JAMES BUSBY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 114, 17 May 1933, Page 14

JAMES BUSBY.

CENTENARY LANDING. A FORGOTTEN DISPUTE. LETTERS IHSCOVERED IN SYDNEY. (By ERIC K.AMSDEN.) One hundred years ago to-day the newBritish Resident, Mr. James Bueby, landed from H.M.s. Imogens at the Bay of Islands, with instructions to "repress acts of fraud and aggression practised by British residents against the natives," and, by acquiring a beneficial influence over the different Maori chiefs, so "protect the lives and property of British subjects."

History is now reviewing an unjust verdict against the ratlicr pathetic figure of James Busby. It is realised that his. task from the very beginning was quite hopeless, and that, under the circumstances, he acquitted himself remarkably well. Anything new, therefore, that throws., some light upon the Resident's sojourn at Waitangi is of interest. When indexing certain family papers for a descendant. of the Rev. Samuel Marsden recently I came across two letters of some historic importance, which certainly reflect the feeling of the period. ' It will interest students of this phase of New Zealand history to learn that a member of the Busby family in Australia is preparing material with a view to publishing it. No life of James Busby has yet been written. The' work contemplated, however, will not deal parwith the Resident or New Zealand." It will be more in the nature of a family history, dating from the arrival of the engineer, John Bueby, the head of the family, in Sydney in 1824. As these letters were written in June, 1837, it is just possible- that they were handed to Mr. Marsden at the Bay of Islands. The veteran missionary was in New Zealand until July 4 that year, when he embarked with Captain Hobson on H.M.s. Rattlesnake for Sydney. Mareden was accompanied on that last visit by his daughter Martha, later Mrs. Betts (the mother of Miss Elizabeth Betts, the owner of the letters to which I have referred). When this correspondence was actually passing between Mr. Busby and the missionary, George Clarke, Marsden and Hobson were off the Coromandel coast in the Rattlesnake on a tour of inspection. It is clear from the Marsden MSS., a good deal of which has never been published (though the late Dr. Hocken had it in his possession for some years), that the missionaries at the Bay of Islands kept Marsden, in Australia, informed of every development, political and otherwise, in New Zealand. Until his death the old man, though enfeebled and nearly blind, kept hie finger on the New Zealand political pulse.

Mr. Busby Angry. The first letter is of importance, inasmuch as an angry Mr. Busby, imagining himself slighted, threatened to refuse to consult the missionaries in the future, and to report their conduct to the New South Wales Governor. The letters were probably copied at the instance of Marsden, who was most meticulous in matters of that kind. Dated from Waitangi on June 9, 1837, the letter is addressed by Mr. Busby to Mr. Clarke:— "My dear sir,—l received your note q£ the sth inst excusing yourself on account of Mrs. Clarke's ill-health from attending the meeting of the missionaries which. I had requested to be held on the 7th. The conduct of the other missionaries (I am not at present entitled to make a single exception but yourself), has been so extraordinary and unaccountable in this matter that it will be quite impossible for me to make any future application or reference to them on any point connected with the King's service in this country. And as I was specially accredited to the missionaries of the Church- Missionary Society by the Governor of New South Wales, and directed confidentially to consult with them, it will become my duty to acquaint his Excellency with the unlooked for occurrence which will prevent me from continuing to act upon thie.part of my instructions. I shall therefore feel much obliged, in order tliat I may do this the more fully, if you will favour me with a copy of my note to you of Thursday last, Ist. Mrs. Busby.joins me in very, kind regards to Mrs. -Clarke and yourself,' and hopes that she is benefiting by this fine weather.—Ever believe me, my dear sir,— James Busby." This intimation was of so serious a character that Clarke thought it sufficiently important to forward a copy of it, together with a copy of his reply, to Samuel Mareden. Although the lett , . is official in tone, the essential kindli ness of James Busby is evident by th Q human fouch at the, end. Opportunities for social intercourse were restricted a the Bay. We know from the account written somewhat ;earlier by William Barrett Marshall, the etirgeon of H.M.e. Alligator,, that European trading interests at the Bay of Islands treated Busby with "coolness and jealousy, not to say rudeness." He : had stayed in the homes of the ■ missionaries. From them ho had received repeated acts of kindness. To suggest, therefore, that he would ■ not make any further "application or reference" .to them, was,, indeed, a eeiious declaration. Geor.ge Clarke (subsequently Protector of Aborigines, and ev-en later a judge of the Native Land-Court) was well known' to Marsden. He had resided with" the missionary in his ■ home in Parramatta before leaving for New Zealand in 182'4. It was likely that Samuel Marsden would place reliance on any statement from him. Unfortunately, >oth for Mr. Busby and - the research tudent of almost, a century'later, Mr. Clarke did not keep the original note from the- Eesident. One would have thought that Mr. Busby would have done so himself. After_ taking two days to consider his reply,'Mi-.' Clarke .wrote: — "I am sorry to say that I am not able to furnish you with a'copy , of yoiir note of the Ist inst., for, never having considered it in any other light' than that of a private note giving the information of the day, it.has shared' the iate of most notes of. .that description, viz., destroyed. I must be allowed to express my surprise and regret at the tenor of your present communication to the missionaries, who I believe have at all times been desirous of i meeting your wishes and rendering you every assistance they could consistent with their duties whenever applicatioa has been made to them. Your corumuaicatioii to mo on the Ist inst.. was never considered by me in a.ny other light", than that of a private one, and I , was led to expect from that note -something of -a more public nature from or through the friends of Paihia, and as that further information never arrived I concluded you had either-postponed-tha.* meeting!

or altogether declined it. What the| nature of your "communications have l>ecn either with tho missionaries of Paihia, Kerikeri and Tepuiia (Te Puna), I do not know, but certainly you have , not been sufficiently explicit in expressing your wishes to the missionary of Waiinate. I am not aware that you wrote to anyone but myself, and to mo privately." Although the writers disagreed on a matter of policy, the usual felicitations were not forgotten. "Mrs. Clarke, lam happy to e&y," added her husband, "is much better, and unites with me in very kind regards to Mre. Busby and yourself." A Verbal Duel. The honours in this little verbal duel, forgotten for almost a century, may rest with Mr. Clarke. At tho same time one can understand tho strain to which the Resident was exposed. Apart from private worries, Mr. Busby was placed in a position of considerable difficulty. The future was most uncertain. Just what was likely to happen he did not know. Captain Hobson, his successor, had already been on the New Zealand coast. Two months later Hobson's report was in official hands in Sydney. It recommended that "some form of British jurisdiction bo established." Busby had been fighting for ; that for years. Nevertheless, three years . had still to elapse before British supremacy was established by the Treaty of ' Waitangi. It must also be remembered that in < that month of June missionary nerves , were somewhat on edge. The real object > of Marsden's visit wae to probe charges ] of an unsavoury character against one j of tho brethren. The result was that j this man (author of an interesting work ; on early New Zealand) went back to ( England, via Sydney, in disgrace, but , not before ho had caused the failing Marsden much pain and anxiety. "It can hardly be supposed that at my time of life, being upwards of 70 years old ( and infirm, I would have taken a pae- a sage to Xew Zealand for myself and < daughter unless I had been anxious to c know the truth, the whole truth, and { iiothing but the truth," the old man I wrote from Parramatta to the parent t society on his return from Xew Zealand. 1

Samuel Marsden never saw his beloved Maoris again. On April 2 of the following year the "Apostle to Xew Zealand," worn out in body and weary in spirit, and his eyes, like those of the prophet of old, "dimmed with age," went to hi 3 well-earned rest.