Barnet Burns
Encyclopedia
Barnet Burns was an English sailor, trader, and showman who became one of the first Europeans to live as a Pākehā Māori
and to receive the full Māori facial tattoo
. He travelled to Australia
and found employment as a trader of flax in New Zealand in the 1830s. Burns returned to Europe in 1835 and spent most of his remaining years as a showman giving lectures, where he described the customs of the Māori, performed the haka
, exhibited his Māori tattoos and recounted his adventures in New Zealand
.
on 25 November 1805. His parents were likely George Burns (born 1770) and Anne (née Stewart).
At the age of 13 or 14 he became a cabin boy and ended up working for Louis Celeste Lecesne
in Jamaica. When Lecesne travelled to England to petition parliament over his false arrest and exile,
Burns travelled with him. Under the patronage of Lecesne, Burns went to the Lancasterian school
at Borough Road in London
.
Burns again set sail in 1827 on the brig
Wilna and arrived at Rio de Janeiro
. Following a dispute between the Captain and crew, all the crew were paid off from the ship and Burns then obtained a berth as steward on the barque
Nimrod, Captain Eilbeck which set out for Australia and arrived at Sydney
on 22 August 1828.
Barnet Burns worked as a house servant for William Henry Mackenzie of the Bank of Australia. He commenced employment at about the time of the Bank of Australia robbery
on 14 September 1828. Burns also worked with other prominent businessmen of colonial Sydney who supported Burns' application for a land grant in May 1830. A plot of 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) was granted at Tambourine Bay on the Lane Cove River
.
Burns joined the brig
Elizabeth, captain Brown on a trading voyage to New Zealand
departing Sydney 23 July 1830. During his time in New Zealand Burns learned the Māori language
. The Elizabeth returned to Sydney on 5 January 1831 and soon afterwards Burns appeared before the Police Magistrates where he was convicted of gross assault. A fellow seaman on the Elizabeth, James Nance, had accused Burns of being a convict
and Burns had reacted by leading [Nance] about the decks by his proboscis, like a pig by the snout.
Burns was ordered to enter into his own recognizances to the amount of £10, to preserve the peace for twelve months.
In January 1831 the Sydney merchant Joseph Barrow Montefiore had just returned from a voyage to New Zealand and required flax traders to be located at various parts of New Zealand.
Barnet Burns agreed to return to New Zealand to trade with the Māori for phormium tenax, a New Zealand flax
used mainly for rope materials.
On 13 February 1831 Burns departed Sydney on the schooner
Darling, captain William Stewart, with various items of trade including clothing, leather goods, muskets, gunpowder, tobacco and pipes, ironmongery, hardware and rum. The Darling stopped at several places on the west coast of the North Island including Kawhia, Mokau
, Taranaki and Kapiti Island
before proceeding through Cook Strait
to the east coast where Burns was landed at the Mahia peninsula. The Darling continued onto Poverty Bay
where John Williams Harris was landed on 16 May 1831. Harris and Burns were among the first European residents in the area.
of New Zealand was a place constantly under the threat of attack from neighbouring Māori tribes.
In the preceding decades the Ngā Puhi from the Bay of Islands
had obtained muskets and made devastating attacks on their southern neighbours. The Mahia peninsula became a place of refuge for various Māori that felt threatened at an intensification of tribal warfare, decimation, enslavement and migration. Burns wrote: So here I was amongst a set of cannibals ... not knowing the moment when they might take my trade from me, and not only my trade, but my life.
At the Mahia peninsula Barnet Burns was protected by a chief whom he called 'Awhawee' but whom Māori oral records know as 'Te Aria' or 'Aria'.
Burns married the chief's daughter, Amotawa and lived as a Pākehā Māori
with mana
and benefits in business transactions. Burns' hapū
was probably Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare which was part of Te Uranga Wera or the burnt post tribe, a collection of hapū
from the Tokomaru Bay
area.
It is likely that Burns and the tribe were located at Nukutaurua on the north-eastern coast of the Mahia peninsula. After 11 months a vessel arrived with orders to close the trading station but Burns refused to leave with the ship as Amotawa was about to give birth. Shortly afterwards most of the tribe went some distance from their pā
to cultivate the potato gardens. Burns learned that the neighbouring Ngati Te Whatu-i-Apiti threatened to plunder the remaining trade goods. Burns escaped with Amotawa and her father in an open waka (canoe)
and seven other Māori and they headed north stopping overnight at Whareongaonga before landing at Waihi near Orongo beach on the southern side of Te Kuri a Paoa (Young Nick's Head
). The canoe was hauled out of the water and the local Māori, likely the Ngāi Tāmanuhiri
, carried the property for nearly 13 miles (20.9 km) to Poverty Bay
. A day later Burns proceeded 12 miles (19.3 km) inland to a stronghold of the Rongowhakaata
at Manutuke
on the Waipaoa River
where there were two strong defensive pā
named Umukapua and Orakaiapu. Soon afterwards at the request of his Chief, Burns went to Maraetai with about seven hundred men to battle but their enemies had fled and they returned and lived again in peace.
During an inland flax-buying trip with some of the members of his tribe, a party of Ngāi Te Rangi attacked, killed and ate the group with the exception of Barnet Burns. He managed to negotiate for his life by agreeing to live, fight and trade with them and also to be tattooed
. When about a quarter of the tattoo was completed, Burns escaped and found his way back to his own tribe, who sought vengeance without success as the Ngāi Te Rangi were not to be found.
In 1832 subtribes of Te Whakatohea
from the Bay of Plenty
region had settled in an area inland from Poverty Bay
. An alliance of about 600 men from Rongowhakaata
, Ngati Kahungunu
, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
and Nga Puhi under Te Wera a Hauraki besieged about 400 men, women and children of Te Whakatohea
at the pā
of Kekeparaoa, located near the confluence of the Waipaoa River
and the Waikohu river. Burns claimed to have led 150 men in the siege which lasted about three weeks. He described how a Whakatohea woman had attempted to escape from the pā
by swimming across a river. She was captured and imprisoned. Resigned to being eaten, she assisted in preparing potatoes and threw herself onto the fire for a hāngi
feast. When the pā
at Kekeparaoa had been breached, many of the imprisoned occupants were shared between the victorious tribes. Burns says he witnessed about 60 of the prisoners being killed and eaten; the flesh being cooked in a hāngi
or smoked for transportation to fellow tribal members.
