The Boyd incident - a frontier of chaos?

The Boyd incident, 1809

In December 1809 the sailing ship Boyd was anchored in Whangaroa Harbour where it had arrived to pick up a cargo of timber spars. It was attacked by a group of Maori who killed most of its crew and passengers in retaliation for the captain’s mistreatment of a young local chief, Te Ara, who had sailed from Sydney on the Boyd.

This was the most violent clash between Maori and Europeans since the attack on Marion du Fresne and his crew in 1772. The incident had far-reaching effects. It delayed the establishment of the first Christian mission in New Zealand. It cemented ideas about New Zealand as the 'Cannibal Isles' and challenged the notion of Maori as 'noble savages'.

European whalers avenged the attack, which led to many more Maori deaths and sparked intertribal warfare in the region. The incident also provoked vigorous debate among officials in New South Wales about how to maintain law and order in New Zealand.

Why was the Boyd attacked?

Often referred to as the 'Boyd Massacre' or the 'Burning of the Boyd', the incident was  dismissed as an act of Maori barbarism. As such, there was no need for a closer examination of Maori motives. The event was etched into New Zealand folklore by European artists several generations after the actual attack. Their romanticised and often inaccurate portrayals embedded the incident in a frontier context resembling North America's Wild West.

Under the command of Captain John Thompson, the Boyd left Port Jackson (Sydney) in October 1809 and arrived in Whangaroa harbour in the far north to load a cargo of kauri spars. It was probably only the third European ship to visit Whangaroa. A year earlier, a visit by the City of Edinburgh had led to an outbreak of disease that killed a number of local Maori. The local Ngati Uru believed that a curse had been placed on them. They treated the next European visitors, the Boyd, with a good deal of apprehension and suspicion. This was Captain Thompson's first and last encounter with Maori.

Utu is taken

Among the 70 people on board the Boyd was Te Ara, the son of a Whangaroa chief. Te Ara had been expected to work his passage as a seaman, but he ignored orders. He may have been ill, or, being the son of a chief, he may have believed that such work was beneath him. Whatever the reasons, he was flogged and denied food. When he arrived home and reported this mistreatment, his kin demanded utu.

Unaware of local feelings, Thompson and several crew members left the ship in the company of a group of Maori to check out a stand of kauri further up the harbour. Once ashore they were killed and eaten. At dusk some Maori disguised themselves as the returning shore party while other warriors waited in canoes for the signal to attack. The assault was swift and decisive. Most of the Europeans were killed that evening, but a number escaped by climbing up into the ship's rigging.

Te Pahi arrives

The next morning a large canoe entered the harbour carrying Te Pahi, a prominent chief from Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands. He had a reputation for supporting trade with Europeans and had visited Sydney in 1805. He was shocked by what he found and tried to help those still clinging to the ship's rigging. He took the frightened European survivors aboard his canoe, but he was unable to save them when they reached shore. Te Ara's relatives believed this was none of Te Pahi's business and promptly killed most of the survivors as the helpless Te Pahi watched. In a classic but unfortunate case of mistaken identity, Europeans were later to blame Te Pahi for the tragedy.

The Boyd was then towed up the harbour towards Te Ara's village before grounding on mudflats near Motu Wai or Red Island. The ship was pillaged of its cargo, with the muskets and gunpowder being especially prized booty.

During the pillaging a musket flint ignited the gunpowder on board, causing a massive explosion that killed a number of Maori, including Te Ara's father. Fire soon spread to casks of whale oil, and the ship burned down to the waterline.

Survivors

Several Europeans survived the initial attack and its aftermath. They included Thom Davis, the ship's cabin boy, Ann Morley and her baby, and two-year-old Betsy Broughton, who was taken by a local chief. Thom had been spared because he had tended to Te Ara after his flogging and had smuggled food to him. Another crewman survived for two weeks by making fish-hooks from barrel hoops, but when he was of no further use he was killed and eaten.

European utu

News of the incident reached the Bay of Islands, and three weeks later the crew of the City of Edinburgh, accompanied by other European sailors, arrived to exact revenge. A Maori chief from the Bay of Islands had agreed to accompany the European force, and he negotiated for the return of Ann Morley, her baby and Thom Davis. Hostages were taken to secure the release of Betsy Broughton, and after a short delay she too was returned to the rescue party.

When asked why they attacked the ship, some of those involved said that the captain was a 'bad man'. The whalers present blamed Te Pahi for the incident, even though the real perpetrators declared his innocence. Nevertheless, Te Pahi's pa, Te Puna, was destroyed by the European sailors, with considerable loss of Maori life.

This action resulted in civil war breaking out in the region, and in a final cruel irony, Te Pahi died of wounds received in battle in 1810. When Samuel Marsden arrived in 1814 to establish his Church Missionary Society mission, tensions still simmered. He invited chiefs from Whangaroa and the Bay of Islands aboard his ship, the Active, where he gave them gifts and asked them to ensure peace between their people.

'Each chief saluted the other,' Marsden wrote, 'and then went around to each one pressing their noses together.' They assured him that they would never harm another European in the future.

Travel advice

For some Europeans the Boyd incident put New Zealand in the 'avoid if at all possible category' and slowed contact dramatically. A pamphlet circulating in Europe warned sailors off the 'Cannibal Isles' – 'touch not that cursed shore lest you these Cannibals pursue'.