MRS GUARD’S RESCUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22356, 1 September 1934, Page 5

MRS GUARD’S RESCUE

A NEW ZEALAND CENTENARY SKETCHES BY EYE-WITNESS IN SYDNEY By Ebxo Ramsden. Just exactly a century ago H.M.&. Alligator, the name of which will always be associated with the Taranaki coast, was in Pacific waters for the first time. Little did her officers and men know what an adventurous career was ahead of them. First of all, a pleasant little excursion to the Bay of Islands from Sydney,. whence, at the request of the British Resident, Mr James Busby, the frigate carried a selection of flags for the edification of a number of Maori chiefs.^ Some excitement was provided on that occasion by the truculent Pomare, a thorn in the side of Mr Busby. Captain Lambert, R.N., was only too anxious to bombard Pomare’s pa, which now, a full century later, stands lonely and abandoned, near the entrance to Kawa Kawa River. But then the pa was the scene of such riotous proceedings that it horrified the missionaries, and even pained the more tolerant Resident. Wiser counsels prevailed, however, and the boat that had caused the trouble was paid for, and the Alligator carried it back •with her to Sydney. The frigate’s ammunition was reserved for the Taranaki coast in the exploit known in history as “ the rescue of Mrs • Guard.”

Among the. officers on H.M.S. Alligator who visited New Zealand, and also Norfolk Island, in the year 1834 was Acting Lieutenant Thomas Woore, R.N., a naval draughtsman of more than average ability. Throughout his service on the Alligator and ether ships of war he had sketched and carefully put his drawings away for future contemplation when he had retired from the Royal Navy. Retire he soon did after the Guard incident, and, following a visit to his native Ireland, he returned to New South Wales, and settled on the estate near Goulburn still known as Pomeroy. Miss Annie Woore, the former naval officer s only daughter, married Mr William Busby (afterwards M.L.C.), the younger brother of Mr James Busby, once the harassed official representative of the British Government at the Bay of Islands. Thus a link formed in 1834, when Lieutenant Woore and Mr Busby met, was cemented by a marriage between the two families.

Though these Woore sketches were known to be in existence they had,' for some unknown reason, been attributed to a Lieutenant “ Wootton.” When I drew attention to them some years ago the drawings attracted considerable interest in historical circles, not only in New Zealand, but in -Australia as well. I had the pleasure of showing several photographs to the Governor-General of New Zealand and Lady Bledisloe.. On that occasion Miss A, D. M. Busby, a great granddaughter of Lieutenant Woore, was visiting the Bay of Islands, where several of these sketches were actually made a century ago. His Excellency was extremely interested, and suggested that several reproductions should be placed in the museum then being formed in the old Busby home at Waitangi, now known as the Treaty House.

Early in the year 1834, Captain “ Jackie ” Guard and his young wife, with their two children, John and Louisa, visited Sydney in the whaler Harriett. Captain Guard, who was well known in the whaling trade, had a controlling interest in the vessel. It was when returning in April from Port Jackson to the whaling station on the southern side of Cook Strait, that the Harriet was blown ashore at Cape Egmont. The whole of the party, including the commander, got safely ashore; they even succeeded in salvaging some muskets and a small quantity of powder. When the storm abated, it was hoped that the shipwrecked’ party might be able to row down the coast to Te Awaiti. But such hopes were doomed to disappointment. Discovered by Maoris and attacked, their plight became desperate. Two of the sailors were cut down before they could reach for their arms. Mrs Guard and her children became separated from the former’s husband. Believing his wife to be dead, Captain Guard escaped along the coast, eventually reaching Moturoa, one of the then fortified islands, off where New Plymouth now stands.

Guard was stripped of his clothing. His companions were treated in a similar manner. All were apportioned as slaves. After a fortnight, however, Captain Guard, promising that he would return with a ransom of gunpowder, was released. At any rate, making his way to Port Nicholson, he found the Joseph Weller ready to sail for Sydney, where he arrived on August 17. It is now apparent that he resolved to abandon his original intention of paying a ransom, which the Maoris, incidentally, thought they were quite justified in demanding, and he demanded a punitive force from the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke.

