Author(s): Barbara Francis

NZ Non-Fiction

In November 1863 at the battle of Rangiriri, over 180 Māori defenders were taken prisoner. They were marched up the Great South Road to Ōtāhuhu, from where they were transferred onto the Waitematā Harbour. There they were held captive on the prison ship Marion for nearly eight months, supervised by their bilingual Pākehā Superintendent Titus Angus White, who was also sent to retrieve them after their subsequent escape from Kawau Island.

This book is the story of Titus Angus White and the men he ended up supervising as they were imprisoned only 600 metres off the Port of Auckland. It is also the wider story of the invasion of the Waikato and the circumstances that led to the establishment of New Zealand’s largest ever floating prison.

“This work navigates the colonial propaganda and attempts to provide an objective perspective on a tumultuous time in New Zealand history – Barbara Francis has been meticulous in collecting, collating and connecting information to produce a detailed narrative around the work and thinking of Titus Angus White.” – Dr Mike Ross, Ngāti Hauā.