Edward Robert Tregear, 1846–1931

Abstract

Like other figures in the literary history of colonial New Zealand, Edward Robert Tregear was an all-rounder whose very versatility probably prevented him from excelling in any one genre. In his lifetime, he was best known as a civil servant who championed the cause of labour. Yet Tregear also harboured serious literary aspirations, trying his hand at fiction, poetry, comparative linguistics, anthropology and political analysis. Some of this — notably the controversial Aryan Maori — is now valued only by the historically curious. Still, Tregear’s efforts in producing his Comparative Dictionary were little short of Herculean, while the remainder of his writing is always lucid and interesting, even though much of it is doomed to remain locked in the cabinets of archaeological curiosity. Tregear was born in Southampton, England, in 1846, the eldest child and only son of seafarer (and eventually captain) William James Tregear and Mary Norris. Edward was an intelligent and imaginative child, who immersed himself in the classics and in Celtic and Nordic mythology. His enthusiasm for Northern Europe was fuelled by his Cornish ancestry. Though educated initially at boarding school, Tregear’s formal education was set back by financial disaster. In 1858, Captain Tregear was bankrupted, probably owing to gambling debts, and the family disaster was compounded the following year when he died of typhoid in Bombay. Four years later, in 1863, the teenage Tregear, his mother and his two sisters sailed to New Zealand, settling first in Warkworth and later in Auckland. In 1867, Tregear enlisted in the Auckland Engineer Volunteers for the Bay of Plenty campaign in the New Zealand wars. Decorated for bravery, he then worked throughout the Central North Island as a gold-digger, surveyor, and later Sub-Inspector in the Armed Constabulary. During these years, Tregear spent much time in the company of Māori, and he soon became fluent in the Māori language. Tregear’s itinerant lifestyle lasted until about 1875, although his itinerancy did not prevent him from literary projects. His most celebrated poem, ‘Te Whetu Plains’, was written during this period, although it remained unpublished until much later. ‘Gold’, however, was published in the New Zealand Herald in 1871 as the winner of a poetry prize offered by the Thames Mechanics Institute. Couched in the format of a dream poem, ‘Gold’ reads