Articles by Dr Michelle Ann Smith

‘[This] has been the busiest, gloomiest and most exciting fortnight I have ever passed. The war has suddenly left Taranaki and broken out here.’1 So wrote Rev Vicesimus Lush, Anglican minister, in his journal on July 19th 1863. Only a month before, he had speculated that the fighting was not expected to ‘extend beyond the Taranaki.’2 With war breaking out within his parish borders, rather than hundreds of miles away, Lush stopped being a casual…

As World War I came to an end, a silent and deadly killer swept across the world, leaving in its wake mass devastation. This virulent assassin took a life within a matter of days, even hours. Beginning with sudden flu-like symptoms, and rapidly transforming into pneumonia, individuals literally “drowned” in the fluid which accumulated in their lungs, and their body took on a black/purple hue. Bouts of ‘flu’ hit most winters, some more severe…

After his death, James Cook’s memory was revered and his mana grew, while ‘his reputation spread across the Pacific’.[^2] However, it was in only those places, such as Hawaii and Tahiti, where ‘Cook had forged a ceremonial friendship with a paramount chief that he later became a focus of ancestral veneration’.[^3] For Maori, it was his Tahitian companions who were remembered in oral traditions, while Tongan memories focussed on the plot to kill…

On his return to England in July 1775, Cook accepted a position with the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, claiming his sailing days were over, probably to the relief of his wife. Before long, the lure of the ocean had Cook agreeing to lead a two-ship expedition to the North Pacific. He would again command Resolution, with the assistance of John Gore and William Bligh (of Bounty fame), and Charles Clerke would take the helm on Discovery. The aim of…

Still believing a Southern Continent existed, and keen to locate it, Joseph Banks pushed hard for a second Pacific voyage. To his disappointment, the Admiralty called on Cook to lead the expedition, with instructions to find a suitable ship. He found two: Resolution and Adventure, which were fitted out for the voyage. Some of the crew employed had sailed with Cook on the Endeavour. Banks contributed fifteen people, including two French horn…

In May 1768, having secured a naval commission, forty-year old Lieutenant Cook was finally given the command of his own ship. Officially, Cook was sent to the South Pacific to observe the Transit of Venus. An accurate calculation of ‘the distance of the sun from the earth and Venus’, would allow scientists to determine ‘the size of the universe’. Secret orders instructed Cook to search out ‘Terra Australis Incognita’, the Great Unknown Southern…

James Cook’s quest to ‘range’ further than any other man began incrementally. Having declined the offer by his employer, John Walker, to take command of one of his ships Cook volunteered for service with the British Royal Navy. Walker was unsurprised at Cook’s change in direction, observing that the twenty-seven year old ‘had always an ambition to go into the Navy’.[^2] Cook believed the navy was the way to advancement, despite having to start…

This year, between October and December, a replica of the Endeavour will sail around New Zealand to commemorate a significant event in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history: Captain James Cook’s first visit to New Zealand. While not the first European to visit New Zealand shores, Cook was the first to explore and chart both north and south islands, compiling ‘the first cartographic map’ of the country’s coastline and cataloguing the ‘unique animal and…