Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry (April 1793 – 8 July 1864) was a nineteenth-century adventurer who attempted to establish his own sovereign state in New Zealand in the years before the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
between the British Crown and the Maori chiefs in 1840.
Biography
]
De Thierry was from a French family that had fled to England following the revolution. He claimed to have been born in 1793 while his parents were fleeing, probably in
Grave, North Brabant, Grave in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Upon reaching England, his father Charles Antoine de Thierry, claimed the title of Baron Nasher.
De Thierry was enrolled at
Magdalen College, Oxford, and claimed to have transferred to a college of the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. There, he met
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māor ...
, the
Ngāpuhi
Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei.
According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 16 ...
chief who was visiting England, and the missionary
Thomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall (13 December 1778 – 6 August 1832) was a New Zealand missionary, recorder of the Māori language, schoolmaster, arms dealer, and Pākehā Māori.
Early life: Lincolnshire and London, 1778–1813
A younger son of farmer Ed ...
. De Thierry subsequently arranged a purchase of at
Hokianga
The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand.
The original name, still used by local Māori, is ' ...
, in
Northland, through Kendall while at Cambridge.
The land was bought for the price of about 500 muskets plus powder and ball which de Thierry sent to Sydney, Australia. Hongi Hika uplifted the weapons on his return to Sydney. It was this act that ignited the inter-iwi and inter-hapu
Musket Wars
The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms rac ...
in New Zealand, which continued until about 1842.
After travels in
North America and the
Caribbean, de Thierry came to the Pacific in 1835. In the
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...
, he announced himself King of
Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva (sometimes spelled Nukahiva or Nukuhiva) is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as ''Île Marchand'' and ''Madison Island''.
Herman ...
and wrote to
James Busby
James Busby (7 February 1802 – 15 July 1871) was the British Resident in New Zealand from 1833 to 1840. He was involved in drafting the 1835 Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand and the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. As British Resident, ...
, the British
Resident
Resident may refer to:
People and functions
* Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country
* Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training
* Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...
in New Zealand, of his intentions to land there and establish himself as "sovereign chief". His kingdom would embrace
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
and medicine, and share its "occasional bounties" with local chiefs.
In
Sydney 1837 he recruited some locals to join his adventure, but when he arrived in the Hokianga,
rangatira
In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...
(chiefs)
Tāmati Wāka Nene
Tāmati Wāka Nene (1780s – 4 August 1871) was a Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) who fought as an ally of the British in the Flagstaff War of 1845–46.
Origin and mana
Tāmati Wāka Nene from the ''Dictionary of New Zea ...
and
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone (c.1764 – 19 September 1872) was a Māori rangatira (chief), the son of the Ngāti Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not known, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he ...
repudiated his claims. He was allowed to settle at a smaller, 800-acre plot by Nene and
Te Taonui. The settlement was a failure, however, as de Thierry's followers rioted and abandoned him, and he was dependent on Māori charity. Despite his failures, he continued to exaggerate his successes to France and agitate for the establishment of a French colony led by himself. Any possibility of this was finally curtailed with the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
in 1840.
De Thierry subsequently moved to Auckland, where he worked as a piano teacher until his sudden death on 8 July 1864.
Footnotes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thierry, Charles de
1793 births
1864 deaths
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Dutch emigrants to England
Dutch emigrants to New Zealand
Dutch people of French descent
Burials at Symonds Street Cemetery
People from Grave, North Brabant
English emigrants to New Zealand