Sir George Grey Pioneer of Empire in Southern Lands

Bibliography

Bibliography

General Authorities

1. The dispatches, enclosures, and reports that passed between Governor Grey and the Secretaries of State for the Colonies, 1841-1868, are the most important documents; and it is impossible to compile a life of Sir George Grey without them. Many of these dispatches have been published, and may be found in the Public Libraries at Adelaide, South Australia; Capetown, South Africa; and Wellington, New Zealand. The manuscripts are preserved at Government House in each Colony.

2. The correspondence, essays, pamphlets, notes, maps, and general papers in the Grey Collections of the South African and Auckland Public Libraries.

3. A valuable collection of private papers in the possession of Sir George Grey's nephew, the Honourable Seymour Thorne-George, St. Stephen's Avenue, Auckland.

Additional Authorities Western Australia

Dispatches and Reports, relating to Lieutenant Grey's expedition, preserved in Government House, Perth.

Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, by G. Grey, Esq., Governor of South Australia, 1841.

Discoveries in Australia, by Captain Stokes, R.N., 1846.

Reports of an Expedition Northwards, by A. Gregory, Assistant Surveyor-General of Western Australia, 1849.

Western Australian Inquirer, for September and October, 1849.

New Zealand, 1845-1853

Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race, by Sir G. Grey, K.C.B., published 1855. (The preface should be carefully read.)

Journal of an Expedition undertaken by Sir G. Grey in the summer, 1849-1850, contains an interesting account of Grey's friendly intercourse with the Maoris, and his manner of collecting information.

Maori Mementos, a series of addresses presented to Governor Grey by the Maori chiefs in 1853; translated by C. O. B. Davis.

Old New Zealand, by a Pakeha Maori (F. E. Maning), gives the best account of the Maori race before 1840, notwithstanding exaggerations.

The Treaty of Waitangi, published in facsimile, 1877, deserves careful attention, because of the frequent references to it in later years. It was to the Maoris what the mythical "laws of Edward the Confessor" were to the English people of the middle ages.

Adventures in New Zealand from1839-1844, by Edward Jerningham Wakefield, throws much light on the early history of the New Zealand Company.

The Six Colonies of New Zealand, by William Fox, 1851. Written with strong bias, like all Mr. Fox's literary work; but forceful and clear.

Life and Episcopate of George Augustus Selwyn, by Tucker, contains many letters and extracts from the correspondence of Bishop Selwyn.

The Story of New Zealand, by Dr. A. S. Thomson, 1859, is interesting, and, unlike so many books on New Zealand history, written in an impartial and scientific spirit. (It is necessary to point out, however, that Sir G. Grey did not actually say that "the insurrection in the Bay of Islands was caused by the large land claims of the missionaries." —Thomson's reference to parliamentary papers notwithstanding. See p. 150, Vol. II.)

The Life of Henry Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate, by Hugh Carleton, is written with strong family bias. The archdeacon's case is strong enough to be dealt with by impartial historians who can be fair to his opponents.

South Africa

The dispatches and enclosures transmitted to and from Downing Street during Sir George Grey's administration, together with a mass of evidence on South African affairs, in the libraries at Capetown and Auckland, furnish sufficient material for an exhaustive study of Sir George Grey's career as Governor and High Commissioner.

Of the material in the libraries special mention may be made of—

1. In the South African Library, (a) pamphlets and reports dealing with the condition of the Native Tribes of South Africa; (b) a map of British Kaffraria showing the distribution of the tribes at the beginning of his administration.

2. In the Auckland Library, (a) A valuable collection of letters and papers dealing with Grey's administration in South Africa; (b) two maps, one of Basutoland showing Major Warden's line and some of Sir George Grey's modifications; the other a general map of South Africa in 1856.

New Zealand Politics

For Grey's radical speeches there are two principal sources of information:

1. Journal of Debates in the New Zealand Parliament, kept in the Parliamentary Library, Wellington.

2. Reports in the New Zealand papers of the speeches which he delivered during the campaign, 1876-1877. Nearly all of them are collected in one volume in the Grey collection, Auckland Library.

Grey's Imperial views can only be understood by a study of every part of his career; but his administration in South Africa is by far the most important in this connection. His utterances in the New Zealand House of Representatives concerning Imperial officers must not be taken seriously, for he was smarting under the sense of what he thought was unjustifiable neglect by the Imperial authorities. He tried to make amends after his return to England in 1894.

For the expression of his views on Empire after 1894, it is necessary to consult the London dailies and magazines. Several interviews have been published by Mr. J. Milne in a small volume entitled The Romance of a Proconsul.