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    From Meteren to captivity and beyond, surrender and imprisonment of 2 New Zealand entrenching battalion during the First World War : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 28th March 2027
    (Massey University, 2025) Redpath, Andrew Stuart
    Many Historians have written extensively about the key campaigns involving soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Names such as Passchendaele, Gallipoli and Le Quesnoy have made an indelible importance in the mythic narrative of what is now known as the Anzac spirit. This is a term that has given rise to the notion of comradeship, bravery in the face of adversity and a never-give-in attitude. Historians, however, have largely remained silent on the 210 prisoners of war taken following the Battle of Meteren that took place during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. While Meteren may not meet the criteria of a decisive or strategically significant battle like some of the major engagements of the First World War. It represents a unique piece of New Zealand’s military history. It marked the largest single surrender of New Zealand troops during the war These men due to varying factors, were forced to surrender their position and enter the German Prisoner of War system. This thesis seeks to tell their stories, as members of 2nd New Zealand Entrenching Battalion, before, during and after captivity. It will theorise as to why they are not remembered as well as their comrades in arms.
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    The Carnegie factor : American philanthropic power in New Zealand (1928-1941) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master's in Arts in History at Massey University, Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 25th February 2027
    (Massey University, 2025) Latham, Ian Ross
    In 1928, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the philanthropic institution established by the U.S. billionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie, sent an emissary to New Zealand to explore opportunities to expand his philanthropy in education and learning. The former head of Columbia Teachers College in New York, Dean James E. Russell, reported to Frederick Paul Keppel, the Carnegie president, that New Zealand’s university colleges were under developed, under-supported, and struggled to provide positive learning environments for undergraduate students. Following these discoveries, Carnegie invested almost $5 50,000 (approximately $1 8.3 million in New Zealand dollars today) in educational research, library development, and travel to the United States for promising New Zealand professionals and academics. But the grants were not scholarships or endowments. With insights provided by trusted advisors, Keppel developed his initiatives entirely in New York. To implement them in New Zealand, he worked with university leaders, administrators, librarians, government officials, and other contacts. If New Zealanders agreed to the conditions and mandates that Carnegie imposed, funding likely would be provided. This expression of philanthropic power, carefully controlled by Carnegie, was welcomed in New Zealand: philanthropy of this kind – and on this scale – had not been experienced before, and it arrived unexpectedly at a difficult time in New Zealand’s history, made worse by the Depression. But while officials welcomed Carnegie’s interventions and much-needed funds, they did not do so unconditionally, pointedly resisting conditions they could not accept, or meet. Nonetheless, Carnegie created change that persists in New Zealand today. This study of that history was developed through primary source, archival records in New York and New Zealand, which documented the relationships that Keppel and his colleagues established with New Zealand’s educational, library, and governmental leaders.
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    Forgotten aviators : the journey, experiences and contributions of Māori airmen to 75 (NZ) Squadron during the Second World War : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (History), College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University. EMBARGOED until 11th July 2026
    (Massey University, 2025) Harvey, Taine
    This thesis examines the journeys, experiences and contributions of a group of 29 Māori airmen who flew in various capacities with 75 (NZ) Squadron. It first explores Māori enlistment in the military prior to the Second World War. It looks at the early Māori pioneers in aviation and how they paved the way for Māori airmen joining at the beginning of the Second World War. It argues that the Māori War Effort Organisation played a critical role in Māori recruitment at the dawn of the Second World War, but much of the focus lay in recruiting men into the 28th (Māori) Battalion. While the ranks of the battalion began to fill, a small group of Māori men chose to begin the long journey towards joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force. This thesis follows their experiences at various training schools in Canada and New Zealand, where they became skilled in their respective trades. After training, the airmen moved to the United Kingdom to begin preparations for joining an operational squadron. These men would join 75 (NZ) Squadron at various times throughout the Second World War. This thesis details their operational sorties with the squadron and their experiences while on base. It explores the broader picture of the European theatre. It will also examine their post-war lives and reintegration into civilian life and argues that policies concerning returned servicemen were applied unevenly and did not honour the contributions of these Māori airmen.
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    A history of the development of table tennis (ping pong) in New Zealand c. 1890 – 1939 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 12th February 2027.
    (Massey University, 2024) Ngo, Song Ze (Amos)
    This thesis is a study of the history of table tennis (ping pong) in New Zealand from c. 1890 to 1939. Table tennis has a long history in New Zealand and was one of many sports that thrived and established an enduring foothold in the country’s sporting world during the interwar period. Its history, however, has not been extensively recorded. Moreover, scholarly literature on the history of table tennis remains scarce. The period between c. 1890 and 1939 saw table tennis become a popular sport at both recreational and competitive level. This thesis investigates what factors helped and what factors hindered the development of table tennis in New Zealand. In doing so, it also provides insights into the place of so-called “minor sports” in New Zealand’s sporting history. Through a detailed examination of local newspapers and periodicals, this thesis examines the different perceptions of table tennis within society. Beyond its characterisation as a sport, this research explores other interpretations and expressions of table tennis, particularly its uptake as a social and recreational activity within New Zealand society. Through investigating recreational forms of participation and engagement with table tennis, this thesis identifies constituencies sometimes overlooked in the current historiography of sport in New Zealand. In doing so, it provides a more complete picture of New Zealanders’ relationship with sport and sporting activities.
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    Colonial families in motion : tracing the Nelson New Zealand Company Assisted Emigrants, 1810-1910 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 1 December 2026.
