| dc.description.abstract | In
this
thesis
I
have
examined
the
life
of
Hon.
John
Bryce,
Native
and
Defence
Minister
in
the
Hall
Ministry
of
1879-‐82,
and
Native
Minister
from
1882
to
1885.
Bryce
is
an
important,
but
substantially
unstudied,
figure
in
New
Zealand
history,
who
briefly
rides
his
white
charger
into
other
people’s
stories
and
then,
just
as
briefly,
out
again.
Accordingly,
there
are
few
secondary
sources
on
him,
apart
from
those
that
cover
the
two
White
Charger
episodes
in
his
life,
the
attack
at
Handley’s
Woolshed
and
the
invasion
of
Parihaka.
Of
necessity
primary
sources
have
played
a
major
part
in
the
research,
reports
of
New
Zealand
Parliamentary
Debates,
Appendices
to
the
Journal
of
the
House
of
Representatives,
reports
from
contemporary
newspapers
through
Papers
Past,
Waitangi
Tribunal
Reports,
the
diary
Bryce
kept
in
London
in1886,
William
Rolleston’s
diary
and
correspondence
accessed
through
the
Alexander
Turnbull
Library
helped
to
present
a
fuller
picture
of
the
subject,
along
with
the
few
available
secondary
sources.
Bryce
was
a
controversial,
though
respected,
figure
in
his
own
time,
and
as
mores
and
attitudes
have
changed
in
the
century
since
his
death,
particularly
with
reference
to
race
relations,
he
has
been
increasingly
‘traduced’
(a
word
Bryce
used,
meaning
misrepresented),
and
condemned.
To
understand
Bryce’s
perceived
ambivalence
or
hostility
towards
Maori,
this
thesis
looks
at
his
early
life
as
an
immigrant
and
settler
in
Wanganui,
where
events
transpired
that
created
lasting
impressions
and
influenced
his
later
responses.
The
thesis
was
written
chronologically
from
the
time
of
Bryce’s
arrival
in
New
Zealand
in
1840,
and
covers
his
service
with
the
Kai
Iwi
Cavalry
during
Titokowaru’s
War,
his
role
as
a
Wanganui
and
national
politician,
his
time
as
Native
Minister
and
a
Member
of
the
House
of
Representatives,
until
his
retirement
from
politics
in
1891.
This
shows
that
though
Parihaka
was
an
important
part
of
his
political
life,
it
did
not
define
or
limit
his
contribution
to
19th
century
politics
in
New
Zealand. | en_US |