Though Mr Bushy had been calling for a ship of war for some time, the Governor was not particularly anxious that a bad impression should be made by such a vessel on the New Zealand coast. But the Sydney press howled for vengeance. Bourke’s hand was forced. It was decided that H.M.S. Alligator should be accompanied by the Government brig Isabella, and a

detachment of the unruly 50th Regiment. And so the stage was prepared for the first actual engagement between Briton and Maori on an organised basis. Meanwhile, poor Mrs Guard, a mere girl, was languishing in captivity. Providentially, a large comb had saved her life, when she had twice been struck down and left for dead on the ground. These scars used to be exhibited to anyone curious enough to inspect them in after years when Captain and Mrs Guard settled down to a more mundane existence in the Marlborough district. Her situation was appalling. Stripped of her clothing in those bitter winter months of 1834, she was conveyed in a state of nudity to the Te Waimate pa; the baby, Louisa, was at her mother’s breast. Whether she was subsequently treated with the brutality alleged is still a matter of conjecture. It is likely that the possibility of the ransom of gunpowder ensured somewhat better treatment. As many descendants and connections are still living, it is probable that years will yet pass before the entire truth is told. There is still in existence a good deal of. unpublished material concerning the incident. For a time, at any rate, Mrs Guard had nothing hut an old shirt to wear. Dead shipmates had been cut up and eaten in her presence. One of these men was her own brother. She had even been offered portions of human flesh to eat. Eventually taken under the wing of a chief Oaoiti (sometimes alluded to as Te Whiti), she appears to have been treated with kindness and consideration.

This chief appeared on the beach, when, three months after Captain Guard’s departure, the punitive force arrived on the Taranaki coast. Negotiations were fruitless. The Maoris refused to give up their captives without payment of the promised gunpowder. Bad weather was responsible for further delay, and towards the end of September

Captain Lambert, the Alligator’s com-, mander, determined to attack. This was done with such ferocity that the horror of it is spoken of by the Maori people, still settled to-day within the forestclad elopes of that mighty sentinel, Taranaki (Mount Egmont). It even quelled the heart of that old villain, Te Rauparaha, the eagle that perched aloft on Kapiti, guarding the Straits of Raukawa.

The rangatira, Oaoiti, was seized and taken a prisoner to the Alligator; en route he was treated with every possible indignity. Jumping overboard, he attempted an escape to the shore. When the chief was examined on the deck of the frigate by the surgeon, W. Barrett Marshall (who wrote a scathing indictment of the whole expedition), he found 12 wounds on the Maori.

Eventually, through the instrumentality of Oaoiti (who, incidentally, met death at the hands of a Maori raiding party later in the same year), Mrs Guard and one child were restored. The white woman was arrayed in korowai and parawai, the most costly mats , with which the sisters of Oaoiti could adorn her, and there was a greenstone eardrop in her ear.

One of the most ghastly incidents, however, was the cutting down of the Maori who later brought little John Guard down to the beach on his back. Lieutenant Woore, whose testimony hitherto has not been available, declares in a note attached to one of his sketches, that a cutlass was used. Others say that a shot was fired without orders. The activities of the punitive force were later examined by a parliamentary committee. The quantity of ammunition used in destroying the pas, the stores of potatoes, and the canoes (on which these Taranaki people depended very considerably for food supplies) were ridiculous.

Though one can understand Captain Lambert’s reluctance to pay over a ransom of gunpowder, it is apparent that he had not the slightest estimation of the fighting qualities of his foe. At the Bay of Islands he had been only too anxious to blow Pomare’s pa to smithereens, despite the peaceful efforts of Mr Busby and the missionaries. To such naval officers the Maoris were only “ a bunch of niggers.” Those cannonades which reverberated round the House of Commons, and also roused the Rev. Samuel Marsdcn to urotest, can still bo hoard booming a century later. Undoubtedly, they were, in part, responsible for the disastrous wars that in later years made the Taranaki Maoris hate the pakoha with a hatred that is not forgotten to this day. Whatever their faults, the missionaries had their uses. Tactful negotiations, conducted by an experienced missionary, would have saved that foul blot known in history as “ the rescue of Mrs Betty Guard.”