The Northern War 1845-46
A DigitalNZ Story by National Library of New Zealand Topics
The New Zealand Wars | Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa Northern War took place around the Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) and began with the sacking of Kororāreka by Hone Heke in 1845. Its origins lay in the colonial government’s increased imposition of British sovereignty over Ngāpuhi in direct opposition to the Te Tiriti o Waitangi | Treaty of Waitangi. SCIS no. 1965934
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A sketch of Ruapekapeka pa, 11 January 1846, by Cyprian Bridge
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Hone Heke.
University of Otago
Anei ko Hone Heke e: The Flagstaff War
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Kawiti's pa, Ruapekapeka
Auckland Libraries
Ruapekapeka pā
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ruapekapeka Pā, 11 January 1846
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Ruapekapeka - The Northern War
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Relic of Maori War, Ruapekapeka
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Ruapekapeka pā painting
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
NZ Wars: The Stories of Ruapekapeka
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Heke’s flagstaff
One of the most famous scenes from New Zealand history is Hone Heke cutting down the flagstaff at Kororareka (present-day Russell.) In fact, the flagstaff wasn’t cut down once but 4 times between 1844-5! Each time the British undertook increased security until finally a moat and blockhouse protected the flagstaff. But even that wasn’t enough. The fourth time it was cut down (at the beginning of the Northern War) Māori taua simply walked into the blockhouse. Incredibly the door had been left open by British soldiers!
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
The sacking of Kororāreka
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96th Regiment NZ Wars memorial plaque
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Northern war, 1845
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
[Williams, John], d 1905 :H M S North Star, destroying Pomare's pa, Otiuhu, Bay of Islands (1845)
Alexander Turnbull Library
The Northern War - The Northern War
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ōhaeawai - The Northern War
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
New Zealand Wars Memorial Cross, Ōhaeawai, Northland
MTG Hawke's Bay
Sketch Plans, New Zealand Wars Battlefields
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Tāmati Wāka Nene of Ngāti Hao, Hokianga
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ruapekapeka Pā, 11 January 1846
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Johnny Heki [i.e. Hone Heke] [picture] /
National Library of Australia
Te Ruki Kawiti
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Hōne Heke with Te Ruki Kawiti and Hāriata Rongo
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Plan of the road taken by the combined forces on their march to attack the rebel chief Kawiti : Dec & Jan 1845 & 1846
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Proclamation by Governor Robert Fitzroy
In 1845 after the second flagstaff was cut down, Governor FitzRoy issued a proclamation: “I will cause the sum of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS to be immediately paid for his (Hone Heke’s), apprehension, on his delivery into custody of the Police Magistrate at Russell, or of the police Magistrate at Auckland...” Angry that a reward for his capture had been placed on his head Heke declared, “am I a pig... to be bought and sold?” and immediately responded by issuing his own reward for the capture of Governor Fitzroy.
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Battle at Puketutu
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ruapekapeka
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Robert Fitzroy (1805-1865)
Alexander Turnbull Library
"Pomare"
Puke Ariki
Tamiti Waka Nene
Alexander Turnbull Library
Tamati Waka Nene
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Wāka Nene NZ Wars memorial
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Kororāreka (Russell): After the Fire, 1845
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Letter from Marianne Williams to Marianne Davies, April 8, 1845
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Kororāreka
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Kororāreka (Russell), 1845
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ships at anchor, Kororāreka
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Kororāreka residents NZ Wars memorial
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Russell - roadside stories
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Position of the Rifle Pits at Ahuahu
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Pomare II's pā
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ōhaeawai NZ Wars memorial
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Flagstaff fragment
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The widow (Harata Rewiri Tarapata, Ngapuhi)
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Ruapekapeka 1970
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Page, George Hyde, 1823-1908 :Ruapekapeka. Taken on the 11th Jany, 1846.
Alexander Turnbull Library
Narrative of Events at the Bay of Islands. (New Zealander, 19 November 1845)
National Library of New Zealand
HEKE'S WAR. (Taranaki Daily News 14-4-1909)
National Library of New Zealand
Reminiscences of the Northern War
When Nene’s war party found Hone Heke’s forces at Lake Omapere both commenced building pa. Over the days the only Pakeha in Nene’s camp, John Webster, recounted that both taua conducted a chivalrous campaign. After breakfast, both parties would straggle out to confront each other, taking up positions behind clumps of flax, and tea-tree. After shots were fired the scouts would chat with the other side. At dusk, someone would rise up from his pit and shout, “Ka po te ra” (the sun is setting). Then one taua party would haka, and the other would make a similar response. Next, out of the ranks of both fighters, a few warriors would meet, hongi, and ask about each other's losses for the day.
DigitalNZ
Ruapekapeka
Built by Kawiti in 1845, the pa Ruapekapeka was an extraordinary feat of architecture. There were almost no substantial buildings behind its twin palisades, instead, shelter consisted of a series of tunnels, pits and bomb-proof bunkers. This gave the pa its name, (Ruapekapeka or “the bats nest”) as Kawhiti and his taua sheltered like bats in the darkness, safe from British bombardment. The double wooden palisades were almost impregnable to musket and cannon-fire. This was due to the hardwood Puriri tree trunks and harakeke (flax) padding which absorbed the impact of musket balls and cannon shot.
Alexander Turnbull Library
The New Zealand Wars 1 - The War that Britain Lost
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New Zealand Wars
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Bay of Islands
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Why you might sidestep the histories and read the voices of the past
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Heke’s war in the North
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Remembering the Northern War
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History of the war in the north of New Zealand
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The Story of New Zealand [Vol.II] - 1859
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The Governor - The Reverend Traitor (Episode One)
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Remarks on the Military Operations in New Zealand 1853
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The Northern War, 1845–1846
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Congreave rocket launcher
It seems surprising but in the Northern Wars, rocket launchers were used by the British troops against pa. These were Congreve rockets and their use in-part was designed to both terrify Māori and blast the pa palisades. They were employed at the Battle of Puketutu and also at Ruapekapeka. However, the most notable thing about their use was their failure. Only one rocket struck the pa leading Hone Heke to comment “what prize can be won by such a gun?’ The painting here shows the battle of Puketutu (at Lake Omapere, near Okaihou, between the Bay of Islands and Hokianga Harbour.) In the foreground, Royal Marines are firing a Congreve rocket.
Alexander Turnbull Library
A living Thing
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Attack on Ōtuihu
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
War in Tauranga 1864
DigitalNZ
The story of Te Kooti 1868-73
DigitalNZ
War in the Waikato 1863-65
DigitalNZ
Parihaka
DigitalNZ
The Wairau Affray 1843
DigitalNZ
Parihaka
DigitalNZ
Pā Tūwatawata and the New Zealand Wars
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Hōne Heke, Kawiti and Hariata Rongo
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Tāmati Wāka Nene
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Henry and William Williams
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
George Grey
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Plan of Ōhaeawai pa
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ngāpuhi chiefs
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Williams, John, d 1905 :Ruapekapeka from the camp. [1846?]
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