The schooner
Prince of Denmark arrived at Poverty Bay
and Burns was then engaged by the captain to continue as a flax trader at £3 a month. He agreed to establish himself further north at Uawa which was named Tolaga Bay
by Captain James Cook
. When he arrived at Uawa, Burns settled on the northern side of the Uawa river with Te Urunga Wera while on the southern side another white man traded for Captain John Rudolphus Kent with Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
. From 1832 to 1834 he sent about 107 tons of flax to Sydney and he considered these his happiest years in New Zealand. Burns claimed to have been made a chief of over 600. The remaining part of his face and parts of his body were tattooed at nearby Waihau (Loisels beach).
While at Uawa in about April 1833, Barnet Burns learned that three Englishmen were being held captive on the Waiapu River
, near East Cape
, the easternmost point of the North Island
of New Zealand
. A whaling vessel, Elizabeth, captain Black, had stopped at East Cape for provisions and during her stay three of the crew had run away. In return captain Black had seized 15 of the local Ngāti Porou
and taken them away on the Elizabeth. Burns took a waka
with about 60 men and after three days they had travelled from Uawa to Waiapu
and found the Englishmen confined at a pā
which was probably at Whakawhitira. The chief Kakatarau
agreed to their release in exchange for a ransom that was to be paid at Uawa. However the Ngāti Porou
were unfamiliar with the bay at Uawa and their waka capsized with the result that the ransom payment was waived. The schooner
, Lord Byron later took the Englishmen to Sydney. The 15 Ngāti Porou
had been taken to the Bay of Islands
, enslaved by Nga Puhi, released and introduced to Christianity by the missionaries. In January 1834 the Ngāti Porou
were returned to the East Cape on the schooner Fortitude by Rev William Yate and Rev William Williams
of the Church Missionary Society.
and Queen Charlotte Sound
. His children were daughters Tauhinu, Mokoraurangi and son Hori Waiti, who may have been born soon after Burns' departure. Te Amotawa later married the Māori chief Te Kani-a-Takirau.
Soon after the Bardaster arrived at Sydney on 2 November 1834, Barnet Burns arranged to transfer his grant of land at Tambourine Bay to Captain John Thomas Chalmers. At that time thousands of convicts
resided in New South Wales
and as Burns roamed the streets of Sydney his facial tattoo aroused suspicion that he had submitted to the operation of tattooing in order to prevent being recognised.
On 24 February 1835 the Bardaster departed Sydney for England with Barnet Burns aboard earning his passage in his former role as a sailor.
By mid-1835 Barnet Burns had left the ship Bardaster and returned to London
. On 1 June 1835 Barnet Burns married Bridget Cain at the Christ Church Greyfriars
opposite St Paul's Cathedral
but little else is known about this union.
Barnet Burns soon published a booklet about his experiences in Australia and New Zealand. Copyright for the booklet was obtained at the Worshipful Company of Stationers’
Hall at Ludgate Hill, London on 1 September 1835. Burns' publication had the lengthy title: A Brief Narrative of the Remarkable History of Barnet Burns, an English sailor; who has lately been exhibiting at the Surrey Zoological Gardens and other Places of Amusement. With a faithful account of the way in which he became a chief of one of the tribes of the New Zealanders: together with a few remarks on the manners and customs of the people, and other interesting matter.
Barnet Burns commenced a career of showman and lecturer. His initial appearances in London
included the Surrey Zoological Gardens (later the Royal Surrey Gardens
), Victoria Theatre (now the Old Vic
), Surrey Theatre
and Astley's Amphitheatre
. Introduced as Barnet Burns, The New Zealand Chief, he performed various Māori songs and dances, including the haka
, and he described customs of the Māori. Upon obtaining an opportunity to appear at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, Barnet Burns had made merry in honour of his engagement. The tattooed Englishman was brought before the Police Magistrate at Union Hall, London but Burns was soon discharged and, out of spirits, [he had] taken to water.
An edition of Burns' booklet was published at Southampton
in 1836 and in April Thomas Morgan wrote to the Foreign Office suggesting that Burns could lead a colonisation of New Zealand
or the new colony of South Australia
.
Burns proposed the establishment of a small colony of artisans and tradesmen under his protection, and offered to supply the British government and merchants with timber and flax. There is no record of the British government accepting Burns' proposal. Later in April 1836, Burns entertained in the Portsmouth
and Portsea Theatre at the conclusion of a romance play.
Barnet Burns had styled himself as Pahe-a-Range and in May 1836 he appeared at the Chichester
Mechanics' Institution, where his lectures were described as one incongruous jumble of impudence, of ignorance, of low wit, and bare-faced presumption.
This description was criticized by a reporter who attended lectures by Burns at the Town Hall of Brighton
and recommended that Burns obtain the assistance of someone to help arrange the lectures. Despite Burns' shortcomings, the reporter stated that those who go to a lecture to obtain information, without caring by what means it is conveyed, could, notwithstanding the rambling and unconnected nature of his address, gather sufficient to remunerate them for the money and time expended in attending it.
Barnet Burns moved to France in late 1836. An unsuccessful appearance before the Académie des sciences at the Institut de France
in Paris resulted in the academicians being annoyed at being deceived by Burns, who had apparently claimed to be King of Zealand.
In 1837 Burns appeared at Nantes
where he
exhibited himself at a shop in rue de Gorges with an assurance that he would remain civilized for visitors. Burns was described as a cannibal, but in his booklet he is careful to avoid any suggestion that he himself consumed human flesh.
