Samuel D Carpenter

About

My name is Samuel Carpenter.

I was awarded a PhD in history by Massey University, New Zealand in 2021. My PhD research was supported by a Marsden trust scholarship.

My PhD reconstructed mentalities and political argument concerning New Zealand’s constitutional evolutions, late 1830s-1860s, in both European and indigenous (Maori) worlds. Methodologically the work reflected ‘Cambridge School’ and ‘New Imperial History’ priorities. It formed part of a wider Marsden-funded project at Massey University, led by Prof Michael Belgrave, which explored the extent to which a civil society was created or imagined that  transcended the scattered European settlement and different Maori polities, allowing the wars of the 1860s to be seen as ‘civil wars’.

This website is now a blog page for my ongoing research and thinking, which generally looks to situate New Zealand history in a broad milieu of global history influenced particularly by the Pacific and the British world and empire.

7 responses to “About”

  1. Hi Samuel I’m an oral historian and archivist. In my work I have come across rich sources of archives and local histories on different perspectives of historical events. In talking with history teachers about this I found they are interested in being able to use such resources but access is not easy.
    A group of us – myself, a retired history teacher, local historian and genealogist, got together and, with the help of two software developers, have been working on a website design that incorporates plans, archives, content and lesson plans for teachers. We decided to focus on one area to start with, Lower Hutt.
    We are looking for content specialists who can work with a course designer to write about the settlement of Lower Hutt from different perspectives.
    Your MA thesis gave a very good overview of the British colonisation of Aotearoa NZ. Could help me with content on the pros an cons of British colonisation?
    So you know I am in discussions with Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Toa about content from their perspectives.
    Regards Jennie
    m 027 419 7970

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  3. G’day Sam,

    I just came across your blog.

    I was historian on Maori land law for Crown Law office in the 1990s/early 2000s (along with Bob Hayes and Don Loveridge).

    I greatly enjoyed your paper, “The Native Land Laws: global contexts of tenure reform, individual and collective agency, and the structure of ‘the Māori economy’ – a ‘landless brown proletariat’?

    Paul

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  4. Hi Sam, cousin Robyn Wynne-Lewis here, direct descendant of both Henry Williams and James Busby. We met briefly at the Williams family reunion in 2023, after your talk. (I don’t expect you to remember that!) Please forgive me contacting you this way, but I don’t have your email address.

    Since the reunion I have been actively involved with other family members in semi-regular zoom calls where we aim to educate ourselves on various matters to do with Te Tiriti. For our next zoom call in Sept/Oct, we would like to tackle the ‘Land Back’ topic. In particular, we are seeking input from someone who has knowledge about how land was acquired from Maori by the Williams families, any ‘issues’ past or present in relation to that land aquisition, and if there are any examples of land being returned. Is this topic ‘in your wheelhouse’? And if not, can you suggest others we might approach? Happy to continue the conversation by email.

    I understand how busy and in demand you must be, so ‘no’ is also a perfectly acceptable response!

    Ngā mihi, Robyn

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