Dr Jennifer Ashton: Charlotte Badger, George Bruce and the making of history

At first appearances, Charlotte Badger and George Bruce share a similar history. After being transported to New South Wales in the early years of penal settlement, they separately washed up at the Bay of Islands, living under the protection of the same rangatira, Te Pahi, in the same year, 1806. Yet, what we know about them and their experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand differs because of the records they did, and didn’t, leave behind.

This talk looks at the contrasting histories of these two characters, how they developed and how what we know about Badger and Bruce reflects, not just the history of the early contact period in the north, but the way in which our understanding of the past itself is made.

Jennifer Ashton is an Auckland-based writer and editor. In 2012 she completed a PhD at the University of Auckland. In 2022, her book Thief, Convict, Pirate, Wife: The Many Histories of Charlotte Badger was published by Auckland University Press.