Kaikohe (Book 6)

The Letters & Journals of Richard Davis 1843-1863. This is a rich source of insights into the character and relationships that Richard Davis forged with rangatira and others over this period. On the one hand, it reveals the projections a Victorian gentleman was making in his correspondence about the age of the earth (6000 ±100 years ), while at the same time he was attempting to promote a scientific approach to agriculture.

These archives cover Davis’s ordination as Deacon, and later priest, the death of his 2nd wife, Anne, and his marriage to his 3rd wife, Jane Holloway King. Also detailed are the mentoring of local hapu & iwi in developing the capital investments needed for wheat cropping and flour milling, and his close relationship with Hōne Heke and his hapu, before and after Heke’s death. The government land dealings that led to the 'Northern wars' of 1845-6, and Davis’s defence of the charges of collaboration by government officials form an important part of the record, which continues to the end of Richard Davis’s life.