4s on bread, 1s2p on beer, 3s6p on meat and potatoes, 1s6p on butter and cheese, 6p on wood and candles, 1s on coal, 2s6p on clothes and shoes, 2s on rent, and 10p on soap and sundries.

Meanwhile our poor ‘Tommy Atkin’ (British soldier) was paid one shilling per day! Who’d be a soldier!
Stay well, nga mihi Peter

05/02/2022

Kia Ora again voyageurs, sorry for the long delay since my last post on prisons. Now we are in the ‘red’ system, who knows where it will all end up, but perhaps at last 2022 might see a return to ‘normality’ whatever that will mean. Promising developments with our borders and fellow Kiwis now able to return without MIQ….

I mentioned in my last post about some Maori experience with prisons and the British justice system which leads onto where prisoners were sent. During the 18th century Britain was to send many of her prisoners to her American colonies but after the American war of independence, another location was looked for. Imprisonment was often in ‘hulks’ broken down ships at anchor or deportation to overseas colonies. Australia was seen as an ideal location and the Great Fleet of 1788 saw Australia become a penal colony.

Some of NZ’s earliest European settlers were probably escaped convicts, such as James Cavanagh in 1804, Charlotte Badger in 1806 (she was part of a mutiny that seized the Venus), and many of the early sealers and whalers were ex convicts.

NZ’s first jails were set up in the 1840s in Russell, our first capital (now Okiato,) Kororareka (now Russell,) the Hokianga, Auckland, Wellington, Akaroa, Nelson. They were usually flimsy affairs built of wood or raupo (bulrush), so flimsy that prisoners had to be chained up to prevent them escaping. They were underfunded, overcrowded, and of all ages and genders. Debtors, the homeless, the mentally ill were held alongside dangerous criminals. We even sent some of our prisoners to Australia, between 1840 - 1854, 100 were transported to Van Dieman’s land (Tasmania), mostly for property offences but there were five Maori from Whanganui for ‘rebellion’ against the Crown. Maori early became victims of imprisonment. I mentioned Maketu in my last post but Maori after the battle of Rangiriri during the British Invasion of the Waikato in 1863 were transported to Auckland as POWs and then onto Kawau island off Mahurangi where they quickly escaped, briefly scared the settlers around Warkworth and headed back to the Waikato along the west coast. (They arrived too late to take any further part in the Waikato war.)

The sacking of the Maori pacifist settlement of Parihaka in November 1881 saw the imprisonment of Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi and the brutal wrecking of the community. Maori ploughmen were arrested and imprisoned without trial, as were Te Whiti and Tohu. Many were sent to do road works in chain gangs near Dunedin, some succumbing to pneumonia in the freezing conditions. Te Whiti was not released until 1883 when he returned to the ruined Parihaka settlement. So much for the right of Habeas Corpus as a fundamental civil liberty, (also guaranteed to Maori by Article Three of the Treaty - full and equal citizenship.) Te Whiti’s charges were “wickedly, maliciously, and seditiously contriving and intending to disturb the peace.” He was to be imprisoned again for six months in 1886.

The prophet Te Kooti who was to wreck havoc in the central North Island and East Coast was himself arrested ‘on suspicion of being a spy’ which was never proved and deported to Wharekauri (Chatham island) without trial. In July 1864 he seized a supply vessel, the Rifleman, and led several hundred escapees to Poverty Bay where he began his war against the government forces until 1873.

Today we have a prison population that is the eighth highest in the OECD. Of this, 52% are Maori who make up only about 17% of our population, an appalling statistic. Next post, I return to the Royal Navy and their language! Stay well, be safe, nga mihi Peter