Fox Boy, The

“There had been a history of mutual kidnapping between the Maori and the English people in New Zealand dating back to the 1760s. In 1869, after an English defeat in battle in the Taranaki forest, one more Maori boy, aged five or six, was captured. This little boy was to be adopted by the Prime Minister and educated to become a lawyer and an ‘English gentleman’.” “The small captive was photographed, just a few days after his kidnapping, in a studio in the town of Wanganui. He is wearing a fine English suit and boots; there is a vase of flowers and a weighty book on the ebony stand beside him. As Peter Walker comments, ‘Someone has combed the boy’s hair and taught him to put one hand in his trouser pocket. He looks as if he’s seen a ghost.'”.

“It was Walker’s question, ‘Well, I wonder what happened to you?’ which set him off on this remarkable quest. Not only did he follow Ngatau Omahuru (or little ‘William Fox’) out of the forest and into the drawing rooms of Wellington and London, but he found himself on a personal journey which converged unexpectedly with the material he uncovered. Walker learned that this Maori boy, about whom perhaps ten lines had ever been published in the history books, played a crucial role in New Zealand’s history. He also learned about Maori ghosts and some very eccentric English scoundrels.”