Hocken Library Facsimile, Issue 6

Hocken Library Facsimile, Issue 6 — Octavius Hadfield. This facsimile reproduces Hadfield’s 1860 pamphlet on the New Zealand War, titled The New Zealand War, The Second Year of One of England's Little Wars, in which the author presents a polemical account of the Waitara dispute and the origin of the Taranaki war. The text collects Hadfield’s remarks, official letters, and reprinted communications from colonial figures and Maori leaders, including notes by Sir William Martin, letters from Ngatiawa chiefs, and Renata, and a series of Miscellaneous Notes that critique Professor Browne’s pamphlet. Also included are appendices and editor’s notes on the processes of land purchase, native tenure, and treaty obligations under the Waitangi framework. The work surveys the legality and conduct of colonial authorities, the fairness of land transactions, and the moral implications of war, offering a historical window into colonial controversy and Maori land rights in mid-19th century New Zealand.