On 22 September 1838 Barnet Burns married a French workwoman named Anne Mélanie Boval at the town hall of the 7th arrondissement of Paris. Anne Boval was born in Paris on 1 April 1820 to Jean Baptiste Boval and Jeanne Louise Couchard.
Burns and his wife lived at 16 Rue Pastourelle
in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris and had two children who, it appears, died young.
Barnet Burns presented himself as a tattooed New Zealand Chief at the nearby Boulevard du Temple
.
Barnet Burns' booklet was published at Rouen
in about 1839 and in 1840 he was at Le Havre
. Burns was apparently summoned by Queen Victoria to take part in an English expedition to New Zealand in the capacity of interpreter. Following his departure, Burns' wife, Anne never heard from him again.
for Barnet Burns making a return trip to New Zealand between February 1839 and October 1840.
Barnet Burns had expressed a desire to return to New Zealand and had applied to join the expedition of the New Zealand Company
on its ship Tory which
sailed from London on 4 May 1839. His wife in France, Anne (née Boval) understood that in 1840 Barnet Burns had travelled as an interpreter for an English expedition to New Zealand. Several English newspapers reported on a visit by Barnet Burns in about 1841. and it appears that he worked with the Wesleyan
missionaries The census undertaken in Britain in June 1841 lists Barnet Burns' occupation as mariner which suggests that he had recently sailed. Barnet Burns' son, Hori Waiti, claims to remember his father escaping. Given the short period that Burns initially spent in New Zealand, Hori Waiti would only remember his father if Burns had made a return trip.
Finally, Arthur Thomson mentions that One unemployed tattooed Pakeha Maori
visited England, and acted the part of a New Zealand savage in several provincial theatres. Here he married an Englishwoman who accompanied him to New Zealand, but she eloped with a Yankee sailor, because the tattooed actor's old Maori wife met him and obtained an influence over him the white woman could not combat. There are several similarities between this Pākehā Māori
and Barnet Burns to suggest that they might be the same person.
recorded the occupants of every UK household on the night of 6 June 1841 when Barnet Burns, mariner, and Rosina Crowther, pedlar
, were lodging at Vincent Street, Sculcoates, Kingston upon Hull
. A few days later, The New Zealand Chief, Mr. Burns, delivered two lectures at the Hull Mechanics' Institute. The broadside for the lectures explains how he was saved from being eaten by the interposition of one of the Chief's daughters; how he ingratiated himself into their favour, submitted to be tattooed and ultimately became chief of a tribe. The broadside continues to advertise that he will also exhibit the real head
of a New Zealand Chief, his opponent in battle, and describe the operation of tattooing, &c. Burns was to be accompanied by Mrs Crowther who would perform several favourite Airs upon The Musical Glasses
at Intervals during the Evening.
On 18 June 1841, Barnet Burns appeared at the Hull Zoological Gardens to participate in a Grand Gala in commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo
, which occurred 26 years previously. In addition to his usual repertoire describing Maori customs, Burns appeared on the lake and showed how the Maori rowed their waka
including how a chief excited his comrades to action. The Gala included a display of fireworks
, Montgolfier balloons and performances from military bands.
In January 1842 Barnet Burns had moved to Birmingham
where he lectured before the Mechanics' Institution at Newhall street and where he had a booklet published. By that time he and Rosina had married as the handbill states that Mrs. Burns will also perform several admired Airs and Waltzes upon the Musical Glasses.
From 1842 Barnet Burns and his wife Rosina continued their extensive lecture series. In 1842 alone, appearances by Barnet and Rosina Burns are recorded at the Mechanics' Institution in Hanley, the Burslem
and Tunstall Literary and Scientific Institution, Kidderminster
Athenæum, Lecture Hall, Wardwick, Derby
, the National School at Beeston
, the Lincoln
Mechanics' Institution and at Dublin.
In late 1844 Barnet Burns appeared in London where he was engaged at the Royal Adelaide Gallery. One of New Zealand's early colonists, Edward Jerningham Wakefield
was unimpressed by one of Burns' lectures describing how the lecturer dressed with sandals and strings of beads on his legs and wrists, a leopard-skin petticoat, a necklace of pig's tusks, and a crown of blue feathers a foot long, - sings NZ ditties to a tune!, and talks gibberish, which he translates into romantic poetry. In December 1845 Barnet Burns lodged a complaint to the Police Magistrate at Worship-Street, London against Henry Sproules Edwards, who had disrupted one of Burns' lectures by publicly denouncing him as a fraud.
By 1847 Barnet Burns had a manager, Lionel Violet Gyngell who announced appearances by Barnet and Rosina Burns during a tour that included Hawkstone Hall, Shrewsbury, Welshpool
, Oswestry
and Ellesmere
.
Editions of Burns' booklet continued to be published where he lectured on his travels through Britain. The 1848 Kendal
edition includes a stylised picture of Barnet Burns carrying the head of a tattooed Māori chief. On their tour Pahe-a-Range and Madame Pahe-a-Range appeared at the
Oldham
Town Hall, the Beverley
Mechanics' Hall, the parish school-house at Burton Agnes
before Robert Isaac Wilberforce
, York
Mechanics' Institute, the parish at Gringley-on-the-Hill
, the schoolroom at Lea near Gainsborough
before Charles Henry John Anderson and in May 1849 he returned to the Mechanics' Institution at Lincoln
. Barnet Burns was dressed in a buff skin dress, which was to represent his skin, various ornaments round his neck of bones, &c., a belt round him composed of human skin and the sceptre
... which had a head on it, the eyes of which were supposed to be the eyes of their deities. He encouraged his audience to consider New Zealand for immigration saying there was no clime better calculated to suit the Englishman and through the efforts of the missionaries New Zealand had become civilized.
In about 1850, Burns gave his lectures in Manchester
and one of the people in the audience was the wife of William Leonard Williams
who was to be sent like his father as a missionary to New Zealand. In 1853 W. L. Williams presented Burns' booklet and a picture of Burns to his son, Hori Waiti, in front of a crowd at Tokomaru Bay
. Williams had already checked the veracity of the booklet and picture, but he asked publicly if Burns was recognised and it was confirmed and Hori Waiti learnt that Burns was his father. This picture of Barnet Burns is still in the family.
