At the Margin of Empire

In this remarkable biography, Jennifer Ashton uses the life of one man as a unique lens through which to view the early history of New Zealand.

Born in Scotland in 1818, John Webster came to New Zealand via Australia in 1841 (after a violent encounter in the outback which he just escaped unscathed) and spent most of the rest of his life in Hokianga. At the Margin of Empire charts his colourful experiences carving out a fortune as the region's leading timber trader and cultivating connections with the leading figures of the day, M?ori and P?keh?. Webster fought alongside T?mati W?ka Nene in the Northern War, married one of Nene's relatives and built up his kauri timber business through trade with local chiefs (though at one point awoke to find a plundering party had arrived on his front lawn). He was also friends with Frederick Maning, and visited by George Grey, Richard Seddon and other luminaries of the day.

Ashton takes us into Hokianga to reveal how the evolving intimate relationships and economic transactions of everyday life reflected larger shifts in colonial power. She argues that through his daily interactions, Webster helped slowly shift the balance of power in the North: the credit that he extended to his customers and kin saw them selling land to pay debts, helping push M?ori into economic dependence. In telling the story of John Webster's long and colourful life for the first time, this biography also explores the wider transformation of relationships between M?ori and P?keh? during the nineteenth century. It is an intimate and revealing account of life in early New Zealand.