NZ’s French history explored in new book

 The story of how New Zealand almost had a French South Island is told in the latest book from Canterbury University Press.

French Akaroa, written by retired University of Canterbury academic Peter Tremewan, won the JM Sherrard Prize for New Zealand history when it was first published in 1990.
This is a new edition – updated and copiously illustrated to make it accessible to a wide public.

It describes the French government-backed plans to settle and annex New Zealand’s South Island. When the first French ships arrived at Akaroa in 1840, they questioned Britain’s rights to sovereignty over the South Island, set up their own military base and administered French law among the new French and German settlers.

There were continued payments for land to the local Maori who signed a series of land deeds. French Catholic priests worked among the Maori and built churches in Akaroa itself. French naval officers mapped Banks Peninsula, collected and classified plants and animals, sketched and wrote.

Eventually, British sovereignty was recognised, but nearly all the French and German settlers stayed on and thrived, and today tens of thousands of New Zealanders are descendants of these families.

“Readers will get to know the various individuals involved in this 19th century adventure: Maori chiefs, French and German carpenters, shoemakers, locksmiths, inn-keepers, housewives, blacksmiths, artists, scientists, politicians, missionaries, businessmen, naval officers, doctors and whalers,” said Professor Tremewan.
“The reader will also see how the European colonisation of New Zealand fitted into a contest among European powers to extend their influence throughout the world.”

Professor Tremewan said his wife, Christine, had been of great assistance through her knowledge of traditional Maori language and culture.

French Akaroa by Peter Tremewan, published by Canterbury University Press, July 2010, RRP$49.95, paperback, 396pp including 16pp colour photos, ISBN 978-1-877257-77-3