The Bay of Islands has long been occupied, beginning some 800 years ago with Maori settlement. At Kerikeri Inlet, the river gave access to fertile land for plantations and the harbour yielded plentiful seafood. Europeans found these areas equally pleasing when they began to visit in the late eighteenth century. Today, the Kerikeri basin is home to New Zealand's oldest European buildings. This book tells their story and that of the people, missionaries and Maori, who made them. The book is richly illustrated with photographs from the Kemp House and Stone Store collections of artefacts and objects once in daily use. It contains a discussion and illustrations of the store accounts, revealing details of daily life at the mission - what food, clothing, tools and other goods were available, where they came from and who used them.
Author Biography
Angela Middleton is a consultant archaeologist and an honorary research fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Otago. Her work in southern and northern New Zealand has focused on the early engagement between Maori and Pakeha and an understanding of early Pakeha settlement.
