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Spectrum was a long-running weekly radio documentary series which captured the essence of New Zealand from 1972 to 2016. Alwyn Owen and Jack Perkins produced the series for many years, creating a valuable library of New Zealand oral history.
This episode examines the story of the famous and enigmatic Pākēha Māori, John Rutherford, and his controversial account of life in New Zealand of the 1820s.
New Zealand’s earliest European settlers were sealers, whalers, traders, land speculators and escaped convicts. Many were itinerant, staying only as long as, for example, the sealing season lasted. Some stayed on. Those Europeans who lived with Māori were known as Pākehā-Māori. One of the most famous was John Rutherford. His story is told in the programme through newspaper articles and other accounts of his life, held by the Alexander Turnbull Library.
In 1828 or 1829 a sensational pamphlet was published in Glasgow which recounted John Rutherford’s life and his experiences in New Zealand. Rutherford was at this time making his living by lecturing and exhibiting his heavily tattooed body. Rutherford’s story was then drawn on extensively by G. L Craik who wrote a book, "The New Zealanders." Rutherford drops out of the historical record after this. He leaves behind him contradictory and controversial accounts of his life.
The programme retells his story of his voyage on a ship the "Agnes" undera Captain Coffin. While endeavouring to land in the Bay of Islands the ship was blown off course and landed at Tokomaru. He claimed a local Māori chief named "Aimy"attacked the ship, killed most of the crew and Rutherford was taken prisoner.
He was taken inland to Aimy’s kainga where he lived for some time and eventually married the two daughters of Aimy. He and the chief travelled to Kaipara to fight in a war. Rutherford describes a ferocious battle in which he was wounded. The decapitated heads of the enemy were placed on poles around the kainga and the bodies of fallen enemies were cooked and eaten.
Shortly after the battle, Aimy received word that a ship had been sighted not far from the coast. Rutherford and others approached the ship. The ship was the "Avenger" under Captain Jackson. Rutherford was welcomed aboard and begged to be taken away. It was 1826 and Rutherford thus claimed to have been a prisoner for 10 years.
The programme notes there are many discrepancies in Rutherford’s accounts of his story and very little of his story checks out. As early as 1842, his story was being called 'fabulous.'
Historians have attempted to verify Rutherford’s story, including Robert McNab and Archdeacon William Williams. McNab confirmed that there was never a ship named "Agnes" under a Captain Coffin, nor a ship called "Avenger." William Williams confirmed that it was highly improbable that Rutherford was ever in Tokomaru, and that the chiefs he names are missing entirely from whakapapa. He doubts as well that Rutherford was at the Kaipara raid and observes that there are no mentions of other very significant events which happened at the time.
It is thought Rutherford was probably a deserter or a runaway convict, who lived in the Bay of Islands and embroidered his story of his time in New Zealand living as a Pākehā-Māori. His body and legs appear to have been tatooed later than his face - and certainly not by Māori.