347:
Tucker lingered in the surf, pleading with the Māori not to hurt Wioree, but he was speared and knocked down. He called out, ‘Captain Kelly, for God’s sake don’t leave me,’ before being killed. Kelly witnessed him being ‘cut limb from limb and carried away by the savages!’ Tucker's killer was Riri, acting on Chief Te
Matahaere's orders. Taiaroa allegedly killed the others, and all the dead were eaten. A Māori source gave the immediate cause as dissatisfaction at not having the first opportunity to receive Tucker's gifts, but it was also said it was an unhappy consequence of the theft of the shirt in 1810 and its owner's savage reaction. This dramatic death was reported in Australian newspapers.
375:
However, the Creed manuscript, written by the
Reverend Charles Creed in the 1840s recording the information of two Maori informants and discovered in 2003, shows Tucker in a new light. His theft was not responsible for the war in the south; he was generally liked by Māori and welcomed as a settler.
311:
described the trade, saying it was carried on by ‘groupes of sealers’. It seems clear this was part of Tucker's enterprise. Māori called him ‘Taka’ adapting his surname, also ‘Wioree’, perhaps from the diminutive of his first name ‘Willy’. More formally and inaccurately, he was also styled ‘Captain
346:
When Kelly, Tucker, and five others took a longboat to
Whareakeake a few days later, they were initially welcomed. However, while Tucker was away in his house, the Māori attacked the others. Veto Viole and John Griffiths were killed, but Kelly managed to escape back to the longboat, as did Tucker.
257:
landed a gang at
Macquarie that would have included Tucker. She left, returned, and brought her gang back to Sydney on 19 May 1811. It was presumably shortly after this that Tucker offered the Māori head for sale, inaugurating their retail trade and earning him the condemnation of ‘Candor’ in the
209:
Tucker was sent to look for the missing men first on the Isle of Wight and then to ‘Ragged Point’, apparently the headland on
Stewart Island at the western entrance to Foveaux Strait. It was probably then he stole a preserved Māori head, whose owners, discovering the loss, pursued the departing
380:, as distinct from sojourning, jumping ship or being held as a captive. While his inauguration of the trade in heads has been condemned even by his own countrymen, since that time his fostering of the trade in tiki has revealed him as an enterprising art dealer, in fact New Zealand's first.
267:
He then spent time ashore, where, by August 1812, he was a labourer living with old shipmates in poor lodgings in
Phillips Street. On 21 August he and Edward Williams stole a woman's fancy silk cloak, for which they were convicted in November, sentenced to a year's hard labour, and sent to
161:
to a greater extent than any other society and high born males wore full facial adornment unique to the individual. Some Māori preserved the heads of enemies and loved ones. These relics had interested the first
European visitors, as had their carved jade ornaments.
148:
There were virtually no
Europeans living ashore in New Zealand and Māori still lived much as they had for centuries. Maori society was tribal and based on the maintenance of honour, war being recurrent and often fought to get revenge, or
45:
and started the retail trade in them. A document discovered in 2003 revealed his activities had no bearing on the war in the south and shows he was the first New
Zealand art dealer, initially trading in human heads and secondarily in
363:
Tucker has been remembered for stealing the head and inaugurating the controversial trade. It was banned in New South Wales in 1831, but continued anyway. Ten were sold by a single Māori vendor later in the 1830s, apparently at
202:. In early November, he was one of eleven men landed at the ‘Isle of Wight’ and ‘Ragged Rock’ on what is now the Dunedin coast on the South Island's southeast coast. When Captain Mason returned to Port Daniel, now called
355:
Returning to his ship in the harbour, Kelly took revenge, by his account killing some Māori, destroying canoes, and firing ‘the beautiful City of Otago’, a harbourside settlement, probably on Te Rauone beach near modern
291:. There he built a house and lived for a time with a Māori woman, keeping goats and sheep. There were no children. The site has long been known for its large quantities of worked greenstone, called
455:
Entwisle, 2005, pp.43-44, citing the general muster of New South Wales, August 1806, also various advertisements in the Sydney
Gazette, March to October 1805, summarised, op.cit.pp.107-108.
74:
from a ‘Taylor’ William Wilday or Wildey, and were convicted and sentenced to death. They were then reprieved and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to
808:
389:
70:, the son of Timothy and Elizabeth Tucker, people of humble rank. In 1798 Tucker and Thomas Butler shoplifted goods worth more than five
91:) raged through the ship, which lost 95 convicts before arriving at Sydney on 26 July 1799. It is not known where Tucker was assigned.
668:
21 August 1858 and Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, reproduced Entwisle, 2005, pp.130-131.
751:
329:
646:
28 March 1818 p.2b;Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, reproduced Entwisle, 2005, p.130.
625:
28 March 1818 p.2b;Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, Entwisle, 2005, pp.129 & 130.
187:
107:
in England on 13 December 1803. The stowaways were captured and sent under escort to Portsmouth to return to New South Wales on
497:
4 June 1809 p.1c; letter Charles Hook/Robert Campbell 27/7/1810, Charles Hook letterbook, MSS 109, Mitchell Library, Sydney.
