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South Pacific History

Latest Contributing Articles


 		New Zealand's First Frozen Meat Export
The combination of entrepreneurship and refrigeration technology led to the establishment of the export meat industry in New Zealand.
Gold Rush and The Life and Death of Mafeking
In 1900 two brothers discovered gold, founding Mafeking, Ladysmith and Spion Cop in the Gampian mountains of Australia. Now all that remains is a commemorative cairn.
Captain Cook Explores the Pacific
Until the late 18th century, most of the Pacific Ocean and the southern seas were mysteries to Europeans. In 1768, Captain James Cook set out to unlock their secrets.
When Did New Zealand Gain Sovereignty?
Today, New Zealand exists has a sovereign state, yet the date when it became a sovereign nation has long me disputed between 1857, 1907, 1947 and 1987.
Gatton Murders, 1898, Queensland, Australia
On Boxing Day 1898, one of Queensland's infamous murders took place near the small town of Gatton. A young man and his two sisters were brutally slain in a paddock.
Polish Children's 65th Reunion, Wellington, NZ
In 1944, 733 Polish children disembarked in Wellington. Some were accompanied by a parent; most left families behind in unmarked graves across Siberia and Central Asia.
History of Bungee Jumping
The first bungee jumpers, Pentecost Land Divers, used vines tied to their ankles and dived off towers made of sticks wearing nothing but a penis sheath called a nambus.
History of Moreton Island Whaling, Queensland
Whaling in Brisbane in 1950's was done from the Tangalooma Whaling Station on Moreton Island and ended in 1962. The whaling station is now the Tangalooma Island Resort.
European History of Queensland's Moreton Island
Moreton Island is a 200 square kilometre sand island that, with Stradbroke Island, is the protective buffer that forms Moreton Bay, in southern Queensland, Australia.
Tattoo Origins in the South Pacific
The practice of tattooing started with a myth, became a rite of passage, fell out of favor after the arrival of Christian missionaries and has been revived today.
Origins of the New Zealand Haka – Ka Mate
As with any highly regarded relic, the origins of the Haka lay in a confusing past of smoky fact and conflicting legend
History St Helena Island, Queensland, Australia
St Helena, a small island in Moreton Bay, was a prison during early European settlement in Brisbane, Queensland. Its convict ruins are now a tourist attraction.
Severing a Limb to Save a Life When Trapped
People severing limbs to free themselves after getting the limb stuck have been happening for while. An incident occurred in 1912 in central Queensland, Australia.
Naming Places
Across cultures people have given names to mountains, rivers, rock formations, clearings and settlements. What are the reasons for this human instinct to identify?
Australia's Role in the Abdication Crisis
The Australian Government also insisted Edward VIII abdicated rather than marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Early Timber Cruising in New Zealand Forests
As a young forest ranger and timber appraiser for the New Zealand Forest Service, Ken Seymour spent three years camping rough in the bush and at work sites and sawmills.
Gallipoli 1915
Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, ordered a bombardment of the Dardanelles in October 1914 - a month before the Ottoman Empire formally entered the war.
Edmund Barton Australia's First Prime Minister
Edmund Barton helped write the Australan Constitution before Ferderation, administered it as Prime Minister, and interpreted it as a High Court judge.
Nancy Bird Walton Australian Aviator
A love of life above the clouds took Nancy Bird Walton around the world, fulfilling dreams that began in childhood.
Book Review: Churchill and Australia
Winston Churchill's relationship with Australia was a troubled one from 1909, as a junior minister, to bitter disputes regarding Australian troops during World War II.
Gum Digging: Romantic History or Living Hell?
Like gold miners in Alaska, the men who harvested kauri gum were renowned for their ruggedness. But their independent life was a hard one.
Lessons in Surviving Recession
In economic downturn, history shows that government intervention may not be as important as personal initiative and the help of others in the community.
Henry Duke of Gloucester
Prime Minister Curtin believed appointing a member of the royal family would improve chances Britain maintained its commitment to Australia's defence during World War II.
