Thomas Potts of Canterbury: Colonist and conservationist

by Paul Star

Overview

In 1858 Canterbury settler Thomas Potts protested against the destruction of totara on the Port Hills near Christchurch. A decade later, as a member of Parliament, he made forest conservation a national issue. Through his writing he raised the then novel idea of protecting native birds on island reserves, and proposed the creation of national 'domains' or parks. As a pioneering colonist, acclimatist, and runholder, however, Potts' own actions threatened the very environments he sought to maintain. This book is about, and partly by, Potts, and through him about New Zealand and the course and consequences of colonisation. It describes and interprets his life, from his early years in England through to his 34 years in New Zealand. Excerpts from Potts' vivid 1850s diary, written from close to the edge of European settlement, are published here for the first time. Thomas Potts of Canterbury also reproduces 11 long-forgotten essays by him from the 1880s, in which he reflected on the 1850s and what had happened since—both to New Zealand's natural environment and to Maori and Pakeha.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781990048258
Publisher:	Otago University Press
Publication date:	11/30/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	342
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Paul Star was born in England and has lived in New Zealand since 1972. He holds a master's degree in European history and English literature from Cambridge University. He gained a further master's and a doctorate from the University of Otago, focusing on nineteenth-century New Zealand environmental history. As a postdoctoral fellow at Otago he contributed to the Marsden-funded Empires of Grass project, which studied the transition of much of New Zealand from native forest to exotic pasture. Paul has published 30 articles in New Zealand, Australian and British journals. Paul Star was born in England and has lived in New Zealand since 1972. He holds a master's degree in European history and English literature from Cambridge University. He gained a further master's and a doctorate from the University of Otago, focusing on nineteenth-century New Zealand environmental history. As a postdoctoral fellow at Otago he contributed to the Marsden-funded Empires of Grass project, which studied the transition of much of New Zealand from native forest to exotic pasture. Paul has published 30 articles in New Zealand, Australian, and British journals.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Acknowledgements 13

Part 1 Thomas Potts and the New Zealand Environment 15

The Early Years, to 1853 17

Changes at Rockwood, 1854-58 27

Governors Bay, 1858 to about 1870 40

A Brief Role in Politics, 1865-70 51

Natural Science and Scientists, 1860-74 56

The Forest and the Trees, 1868-74 64

Introduction to Acclimatisation, to 1874 74

A Fascination for Birds, to 1872 77

Musings in Maoriland, 1876-78 89

In God's Own Country, around 1880 95

Later Writings, Last Years, 1880-88 103

The Legacy of Thomas Potts 117

Part 2 Seeking a Stranger-Land: Selections from the diary of Thomas Potts, 1855-58 123

Part 3 Still Out in the Open: Eleven essays by Thomas Potts, 1882-88 185

Old Times [A forest ramble] (1887) 187

Out in the Open: A countryman in town (1887-88) 202

Out in the Open [On humblebees] (1886) 213

Our in the Open: The white-eye, or blight bird (1882) 225

Out in the Open: The kea, or sheep-killer (1883) 233

Out in the Open: Lost game (1886) 239

Out in the Open [On Maori] (1883) 243

Out in the Open [On rata] (1885) 247

Out in the Open: The pulse of spring (1885) 251

Out in the Open [A countryman in the Chathams] (1888) 262

Out in the Open: Stock in the Chathams (1888) 273

Appendix: Names of selected indigenous New Zealand birds and plants 279

Notes 283

Bibliography: The published writings of Thomas (T.H.) Potts 312

Index 317