734:
De Blosseville, Jules, 'Essai sur les Moeurs et les Coutumes des habitans de la Partie Meridionale de Tavai-Poenammou', in
171:
whose command was taken over by Daniel Cooper en route. If so, he would have returned to New South Wales either in her, or
250:
79:
339:‘Taka’ was welcomed by Māori of the harbourside settlement, but unknown to the visitors, the chief Korako, father of
133:, and James Underwood to exploit the sealing grounds at the Antipodes Islands to the south and east of New Zealand's
713:
Beattie, James Herries, 'Traditions and Legends Collected from the Natives of Murihiku (Southland, New Zealand)' in
813:
269:
217:
Later that year, at Otago Harbour, a Māori chief's theft of a red shirt and knife from a man who disembarked from
307:. Archaeologists have identified these as being produced for a European export trade. An 1819 editorial in the
343:, refused to ferry across Māori from the north, Whareakeake, who had come to see Tucker and receive presents.
655:
Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, reproduced Entwisle, 2005, p.130.
167:
150:
417:
Letter, Captain John Hunter, Governor New South Wales/Under Secretary King, quoted in Clune, 1964, p.40
125:
for the coast of New Zealand. She was one of the ships of Lord, Kable and Underwood, a group formed by
803:
798:
121:
253:
in early November, the location of Macquarie was obtained by bribing one of Campbell and Co's men.
63:
592:
Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, Entwisle, 2005, p.129.
340:
408:
The Creed manuscript; Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201 Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
747:
142:
818:
246:
191:
75:
230:
119:
In March 1805, shortly after his term expired, Tucker was advertised as shipping out on
260:
199:
195:
111:— many other returnees were hanged. They arrived back in Sydney on 24 June 1804.
729:
Bound for Botany Bay, Narrative of a Voyage in 1798 Aboard the Death Ship Hillsborough
792:
296:
203:
51:
20:
134:
27:
226:
710:
University of Otago Press in association with Otago Museum, Dunedin, 1994 (1995).
534:
Charles Creed, MS papers, 1187/201, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, the
288:
284:
138:
130:
126:
87:
The voyage was one of the worst in the history of transportation. ‘Jail Fever’ (
35:
158:
104:
634:
De Blosseville, 1826, translated by McNab, 1909, p.327; Beattie, 1920, p.130.
513:
15/4/1811 147, pp.100-103, 5/1105, State Records of New South Wales, Sydney.
42:
738:, Tome XXIX, M.M.J.B. Eyries et Malte-Brun, Paris, 1826, pp. 161–172.
304:
273:
141:
on the South Island's south west coast. Tucker was probably later at the
71:
376:
In fact, he was the first European to settle in what is now the city of
525:
25/9/1810, 33 pp.36-42 5/1104 State Records of New South Wales, Sydney.
377:
292:
67:
47:
23:
550:
1 September 1810 p.1b; 8 September 1810 p.1b; 22 September 1810 p.2a.
357:
321:
272:. By October–November 1814, he had left New South Wales, perhaps for
154:
88:
332:, bringing other European settlers, according to Māori sources. The
300:
210:
sealers. When they failed to find the missing men, Tucker rejoined
572:
James Byrne vs Edward Williams, William Tucker and Charles Lefevre
365:
214:
at Otago Harbour and returned with her to Sydney on 14 July 1810.
31:
736:
Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, de la Geographie et de l'Histoire
613:
16 October 1819 p.3 b, c; reproduced Entwisle, 2005, pp.121-123.
464:
Buck, 1949 (1974)pp.299-300 & Beattie, 1994 (1995), p.487.
574:
pp.211-214, 5/1120, State Records of New South Wales, Sydney.
221:
started a rolling feud which soon took the lives of some of
287:, later called Murdering Beach, a little to the north of
233:, also 'The War of the Shirt’, and continued until 1823.
206:, on 3 May 1810, he found only Tucker and Daniel Wilson.
178:
In April 1809, he was advertised to leave Sydney in the
430:
28 December 1803 p.3 & 5 December 1803 p.3 and the
99:
In January 1803, he and Anthony Rawson stowed away on
264:, which called him ‘a wild fellow’ and a 'villain'.
165:Tucker may have left Sydney for England in 1807 in
664:Entwisle, 2005, pp. 94-97, principally relying on
744:Taka, A Vignette Life of William Tucker 1784–1817
245:, on 19 September 1810 for the newly discovered
764:, Department of Conservation, Wellington, 2001.
368:. The theft inspired Shena Mackay's 1993 novel
336:anchored in Otago Harbour on 11 December 1817.
785:, second edition, Otago Museum, Dunedin, 1966.