A tour through Cornwall
in early 1853 included lectures at the Assembly Room in Truro
, the Town Hall in Redruth
and Union Hall in Penzance
. By this time Barnet Burns' occupation was given as Lecturer and that of Rosina Burns was given as Professor of Music, her musical glasses producing a harmony which was indisputably the most exquisite.
In November 1856 Barnet Burns and his wife went to Leicester
to deliver a course of lectures on New Zealand. Three lectures were advertised, but at the close of the second Burns became ill and was confined to his bed for nearly eight weeks. Rosina Burns sold every available article she possessed but soon they were destitute and an appeal was made for help. By January 1857 Barnet Burns had recovered sufficiently to be able to lecture accompanied, as usual, by Rosina on the musical glasses. Further funds were raised from an edition of Burns' booklet published at Leicester.
. The death certificate stated that George Barnet Burns, lecturer, died at age 53 and the cause of death was morbus
cordis cirrhosis
of liver ascites
. There were various times during his life when Burns had been found drunk and it seems that he finally succumbed to his alcoholism
. His obituary
stated that Barnet Burns was better known as Pahe-a-Range, the New Zealand Chief, that he had suffered a long and painful illness and that he left behind a widow and two children to lament their loss. The identities of the children mentioned in the obituary are not known.
Barnet Burns was buried in a common grave on 30 December 1860 at what is now the Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth.
Pakeha Maori
Pākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts...
and to receive the full Māori facial tattoo
Ta moko
Tā moko is the permanent body and face marking by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Traditionally it is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by rather than punctured...
. He travelled to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and found employment as a trader of flax in New Zealand in the 1830s. Burns returned to Europe in 1835 and spent most of his remaining years as a showman giving lectures, where he described the customs of the Māori, performed the haka
Haka
Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
, exhibited his Māori tattoos and recounted his adventures in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Early life
It is likely that Barnet Burns was baptised in the parish of Kirkby IrelethKirkby Ireleth
Kirkby Ireleth is a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the English county of Cumbria. It includes the villages of Grizebeck and Kirkby in Furness; and the hamlets of Beanthwaite, Beck Side, Chapels, Soutergate, Wall End and Woodland. The parish has a population of 1,247....
on 25 November 1805. His parents were likely George Burns (born 1770) and Anne (née Stewart).
At the age of 13 or 14 he became a cabin boy and ended up working for Louis Celeste Lecesne
Louis Celeste Lecesne
Louis Celeste Lecesne , also known as Lewis Celeste Lecesne, was an anti-slavery activist from the Caribbean islands....
in Jamaica. When Lecesne travelled to England to petition parliament over his false arrest and exile,
Burns travelled with him. Under the patronage of Lecesne, Burns went to the Lancasterian school
British and Foreign School Society
The British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
at Borough Road in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Burns again set sail in 1827 on the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Wilna and arrived at Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. Following a dispute between the Captain and crew, all the crew were paid off from the ship and Burns then obtained a berth as steward on the barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Nimrod, Captain Eilbeck which set out for Australia and arrived at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 22 August 1828.
Colonial Australia and trading voyages
Bank of Australia robbery
The Bank of Australia robbery was the first bank robbery in Australia. On 14 September 1828 a gang of five robbers - William Blackstone, George Farrell, James Dingle, John Wilford alias Creighton and Valentine Rourke - tunnelled through a sewage drain into the vault of the Bank of Australia and...
on 14 September 1828. Burns also worked with other prominent businessmen of colonial Sydney who supported Burns' application for a land grant in May 1830. A plot of 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) was granted at Tambourine Bay on the Lane Cove River
Lane Cove River
The Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour.-Description:...
.
Burns joined the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Elizabeth, captain Brown on a trading voyage to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
departing Sydney 23 July 1830. During his time in New Zealand Burns learned the Māori language
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
. The Elizabeth returned to Sydney on 5 January 1831 and soon afterwards Burns appeared before the Police Magistrates where he was convicted of gross assault. A fellow seaman on the Elizabeth, James Nance, had accused Burns of being a convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
and Burns had reacted by leading [Nance] about the decks by his proboscis, like a pig by the snout.
Burns was ordered to enter into his own recognizances to the amount of £10, to preserve the peace for twelve months.
Barnet Burns agreed to return to New Zealand to trade with the Māori for phormium tenax, a New Zealand flax
New Zealand flax
New Zealand flax describes common New Zealand perennial plants Phormium tenax and Phormium cookianum, known by the Māori names harakeke and wharariki respectively...
used mainly for rope materials.
On 13 February 1831 Burns departed Sydney on the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Darling, captain William Stewart, with various items of trade including clothing, leather goods, muskets, gunpowder, tobacco and pipes, ironmongery, hardware and rum. The Darling stopped at several places on the west coast of the North Island including Kawhia, Mokau
Mokau
Mokau is a small town on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, located at the mouth of the Mokau River on the North Taranaki Bight. Mokau lies just north of the boundary between the Taranaki Region and the Waikato Region...
, Taranaki and Kapiti Island
Kapiti Island
-External links:* , Department of Conservation* * , Nature Coast Enterprise *...
before proceeding through Cook Strait
Cook Strait
Cook Strait is the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the west with the South Pacific Ocean on the east....
to the east coast where Burns was landed at the Mahia peninsula. The Darling continued onto Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawkes Bay. It stretches for 10 kilometres from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay...
where John Williams Harris was landed on 16 May 1831. Harris and Burns were among the first European residents in the area.
Pākeha-Māori
In the 1830s the east coast of the North IslandNorth Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand was a place constantly under the threat of attack from neighbouring Māori tribes.