    (Massey University, 2024-12-19) Garside, Susan Jane
    The New Zealand Company’s assisted emigrants who arrived in the first stage of organized British colonization of Aotearoa play an emblematic role in many accounts of this country’s national history, as the founders of early colonial communities. While their arrival as part of a scheme inspired by Edward Gibbon Wakefield’s theories is well documented, how their lives later unfolded is much less clear. Existing historiography seldom challenges a widely held popular view of them as a relatively homogenous group of ‘labourers’ who became foundational ‘settlers’ in a New Zealand Company colony. This thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of nineteenth-century migration from Europe and the colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand by examining the experiences of more than 3000 assisted emigrants who arrived in the Nelson New Zealand Company colony, from 1841-44. It identifies their origins, explores how they came to emigrate, and follows them to the end of their lives, tracing their movements from Nelson to other parts of New Zealand, and beyond. It explores patterns of migration and mobility and applies a range of considerations in assessing the emigrants' experiences, and their success or otherwise. As many of the New Zealand Company’s assisted emigrants were too poor to be visible in many historical sources, genealogy research methods, including the use of commercial genealogy databases and research tools, were incorporated into this research. Records from this ‘wild archive’ were pivotal in revealing the complexities of the Nelson emigrants' lives. In doing so, this research highlights how a substantial number were not in fact permanent 'settlers' in Nelson. The majority moved, sometimes within the province, sometime to places elsewhere in New Zealand, and one in five left New Zealand all together. Some did well in life, others not so well, and their social and financial position was often as fluid as their geographic location. Through the rich detail from the ‘wild archives,’ this research highlights how family networks and relationships were ultimately the most important influences across the emigrants’ vast range of outcomes.
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    British humanitarians and the founding of New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand. EMBARGOED to 14 November 2026.
    (Massey University, 2024) Wyatt, Philippa
    This thesis reconsiders the intentions of the British humanitarians who sought to implement a ‘new system’ of ‘humane colonisation’ inaugurated by the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. It addresses two principal questions. First, it attempts to understand how scholarly interpretations regarding humanitarians have changed over time and come increasingly to deny any protective intentions. It begins with Keith Sinclair who, although initially critical of humanitarians, came to greatly appreciate the importance and influence of humanitarian thinking and its Christian basis. It then follows the historiographical marginalization of humanitarianism during a period of intense historical revision in the 1970s and 1980s when humanitarianism was dismissed along with long–held ‘myths’ of racial harmony. ‘New Imperial History’, while reintegrating New Zealand with the empire, has likewise continued to present all humanitarians, particularly missionaries, as little more than active agents of imperialism. Secondly, this thesis seeks to provide a revision of that existing interpretation through a re–examination of the intentions of leading humanitarians in 1840. What that assessment reveals is that their goal was to create a more just and equal society, both at home and within the empire. This was understood to be necessary given the ‘crisis of civilization’ these men were then facing as evident in the growing poverty of the working poor within Britain and the increasing mistreatment and exploitation of indigenous peoples in the empire. It was the urgency created by that crisis that not only fueled a revival of faith but united these men as Christians, and led them to then seek to change their society and the empire as a whole through what was to be a radical programme of social and political reform based on ‘moral politics’. What they sought was to empower the poor and marginalized to better help themselves by assisting with their development to a position of ‘social equality’ and independence through educational and social reforms. With regard to Māori, what that meant was implementing a programme of targeted assimilation that could equip them with the education and skills they needed to compete more equally with Pākehā, while maintaining that which was important to their culture and identity, particularly their language. Securing the independence and greater protection of the vulnerable both at home and abroad was also understood to be dependent on securing their greater legal equality and civil rights, and what was a movement inspired by Christian faith and ‘love’ in turn became a civil rights movement that eventually sought to achieve in New Zealand what these men called ‘amalgamation’: the peaceful union of the two races on the basis of a shared faith and equal rights and laws. This was the great hope of the ‘new system’ of ‘humane colonization’ that came to be first attempted in New Zealand. It was also the hope of many Māori leaders, who likewise understood the Treaty to have created a union based on ‘one faith, one love, one law’.
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    Indigenous and settler interactions with forests in New Zealand c. 1840-1874 : a case study of Wairarapa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University, Manawatū Campus, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 28th January 2026
    (Massey University, 2024) Ashworth, Jamie Aoife Glyndŵr
    Throughout history, forest management and cultivation have been intrinsic parts of land use across many cultures. With particular reference to Wairarapa, this investigation specifically encompasses the differences in silvicultural interactions between tangata whenua and Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand between 1769 and 1874. Drawing on archival materials, contemporary reports in newspapers, and memoirs, this thesis uses comparative and qualitative methods to assess the use of forest land by Māori and colonial groups, the differences in approach between these groups; the effects that their differing silvicultural methods had on the environments in which they operated; and the extent to which the 1874 New Zealand Forests Act might be regarded as evidence of the emergence of a 'conservation ethic' among Pākehā. Reflecting on primary evidence concerning the Māori experience of land resource colonisation in New Zealand forests, this thesis concludes that prior to contact with Europeans, there existed a distinct ‘conservation ethic' in Māori society regarding forest management. Between 1769 and 1874, however, this ‘conservation ethic’ experienced significant challenges, conflicting with Eurocentric forest management methods centred on clear-felling with a view to afforestation by exotic hardwoods, crops, and grasses. Accordingly, Māori impacts on New Zealand forest management during this period were characterised by efforts to move toward traditional forest management, whereas Pākehā forestry development policies were mainly motivated by colonialism. With reference to Wairarapa, it is argued that in the initial period of Pākehā settlement after 1840, European settlers, squatters, and renters needed to recognise and to some degree adopt Māori approaches to forest management. Once Crown purchases became more extensive in the region, however, Wairarapa’s forests were increasingly viewed as an obstacle to ‘development,’ resulting in their destruction by European landholders. However, while much of Wairarapa's Māori-owned forest land was alienated and deforested after 1853, Māori continued wherever possible to maintain their traditional practices in forestry and actively engaged in legal processes to protect their interests.