ISBN 978-0-473-31446-0

Nineteen untold stories from Russell's past.

324 pages. A5 format. Indexed with References and Bibliography.

Unavailable. Out of Print.

Contents

The Socabaya, the Sack of Russell and a Curious Case of Copper Bolts: The remarkable story of the Socabaya, of the flagpole chopped down and the return of copper, stolen when Russell was sacked and burnt.

The Forgotten Flagpoles of Russell: Two extra flagpoles, long forgotten, were on Te Maki/Flagstaff Hill. This is their stories.

The Story of the old Cannon: The interesting history of the cannon on the Russell waterfront.

The Trypot’s Story: Traces the history of an old trypot taken to various whaling stations around The Bay and ending up at Whangamumu, or was it Whangaruru?

The Wreck of the Whaleship Hope: The forgotten story of the wreck of the whaleship Hope and of the machinations to get access to her salvaged cargo of oil.

The Morgan and the Big Fight: Relates the Big Fight that occurred on Russell Beach in the summer of 1852.

The Drawing by Joseph Ray: The background story to a previously unrecognised drawing of Russell in the 1855 journal of whaleman Joseph Ray.

The Prince Edward of Mangonui: The story of one of New Zealand's first whaleships.

The Tragedy of the Tauranga: The tale of the wreck of the screw steamer Tauranga and the tragic loss of life while en route to Russell.

Murder on the wharf: Narrates the murder of a whaleman on Russell wharf and the subsequent trial and the execution of the killer.

Whaling Disaster at the Bay of Islands: Seven local men from Te Rawhiti lost their lives when out hunting whales. The story of that tragedy.

The ‘Inhuman Captain Reed’: The brutal treatment of his crew by a whaling captain. Accused at Russell of murder on the 'High Seas' he was taken to trial at Auckland.

The Forgotten Whaleship: The whaling voyages of the Russell whaleship the Magellan Cloud.

The forlorn voyage of the Christine: The last New Zealand whaleship to go whaling. Chartered by Cook Brothers of Whangamumu fame.

The Whaling Earles. A Love Story: James Earle and Honor Matthews are one of the most famous whaling couples from the heroic whaling era. They sailed together on the whaleship Charles W Morgan. The story of their New Zealand connection and how they met at Russell.

What’s in a Photo?: A detailed look at one of the very few surviving photographs of whaleships off Russell town.

The Whaleboat Tutanekai: The forgotten story and the past lives of the old whaleboat on display at the Russell Museum.

Chasing the White Whale: How Oscar winner Stacy Woodard came to be filming old style whaling from an open boat at Whangamumu in 1933.

Epilogue: Russell, The Hellhole of the Pacific?: Was Russell ever called the 'Hellhole of the Pacific' in her famous old days? A search for when the term first appears as a description of Russell.