In the preceding decades the Ngā Puhi from the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
had obtained muskets and made devastating attacks on their southern neighbours. The Mahia peninsula became a place of refuge for various Māori that felt threatened at an intensification of tribal warfare, decimation, enslavement and migration. Burns wrote: So here I was amongst a set of cannibals ... not knowing the moment when they might take my trade from me, and not only my trade, but my life.
At the Mahia peninsula Barnet Burns was protected by a chief whom he called 'Awhawee' but whom Māori oral records know as 'Te Aria' or 'Aria'.
Burns married the chief's daughter, Amotawa and lived as a Pākehā Māori
Pakeha Maori
Pākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts...
with mana
Mana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
and benefits in business transactions. Burns' hapū
Hapu
A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...
was probably Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare which was part of Te Uranga Wera or the burnt post tribe, a collection of hapū
Hapu
A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...
from the Tokomaru Bay
Tokomaru Bay
Tokomaru Bay is a small, idyllic beachside community located on the isolated East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It is 91 km north of Gisborne, on State Highway 35, and close to Mount Hikurangi. The district was originally known as Toka-a-Namu, which refers to the abundance of sandflies...
area.
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
to cultivate the potato gardens. Burns learned that the neighbouring Ngati Te Whatu-i-Apiti threatened to plunder the remaining trade goods. Burns escaped with Amotawa and her father in an open waka (canoe)
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
and seven other Māori and they headed north stopping overnight at Whareongaonga before landing at Waihi near Orongo beach on the southern side of Te Kuri a Paoa (Young Nick's Head
Young Nick's Head
Young Nick's Head is a headland at the southern end of Poverty Bay in New Zealand's North Island. It is clearly visible from the nearby city of Gisborne....
). The canoe was hauled out of the water and the local Māori, likely the Ngāi Tāmanuhiri
Ngai Tamanuhiri
Ngāi Tāmanuhiri is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. Their Rohe are located to the south of Poverty Bay in the Gisborne Region of New Zealand...
, carried the property for nearly 13 miles (20.9 km) to Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawkes Bay. It stretches for 10 kilometres from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay...
. A day later Burns proceeded 12 miles (19.3 km) inland to a stronghold of the Rongowhakaata
Rongowhakaata
-See also:*List of Māori iwi*Official Iwi Website:...
at Manutuke
Manutuke
Manutuke is a settlement in the Gisborne Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the west of the city of Gisborne on State Highway 2, close to the mouth of the Waipaoa River....
on the Waipaoa River
Waipaoa River
The Waipaoa River is a river of the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of the Raukumara Range, flowing south for 80 kilometres to reach Poverty Bay and the Pacific Ocean just south of Gisborne. For about half of this distance its valley is followed by State...
where there were two strong defensive pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
named Umukapua and Orakaiapu. Soon afterwards at the request of his Chief, Burns went to Maraetai with about seven hundred men to battle but their enemies had fled and they returned and lived again in peace.
During an inland flax-buying trip with some of the members of his tribe, a party of Ngāi Te Rangi attacked, killed and ate the group with the exception of Barnet Burns. He managed to negotiate for his life by agreeing to live, fight and trade with them and also to be tattooed
Ta moko
Tā moko is the permanent body and face marking by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Traditionally it is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by rather than punctured...
. When about a quarter of the tattoo was completed, Burns escaped and found his way back to his own tribe, who sought vengeance without success as the Ngāi Te Rangi were not to be found.
Te Whakatohea
Te Whakatōhea are a Māori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. The iwi comprises six hapu: Ngāi Tamahaua, Ngāti Ira, Ngāti Ngahere, Ngāti Patumoana, Ngāti Ruatakena and Te Ūpokorehe. In the 2006 Census, 12,072 people claimed an affiliation with Te Whakatōhea.The iwi is...
from the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
region had settled in an area inland from Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawkes Bay. It stretches for 10 kilometres from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay...
. An alliance of about 600 men from Rongowhakaata
Rongowhakaata
-See also:*List of Māori iwi*Official Iwi Website:...
, Ngati Kahungunu
Ngati Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke’s Bay and Tararua and Wairārapa regions....
, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti are an Iwi that occupy land from Gisborne to Tolaga Bay on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand.Many Descendants trace their Whakapapa back to the Arrival of the Canoes Horouta & Takitimu in the Tairawhiti Region and to the famous ancestor Paikea.Titirangi Maunga is...
and Nga Puhi under Te Wera a Hauraki besieged about 400 men, women and children of Te Whakatohea
Te Whakatohea
Te Whakatōhea are a Māori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. The iwi comprises six hapu: Ngāi Tamahaua, Ngāti Ira, Ngāti Ngahere, Ngāti Patumoana, Ngāti Ruatakena and Te Ūpokorehe. In the 2006 Census, 12,072 people claimed an affiliation with Te Whakatōhea.The iwi is...
at the pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
of Kekeparaoa, located near the confluence of the Waipaoa River
Waipaoa River
The Waipaoa River is a river of the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of the Raukumara Range, flowing south for 80 kilometres to reach Poverty Bay and the Pacific Ocean just south of Gisborne. For about half of this distance its valley is followed by State...
and the Waikohu river. Burns claimed to have led 150 men in the siege which lasted about three weeks. He described how a Whakatohea woman had attempted to escape from the pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
by swimming across a river. She was captured and imprisoned. Resigned to being eaten, she assisted in preparing potatoes and threw herself onto the fire for a hāngi
Hangi
Hāngi is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven still used for special occasions.To "lay a hāngi" or "put down a hāngi" involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the...
feast. When the pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
at Kekeparaoa had been breached, many of the imprisoned occupants were shared between the victorious tribes. Burns says he witnessed about 60 of the prisoners being killed and eaten; the flesh being cooked in a hāngi
Hangi
Hāngi is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven still used for special occasions.To "lay a hāngi" or "put down a hāngi" involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the...
or smoked for transportation to fellow tribal members.
The schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Prince of Denmark arrived at Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawkes Bay. It stretches for 10 kilometres from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay...
and Burns was then engaged by the captain to continue as a flax trader at £3 a month. He agreed to establish himself further north at Uawa which was named Tolaga Bay
Tolaga Bay
Tolaga Bay is both a bay and small town on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island located 45 kilometres northeast of Gisborne and 30 kilometres south of Tokomaru Bay.It was named Tolaga Bay by Lt...
by Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
. When he arrived at Uawa, Burns settled on the northern side of the Uawa river with Te Urunga Wera while on the southern side another white man traded for Captain John Rudolphus Kent with Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti
Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti are an Iwi that occupy land from Gisborne to Tolaga Bay on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand.Many Descendants trace their Whakapapa back to the Arrival of the Canoes Horouta & Takitimu in the Tairawhiti Region and to the famous ancestor Paikea.Titirangi Maunga is...
. From 1832 to 1834 he sent about 107 tons of flax to Sydney and he considered these his happiest years in New Zealand. Burns claimed to have been made a chief of over 600. The remaining part of his face and parts of his body were tattooed at nearby Waihau (Loisels beach).
Waiapu River
The Waiapu River is a 90-kilometre long river of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Flowing from the Raukumara Range, it passes through Ruatoria before reaching the Pacific Ocean at Rangitukia...
, near East Cape
East Cape
East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is located to the north of Gisborne in the northeast of the North Island....
, the easternmost point of the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. A whaling vessel, Elizabeth, captain Black, had stopped at East Cape for provisions and during her stay three of the crew had run away. In return captain Black had seized 15 of the local Ngāti Porou
Ngati Porou
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand, with 71,910 registered members in 2006...
and taken them away on the Elizabeth. Burns took a waka
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
with about 60 men and after three days they had travelled from Uawa to Waiapu
Waiapu
Waiapu was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Gisborne – East Coast Region of New Zealand, from 1893 to 1908.-Member of Parliament:...
and found the Englishmen confined at a pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
which was probably at Whakawhitira. The chief Kakatarau
agreed to their release in exchange for a ransom that was to be paid at Uawa. However the Ngāti Porou
Ngati Porou
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand, with 71,910 registered members in 2006...
were unfamiliar with the bay at Uawa and their waka capsized with the result that the ransom payment was waived. The schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, Lord Byron later took the Englishmen to Sydney. The 15 Ngāti Porou
Ngati Porou
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand, with 71,910 registered members in 2006...
had been taken to the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
, enslaved by Nga Puhi, released and introduced to Christianity by the missionaries. In January 1834 the Ngāti Porou
Ngati Porou
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand, with 71,910 registered members in 2006...
were returned to the East Cape on the schooner Fortitude by Rev William Yate and Rev William Williams
William Williams (bishop)
William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
of the Church Missionary Society.
Departure from Uawa
In October 1834 the ship Bardaster, Captain John Thomas Chalmers arrived at Uawa. Burns loaded his trade of flax and advised Captain Chalmers that he wished to settle with his employer in Sydney and so Burns paid £5 for a passage. He bid farewell to his wife and children and Burns accompanied the ship to Sydney via Cloudy BayCloudy Bay
Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds. The area lends its name to one of the best known New World white wines although the grapes used in production of that wine are grown in the Marlborough wine region further inland.The bay...
and Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand
Queen Charlotte Sound is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand's South Island. It is, like the other sounds, a drowned river valley , and like the majority of its neighbours it runs southwest to northeast before joining Cook Strait.The town of Picton, the...
. His children were daughters Tauhinu, Mokoraurangi and son Hori Waiti, who may have been born soon after Burns' departure. Te Amotawa later married the Māori chief Te Kani-a-Takirau.
Soon after the Bardaster arrived at Sydney on 2 November 1834, Barnet Burns arranged to transfer his grant of land at Tambourine Bay to Captain John Thomas Chalmers. At that time thousands of convicts
Convicts in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
resided in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and as Burns roamed the streets of Sydney his facial tattoo aroused suspicion that he had submitted to the operation of tattooing in order to prevent being recognised.
On 24 February 1835 the Bardaster departed Sydney for England with Barnet Burns aboard earning his passage in his former role as a sailor.
Initial appearances of Pahe-a-Range in England
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. On 1 June 1835 Barnet Burns married Bridget Cain at the Christ Church Greyfriars
Christ Church Greyfriars
Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate, was an Anglican church located on Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Built first in the gothic style, then in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren, it ranked among the City's most notable...
opposite St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
but little else is known about this union.
Barnet Burns soon published a booklet about his experiences in Australia and New Zealand. Copyright for the booklet was obtained at the Worshipful Company of Stationers’
Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers
The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...
Hall at Ludgate Hill, London on 1 September 1835. Burns' publication had the lengthy title: A Brief Narrative of the Remarkable History of Barnet Burns, an English sailor; who has lately been exhibiting at the Surrey Zoological Gardens and other Places of Amusement. With a faithful account of the way in which he became a chief of one of the tribes of the New Zealanders: together with a few remarks on the manners and customs of the people, and other interesting matter.
Barnet Burns commenced a career of showman and lecturer. His initial appearances in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
included the Surrey Zoological Gardens (later the Royal Surrey Gardens
Royal Surrey Gardens
Royal Surrey Gardens were pleasure gardens in Kennington, London in the Victorian period, slightly east of The Oval. The gardens occupied about to the east side of Kennington Road, including a lake of about . It was the site of Surrey Zoological Gardens and Surrey Music Hall.The gardens were the...
), Victoria Theatre (now the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
), Surrey Theatre
Surrey Theatre
The Surrey Theatre began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided contemporary London entertainment of both horsemanship and drama...
and Astley's Amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre
Philip Astley opened Astley's Amphitheatre in London in 1773. * The structure was burned in 1794, then rebuilt. With increasing prosperity and rebuilding after successive fires, it grew to become Astley's Royal Amphitheatre and this was the home of the circus...
