Extracts from the Dunmore Medal award ceremony address.
This month, I thought I would share extracts from my address at the award ceremony of the Dunmore Medal which was presented to me late last year by the French Ambassador Madame Laurence Beau.
I am deeply honoured to accept this award and at the same time I have to say, somewhat embarrassed to be included in the ranks of the outstanding scholars and academics who have preceded me.
I should take this opportunity to thank those many people who encouraged and helped me in my research endeavours – especially in my writing Navigators and Naturalists - French exploration of the South Seas & New Zealand (1769 -1824).
I owe of course a great deal to Professor John Dunmore, this country’s true pathfinder in the history of the French exploration of the Pacific. Though, of course, John Dunmore was born in France, he always saw himself as a New Zealander. He was committed to and firmly believed in the possibilities of the New Zealand project. This commitment was underscored by his biography of Norman Kirk, Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 to 1974, whom he greatly admired and his vision of nationhood he shared.
Sadly, and I guess surprisingly, given his influence on my work, I did not have the privilege of meeting him but we did correspond.
The reason I first wrote to him related to my research on Marion Dufresne and in particular the tragic killing of Marion and 24 of his men at the Bay of Islands in June 1772. This is in many ways is the centrepiece of my book.
When I began this project, I accepted without question the theory first proposed in 1991 that Marion’s death, unfortunate as it was, was very much of his own making, brought on by his insensitive actions in violating tapu. As the theory was perfectly attuned to the emerging zeitgeist of our times, it was readily accepted not just by historians and academics in this country but around the world – even in France.
But, after undertaking my own research, I concluded it didn’t stack up. Marion Dufresne’s personal behaviour and his orders as expedition commander of the two French ships at the Bay of Islands did not accord with the theory at all. To the contrary, Marion, a quintessential, charismatic 18th Century man, a believer in the bon sauvage ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was sympathetic and sensitive in his dealings with Māori and deeply interested in their culture. My examination of the day-to-day records in the officers’ journals led me to conclude the true reason for this tragedy was much more complicated but at the same explicable enough in terms of human politics.
So, of all the factors in this affair – the prolonged length of stay of Marion’s ships, with 100 French sailors living and working ashore, the impacts on a subsistence economy, Marion’s personal popularity with the common people, destabilising to the social order, a volatile background of deep tribal rivalries and, finally, the actions of Marion’s direct subordinates rashly contravening his orders – of all of the parties involved, Marion was the most innocent. I refer to him as an ‘Enlightenment martyr’ deserving of a more worthy judgement.
This put me in a rather difficult position. How could I as a non-academic outsider challenge a theory which had become so widely and firmly accepted by the establishment as historical fact?
Then I thought of John Dunmore, realising he was not just a quotable authority but a still living person. So I wrote to him, enclosing a draft of my chapter ‘Why did Marion die?’ I promptly received a letter back, agreeing with my approach and encouraging me to proceed. When the book was published in late 2018, I carelessly overlooked sending Professor Dunmore a copy. However, six months later, I received another communication from him – this time by email.
"Dear Mr Lee
I recently completed reading your voluminous tome on the French voyages, and I would like to offer you my warmest congratulations on this impressive work. I was fortunate to find a copy in a local bookseller, as being somewhat retired these days. I was unaware of its publication until a few weeks ago, hence my slight delay in expressing my admiration for this work. Sincerely John Dunmore.”
John Dunmore, CNZM, Officer of the Legion of Honour, passed away on 1 May 2023 just short of 100 years. (MIKE LEE) www.mikelee.co.nz