Sugar Cane Expedition to Papua New Guinea, 1929
Dr. E.W. Brandes and his team ventured into unexplored jungles of New Guinea in 1929 on an expedition to find new disease-resistant varieties of sugar cane.
The Bombing of Darwin
The Bombing of Darwin was the largest attack against Australia by a foreign power, and the worst wartime disaster. It became known as Australia's Pearl Harbour.
Narrabri's Australia Telescope Compact Array
The Australia Telescope Compact Array at Narrabri is the first millimetre-wave interferometer in the Southern Hemisphere. It celebrated 20 years with an Open Day in 2008.
Parkes Radio Telescope
The Parkes Radio Telescope celebrates the 40th anniversary of the moon landing on 21 July 1969.
Bribie Island, QLD, Australia - Local History
Bribie Island was a fertile home to the Gubbi Gubbi Aboriginal people until European settlement in the 1860s. Today, Bribie is a Brisbane island tourist playground.
Pioneering Outback Northern Australia
In the 1880s pastoralists took ownership of the Victoria River area. Their goal was to make a profit. But the land was not easily owned and profit not so easily made.
Waltzing Matilda - Brand Marketing for Billy Tea
Australia's national song, Waltzing Matilda, was deployed by the makers of Billy Tea as a jingle, a neat piece of brand marketing. The lyrics were subtly altered to suit.
Waltzing Matilda Lyrics- Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson
Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson wrote Waltzing Matilda while holidaying at Dagworth Station near Winton, QLD. The origin of Waltzing Mathilda may have been based on fact.
Waltzing Matilda - Meaning of Australian Words
An explanation for people all over the world - and many new Australian citizens - who are baffled by the Australian slang and idiom used in the words to Waltzing Matilda.
Early Globalization in Oceania
By the time western adventurers such as Caroline Mytinger and Margaret Warner arrived in 1926, the once-isolated islands of Melanesia had already changed.
Crossing the Blue Mountains
Although beautiful, the Blue Mountains hindered the expansion of colonial Sydney. Many tried to cross but it was Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth who suceeded.
Australian National Flag
At Federation, Australia still did not have its own national flag, the Union Jack continued to fly. It was1953 before Australia's current flag was offically recognised.
Aotearoa New Zealand Maori Mythology
Like other indigenous cultures, New Zealand's first inhabitants, the Maori, drew on colourful mythology to explain the origins of their land.
Australian Aborigine Creation Myth
As in many ancient Creation stories, the Aboriginal myth details a sequence that begins with the coming of light and ends with the formation of male and female.
Edmund Banfield Was The Original Beachcomber
Banfield didn't want to follow the standard beat of society in the late 1800s, so with wife Bertha, moved onto deserted Dunk Island off the Queensland coast, Australia.
The Ghosts of Lady Elliot Island
A number of human tragedies have occurred on Lady Elliot Island, a coral island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. From these tragedies ghosts may now inhabit the island.
Human Migration and Colonisation
New Zealand is called the youngest country on earth because it was last to be colonised by humans at the extreme end of the land chain from the Old World, 800 years ago.
The First Fleets Provisions List
Find out the itemised account of the First Fleets provisions, in order to better understand the care that it took in setting up the first ever settlement of Australia.
The Fall of ANZAC Day
During the 60's, 70's and early 80's, ANZAC Day in Australia was regarded as a day of jingoism that had no place in the modern Australia
The Resurgence of ANZAC Day
Attitudes towards ANZAC Day began to change with a new generation and changes in world events.
Voyage of the First Fleet
Banished from their homeland in 1787, more than 750 of Britain's convicts were launched on a perilous sea voyage to the other side of the world.
Convict Transportation
The British government's decision to colonise a newly discovered land in the south began the transportation to Australia of convicts considered the dregs of society.
Influential Irish Australians
Nicole Kidman, John Curtin, Mel Gibson, Jim Stynes, Slim Dusty and Paul Keating are all influential Australians that have one thing in common: An Irish background.