. Introduced as Barnet Burns, The New Zealand Chief, he performed various Māori songs and dances, including the haka
Haka
Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
, and he described customs of the Māori. Upon obtaining an opportunity to appear at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, Barnet Burns had made merry in honour of his engagement. The tattooed Englishman was brought before the Police Magistrate at Union Hall, London but Burns was soon discharged and, out of spirits, [he had] taken to water.
An edition of Burns' booklet was published at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in 1836 and in April Thomas Morgan wrote to the Foreign Office suggesting that Burns could lead a colonisation of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
or the new colony of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
.
Burns proposed the establishment of a small colony of artisans and tradesmen under his protection, and offered to supply the British government and merchants with timber and flax. There is no record of the British government accepting Burns' proposal. Later in April 1836, Burns entertained in the Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and Portsea Theatre at the conclusion of a romance play.
Barnet Burns had styled himself as Pahe-a-Range and in May 1836 he appeared at the Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
Mechanics' Institution, where his lectures were described as one incongruous jumble of impudence, of ignorance, of low wit, and bare-faced presumption.
This description was criticized by a reporter who attended lectures by Burns at the Town Hall of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and recommended that Burns obtain the assistance of someone to help arrange the lectures. Despite Burns' shortcomings, the reporter stated that those who go to a lecture to obtain information, without caring by what means it is conveyed, could, notwithstanding the rambling and unconnected nature of his address, gather sufficient to remunerate them for the money and time expended in attending it.
Chef de tribu de la Nouvelle Zélande
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
in Paris resulted in the academicians being annoyed at being deceived by Burns, who had apparently claimed to be King of Zealand.
In 1837 Burns appeared at Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
where he
exhibited himself at a shop in rue de Gorges with an assurance that he would remain civilized for visitors. Burns was described as a cannibal, but in his booklet he is careful to avoid any suggestion that he himself consumed human flesh.
Burns and his wife lived at 16 Rue Pastourelle
Rue Pastourelle
Rue Pastourelle is a street in the third district of Paris.Its nearest metro stations are Arts et Métiers and Saint-Sébastien - Froissart....
in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris and had two children who, it appears, died young.
Barnet Burns presented himself as a tattooed New Zealand Chief at the nearby Boulevard du Temple
Boulevard du Temple
The Boulevard du Temple is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the nearby Knights Templars' Temple where they established their Paris priory.-History:The Boulevard du...
.
Barnet Burns' booklet was published at Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
in about 1839 and in 1840 he was at Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. Burns was apparently summoned by Queen Victoria to take part in an English expedition to New Zealand in the capacity of interpreter. Following his departure, Burns' wife, Anne never heard from him again.
Possible return visit to New Zealand
There is circumstantial evidenceCircumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
for Barnet Burns making a return trip to New Zealand between February 1839 and October 1840.
Barnet Burns had expressed a desire to return to New Zealand and had applied to join the expedition of the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
on its ship Tory which
sailed from London on 4 May 1839. His wife in France, Anne (née Boval) understood that in 1840 Barnet Burns had travelled as an interpreter for an English expedition to New Zealand. Several English newspapers reported on a visit by Barnet Burns in about 1841. and it appears that he worked with the Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
missionaries The census undertaken in Britain in June 1841 lists Barnet Burns' occupation as mariner which suggests that he had recently sailed. Barnet Burns' son, Hori Waiti, claims to remember his father escaping. Given the short period that Burns initially spent in New Zealand, Hori Waiti would only remember his father if Burns had made a return trip.
Finally, Arthur Thomson mentions that One unemployed tattooed Pakeha Maori
Pakeha Maori
Pākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts...
visited England, and acted the part of a New Zealand savage in several provincial theatres. Here he married an Englishwoman who accompanied him to New Zealand, but she eloped with a Yankee sailor, because the tattooed actor's old Maori wife met him and obtained an influence over him the white woman could not combat. There are several similarities between this Pākehā Māori
Pakeha Maori
Pākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts...
and Barnet Burns to suggest that they might be the same person.
Marriage to Mrs Rosina Crowther
The United Kingdom Census 1841United Kingdom Census 1841
The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every UK household on the night of 6 June, 1841. It was described as the "first modern census" in that it was the first to record information about every member of the household and because it was administered as a single event, under...
recorded the occupants of every UK household on the night of 6 June 1841 when Barnet Burns, mariner, and Rosina Crowther, pedlar
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
, were lodging at Vincent Street, Sculcoates, Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
. A few days later, The New Zealand Chief, Mr. Burns, delivered two lectures at the Hull Mechanics' Institute. The broadside for the lectures explains how he was saved from being eaten by the interposition of one of the Chief's daughters; how he ingratiated himself into their favour, submitted to be tattooed and ultimately became chief of a tribe. The broadside continues to advertise that he will also exhibit the real head
Mokomokai
Mokomokai are the preserved heads of Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, where the faces have been decorated by tā moko tattooing. They became valuable trade items during the Musket Wars of the early 19th century.-Moko:...
of a New Zealand Chief, his opponent in battle, and describe the operation of tattooing, &c. Burns was to be accompanied by Mrs Crowther who would perform several favourite Airs upon The Musical Glasses
Glass harmonica
The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica , is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction The glass harmonica, also known as the glass...
at Intervals during the Evening.
On 18 June 1841, Barnet Burns appeared at the Hull Zoological Gardens to participate in a Grand Gala in commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, which occurred 26 years previously. In addition to his usual repertoire describing Maori customs, Burns appeared on the lake and showed how the Maori rowed their waka
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
including how a chief excited his comrades to action. The Gala included a display of fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
, Montgolfier balloons and performances from military bands.
In January 1842 Barnet Burns had moved to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
where he lectured before the Mechanics' Institution at Newhall street and where he had a booklet published. By that time he and Rosina had married as the handbill states that Mrs. Burns will also perform several admired Airs and Waltzes upon the Musical Glasses.
Showman and lecturer
Burslem
The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...
and Tunstall Literary and Scientific Institution, Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
Athenæum, Lecture Hall, Wardwick, Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, the National School at Beeston
Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
, the Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
Mechanics' Institution and at Dublin.
