5 things you might not know about William Fox

1. He served as New Zealand's Premier four times.
2. In an 1850 publication, he described Auckland as 'altogether rotten, delusive, and Algerine'.
3. He is widely credited for ensuring New Plymouth became a separate province, rather than part of Auckland.
4. He predicted that Wanganui would ultimately become identified with Wellington.
5. Aged 80, he climbed Mount Taranaki, to demonstrate the benefits of a temperate lifestyle.

Image: William Fox, Bird's eye view of Waitoi [Waitohi], 1848. Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference number: C-013-001. Image from the Timeframes website.

Annie, get your gun

This is one of my favourite works from the Alexander Turnbull Library's Drawings, Paintings and Prints collection - a small (67 x 90 mm) watercolour by Charles Heaphy, from 1853.

I can remember seeing this little fragment of a work on a tutorial visit to the Turnbull when I was studying art history at Victoria. I was really taken by its oddity - the fierce little woman with her shotgun, the woman in white, looking like a sacrificial virgin, and the buttoned-up lady with the big hankie. I've wondered since then - what were they warding off?

Image: Charles Heaphy (1820-1881) '[Shooting party], Mansion House, Kawau [Island]', 1853. Watcolour. Collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference number: A-164-046.