8:
771:, Moyer Bell, Wakefield, Rhode Island, 1993.
562:, Sydney Gazette, 15 January 1820, p.3b, c.
446:24 March 1805 p. 4b and 21 April 1805 p.4b.
778:, Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington, 1909.
717:Vol. XXVII, 115, September 1920, part XII.
708:Traditional Lifeways of the Southern Maori
279:In 1815, he returned to Otago, perhaps in
153:', for an insult. The Māori had developed
390:List of convicts transported to Australia
303:worked with iron tools into pendants, or
198:, between New Zealand's South Island and
41:Tucker is the man who stole a preserved
601:Skinner, 1966, p.10; Hamel, 2001, p.52.
401:
372:reflecting his role as a minor legend.
19:(c. 16 May 1784 – December 1817) was a
538:reproduced Entwisle, 2005, pp.128-132.
229:relations in the south. It was called
7:
731:, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1964.
724:, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1949, (1974).
249:far to the south of New Zealand. At
95:Year of escape, flight and recapture
62:He was baptised on 16 May 1784 at
14:
809:Convicts transported to Australia
715:Journal of the Polynesian Society
103:, visiting China before reaching
523:John Robinson vs Charles Hook...
509:25/9/1810, 33, pp.36-42 5/1104;
507:John Robinson vs Charles Hook...
58:Background and childhood offence
511:Thomas Brady vs Robert Campbell
434:24 June 1804 p.3a are relevant.
225:’ missing men and soured Māori/
746:. Dunedin: Port Daniel Press.
190:and probably intended for the
30:, a trader in human heads, an
1:
237:Start of trade with Australia
137:. She probably landed men at
241:Tucker left Sydney again on
283:, and took up residence at
835:
426:Entwisle, 2005, pp.31-34.
78:. They left Portsmouth on
698:Entwisle, 2005, pp.89-90.
473:Entwisle, 2005, pp.45-51.
175:, Cooper's next command.
115:Emigration to New Zealand
762:The Archaeology of Otago
742:Entwisle, Peter (2005).
706:Beattie, James Herries,
299:. This took the form of
722:The Coming of the Maori
295:in Māori, a variety of
186:, a ship chartered by
182:. Instead, he left on
583:Entwisle, 2005, p.88.
84:on 20 December 1798.
38:’s first art dealer.
485:23 April 1809, p.1c.
644:Hobart Town Gazette
623:Hobart Town Gazette
330:Captain James Kelly
64:Portsea, Portsmouth
783:The Maori Hei-Tiki
341:Te Matenga Taiaroa
814:Settlers of Otago
720:Buck, Sir Peter,
320:He left, went to
143:Antipodes Islands
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324:and returned on
247:Macquarie Island
231:The Sealers' War
192:Solander Islands
834:
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789:
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781:Skinner, H.D.,
774:McNab, Robert,
767:Mackay, Shena,
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251:Campbell Island
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188:Robert Campbell
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76:New South Wales
60:
12:
11:
5:
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727:Clune, Frank,
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611:Sydney Gazette
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548:Sydney Gazette
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317:
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309:Sydney Gazette
281:Governor Bligh
261:Sydney Gazette
238:
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200:Stewart Island
196:Foveaux Strait
116:
113:
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59:
56:
17:William Tucker
13:
10:
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760:Hamel, Jill,
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753:0-473-10098-3
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689:Mackay, 1993.
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666:Otago Witness
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297:Nephrite jade
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204:Otago Harbour
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122:Governor King
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52:Nephrite jade
50:a variety of
49:
44:
39:
37:
34:settler, and
33:
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25:
22:
18:
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316:Final voyage
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135:South Island
120:
118:
108:
100:
98:
86:
81:Hillsborough
80:
61:
40:
16:
15:
804:1817 deaths
799:1784 births
289:Otago Heads
285:Whareakeake
219:Sydney Cove
168:Sydney Cove
139:Dusky Sound
131:Henry Kable
127:Simeon Lord
36:New Zealand
793:Categories
396:References
109:Experiment
43:Māori head
428:The Times
312:Tucker’.
270:Newcastle
155:tattooing
72:shillings
776:Murihiku
384:See also
351:Epilogue
305:hei-tiki
274:Tasmania
223:Brothers
212:Brothers
184:Brothers
819:Sealers
769:Dunedin
378:Dunedin
370:Dunedin
293:pounamu
180:Pegasus
68:England
48:pounamu
24:convict
21:British
750:
560:Candor
358:Otakou
334:Sophia
326:Sophia
322:Hobart
255:Aurora
243:Aurora
227:Pākehā
89:typhus
28:sealer
366:Otago
328:with
301:adzes
173:Unity
101:Atlas
32:Otago
748:ISBN
678:Ibid
159:moko
157:and
105:Deal
26:, a
194:in
151:utu
795::
360:.
276:.
145:.
129:,
66:,
54:.
756:.
680:.
149:'
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