In late 1844 Barnet Burns appeared in London where he was engaged at the Royal Adelaide Gallery. One of New Zealand's early colonists, Edward Jerningham Wakefield
Edward Jerningham Wakefield
Edward Jerningham Wakefield was the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. He was born in London, and educated in England and France....
was unimpressed by one of Burns' lectures describing how the lecturer dressed with sandals and strings of beads on his legs and wrists, a leopard-skin petticoat, a necklace of pig's tusks, and a crown of blue feathers a foot long, - sings NZ ditties to a tune!, and talks gibberish, which he translates into romantic poetry. In December 1845 Barnet Burns lodged a complaint to the Police Magistrate at Worship-Street, London against Henry Sproules Edwards, who had disrupted one of Burns' lectures by publicly denouncing him as a fraud.
By 1847 Barnet Burns had a manager, Lionel Violet Gyngell who announced appearances by Barnet and Rosina Burns during a tour that included Hawkstone Hall, Shrewsbury, Welshpool
Welshpool
Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...
, Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
and Ellesmere
Ellesmere
-Places:* Ellesmere, Shropshire, a market town in Shropshire, England** Ellesmere Castle** Ellesmere Rural, a civil parish to the west* Ellesmere Park, area of Eccles, Greater Manchester, England* Ellesmere Port, an industrial town in Cheshire, England...
.
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
edition includes a stylised picture of Barnet Burns carrying the head of a tattooed Māori chief. On their tour Pahe-a-Range and Madame Pahe-a-Range appeared at the
Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
Town Hall, the Beverley
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...
Mechanics' Hall, the parish school-house at Burton Agnes
Burton Agnes
Burton Agnes is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A614 mid way between Driffield and Bridlington. Places of interest include an Elizabethan Manor House, Burton Agnes Hall and a Norman Manor House, Burton Agnes Manor House...
before Robert Isaac Wilberforce
Robert Isaac Wilberforce
Robert Isaac Wilberforce was an English clergyman and writer, second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement.-Early life and education:...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
Mechanics' Institute, the parish at Gringley-on-the-Hill
Gringley-on-the-Hill
Gringley-on-the-Hill, Nottinghamshire, is an English village and parish. It is on the highest part of the road from Bawtry to Gainsborough, six miles east-southeast of the former, and the same distance west by north of the latter town.- Location :...
, the schoolroom at Lea near Gainsborough
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Gainsborough is a town 15 miles north-west of Lincoln on the River Trent within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. At one time it served as an important port with trade downstream to Hull, and was the most inland in England, being more than 55 miles from the North...
before Charles Henry John Anderson and in May 1849 he returned to the Mechanics' Institution at Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
. Barnet Burns was dressed in a buff skin dress, which was to represent his skin, various ornaments round his neck of bones, &c., a belt round him composed of human skin and the sceptre
Taiaha
A Taiaha is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand.It is a wooden, or sometimes whale bone, close quarters, staff weapon used for short sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with quick footwork on the part of the wielder. Taiaha are usually between in length...
... which had a head on it, the eyes of which were supposed to be the eyes of their deities. He encouraged his audience to consider New Zealand for immigration saying there was no clime better calculated to suit the Englishman and through the efforts of the missionaries New Zealand had become civilized.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and one of the people in the audience was the wife of William Leonard Williams
William Leonard Williams
William Leonard Williams was an Anglican Bishop of Waiapu. He was regarded as an eminent scholar of the Māori language.-Biography:...
who was to be sent like his father as a missionary to New Zealand. In 1853 W. L. Williams presented Burns' booklet and a picture of Burns to his son, Hori Waiti, in front of a crowd at Tokomaru Bay
Tokomaru Bay
Tokomaru Bay is a small, idyllic beachside community located on the isolated East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It is 91 km north of Gisborne, on State Highway 35, and close to Mount Hikurangi. The district was originally known as Toka-a-Namu, which refers to the abundance of sandflies...
. Williams had already checked the veracity of the booklet and picture, but he asked publicly if Burns was recognised and it was confirmed and Hori Waiti learnt that Burns was his father. This picture of Barnet Burns is still in the family.
A tour through Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in early 1853 included lectures at the Assembly Room in Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, the Town Hall in Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
and Union Hall in Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
. By this time Barnet Burns' occupation was given as Lecturer and that of Rosina Burns was given as Professor of Music, her musical glasses producing a harmony which was indisputably the most exquisite.
In November 1856 Barnet Burns and his wife went to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
to deliver a course of lectures on New Zealand. Three lectures were advertised, but at the close of the second Burns became ill and was confined to his bed for nearly eight weeks. Rosina Burns sold every available article she possessed but soon they were destitute and an appeal was made for help. By January 1857 Barnet Burns had recovered sufficiently to be able to lecture accompanied, as usual, by Rosina on the musical glasses. Further funds were raised from an edition of Burns' booklet published at Leicester.
Death
Barnet Burns died on 26 December 1860 at Eldad, East Stonehouse, PlymouthStonehouse, Plymouth
East Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
. The death certificate stated that George Barnet Burns, lecturer, died at age 53 and the cause of death was morbus
Morbus
Morbus may refer to:*Latin for disease. The Roman poets often personified Morbus as a netherworld demon who brought pestilence.*A fictional planet in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, see Dimension X #Morbus....
cordis cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of liver ascites
Ascites
Ascites is a gastroenterological term for an accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity.The medical condition is also known as peritoneal cavity fluid, peritoneal fluid excess, hydroperitoneum or more archaically as abdominal dropsy. Although most commonly due to cirrhosis and severe liver...
. There were various times during his life when Burns had been found drunk and it seems that he finally succumbed to his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. His obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
stated that Barnet Burns was better known as Pahe-a-Range, the New Zealand Chief, that he had suffered a long and painful illness and that he left behind a widow and two children to lament their loss. The identities of the children mentioned in the obituary are not known.
Barnet Burns was buried in a common grave on 30 December 1860 at what is now the Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth.