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Thomas Potts of Canterbury : colonist and conservationist / Paul Star.
Van Pelt Library QH31.P68 S737 2020
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Star, Paul, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Potts, T. H. (Thomas H.).
- Potts, T. H.
- Naturalists--New Zealand--Biography.
- Naturalists.
- Conservationists--New Zealand--Biography.
- Conservationists.
- Ornithologists--New Zealand--Biography.
- Ornithologists.
- Conservation of natural resources--New Zealand--History--19th century.
- Conservation of natural resources.
- Plant conservation--New Zealand--History--19th century.
- Plant conservation.
- Colonists.
- Colonization.
- History.
- New Zealand.
- New Zealand--Canterbury.
- New Zealand--Canterbury (Provincial District).
- Genre:
- History.
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- 328 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Dunedin, New Zealand : Otago University Press Te Whare Tā o Te Wānanga o Ōtākou, 2020.
- Summary:
- "In 1858 Canterbury settler Thomas Potts protested against the destruction of tōtara on the Port Hills near Christchurch. A decade later, as a member of Parliament, he made forest conservation a national issue. Through his writing he raised the then novel idea of protecting native birds on island reserves, and proposed the creation of national 'domains' or parks. As a pioneering colonist, acclimatist and runholder, however, Potts' own actions threatened the very environments he sought to maintain. This makes him a fascinating subject as we confront present-day problems in balancing development and conservation.This book is about, and partly by, Potts, and through him about New Zealand and the course and consequences of colonisation. It describes and interprets his life, from his early years in England through to his 34 years in New Zealand. Excerpts from Potts' vivid 1850s diary, written from close to the edge of European settlement, are published here for the first time. Thomas Potts of Canterbury also reproduces 11 long-forgotten essays by him from the 1880s, in which he reflected on the 1850s and what had happened since - both to New Zealand's natural environment and to Māori and Pākehā. Sixteen pages of contemporary images supplement the text.Thomas Potts of Canterbury will appeal to anyone interested in the early history of Canterbury, in environmental change, and in early efforts in New Zealand towards conservation. It is a story of conflicting goals, magnificently exemplified in the life and writings of a man who strove, 150 years ago, to be both colonist and conservationist"--Publisher's website.
- Contents:
- Machine generated contents note: pt. One Thomas Potts and the New Zealand Environment
- The Early Years, to 1853
- Changes at Rockwood, 1854-58
- Governors Bay 1858 to about 1870
- A Brief Role in Politics, 1865-70
- Natural Science and Scientists, 1860-74
- The Forest and the Trees, 1868-74
- Introduction to Acclimatisation, to 1874
- A Fascination for Birds, to 1872
- Musings in Maoriland, 1876-78
- In Gods Own Country, around 1880
- Later Writings, Last Years, 1880-88
- The Legacy of Thomas Potts
- pt. Two Seeking a Stranger-Land: Selections from the diary of Thomas Potts, 1855-58
- pt. Three Still Out in the Open: Eleven essays by Thomas Potts, 1882-88
- Old Times [A forest ramble] (1887)
- Out in the Open: A countryman in town (1887-88)
- Out in the Open [On humblebees] (1886)
- Out in the Open: The white-eye, or blight bird (1882)
- Out in the Open: The kea, or sheep-killer (1883)
- Out in the Open: Lost game (1886)
- Out in the Open [On Maori] (1883)
- Out in the Open [On rata] (1885)
- Out in the Open: The pulse of spring (1885)
- Out in the Open [A countryman in the Chathams] (1888)
- Out in the Open: Stock in the Chathams (1888).
- ISBN:
- 9781988592428
- 1988592429
- OCLC:
- 1158192516
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