The Interpreter - The Biography of Richard 'Dicky' Barrett

This is a second-hand copy of the book The Interpreter - The Biography of Richard 'Dicky' Barrett by Angela Caughey. 

Condition: This is a used book in very good condition. The spine has light sun fading - see photos. The dust jacket has now been covered in a non-adhesive PVC cover for its own protection. This is simply folded in place and is easy to remove without damaging the jacket.

Publisher: David Bateman
Year: 1998
ISBN: 9781869533465
Format: Hardback with dustjacket
Pages: 296
Condition: Used (Very Good)

Barrett was born and raised in the slums of either Durham or Bermondsey, England He spent six years as a sailor and arrived in Taranaki from Sydney as a mate on the trading vessel Adventure in March 1828. He and captain John Agar "Jacky" Love established a trading post at Ngamotu (site of modern-day New Plymouth), trading muskets and trinkets for flax, maize, wheat and vegetables grown by local Te Atiawa Maori. The trading post attracted increasing numbers of passing ships.

Barrett picked up a rudimentary understanding of the Maori language, was given the name of Tiki Parete and married Rawinia, the daughter of a local chief.

In 1832 Barrett and his former crewmates (recalled as Akerau, probably Akers, Tamiriri, probably Wright, Kopiri probably Phillips, and Oliver in 1873) joined local Maori in the Otaka pa at Ngamotu (Moturoa) to aid their defence in the face of an attack by heavily armed Waikato Māori, firing on the invaders with three cannon, using nails, iron scraps and stones for ammunition. The siege lasted more than three weeks before the Waikato withdrew, leaving a battle scene strewn with bodies, many of which had been cannibalised. In June Barrett and Love migrated south with as many as 3000 Atiawa Māori.

In late 1833 or early 1834, Barrett and Love established a whaling station at Queen Charlotte Sound.