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Hine-Ra, or The Māori Scout: A Romance of the New Zealand War.

AUTHOR AND AUTHORSHIP: ROBERT PERCY WHITFORD

AUTHOR AND AUTHORSHIP: ROBERT PERCY WHITFORD

The period of the late 1800’s, categorised by Lawrence Jones as the ‘pioneer period’1 places Whitford as one of the first novelists to write and publish a New Zealand based story that also achieved international publication and readership. The pioneer period in New Zealand literature is considered to have been "vigorous, broadly based and central to the culture of the growing nation" 2 It is a critically formative time in New Zealand’s literary history, and though Whitford is not a New Zealand native, his writing on New Zealand at this vital time in its history holds great importance to the development of New Zealand fiction. The pioneer period references the rigors of colonial society, and Whitford’s inclusion of a romance storyline provides an antidote to the "dangerous unpleasantness of realism" 3 Whitford holds a significant but unrecognised place in the history of New Zealand, both with regards to fiction and journalism. Whitford is described as a prolific miscellaneous writer. He is an inexhaustible and creative writer, engaging in a great variety of writing styles with a career as both a journalist and a fictional novelist.

Little is known about his life, yet the pieces provided build a story of a man who was immersed in the world of writing. Born in England in 1831, he emigrated from Devonshire to Sydney in 1855 with his wife Margaret Rivers Smith, where he joined the staff of Empire and later began several short-lived magazines of his own. In 1864 Whitford moved again to Melbourne, and with Ferdinand Bailliere began a series of gazettes of various Australian colonies. Here, he worked for several publications, including the Age, the Argus and the Daily Telegraph, and for a time edited the Australian Journal, as well as contributing to various publications. He spent time in New Zealand between 1870-1874, working as a journalist for the Otago Daily Times, where his work was described as “clever and witty”. He also carried out work on a series of fictional stories, largely concerned with his experiences in Australia. His fascination with Māori culture during his time in New Zealand resulted in the production of a complimentary poem Hine-Ra, A Māori Love Song , published in 1886 4. The novel form of his Hine-Ra storyline was published in 1887, and is accompanied by five portraits by Herbert John Woodhouse, an Australian artist, as well as a glossary of Te Reo language and a brief historical prelude. Whitford died in 1901 aged 69, “almost forgotten as a writer but lamented by few as a ‘Bohemian of the spontaneous type, not the factitious’”. 5