The family of the whaler Jacky Guard were among a group of Pākehā captured by Māori in May 1834 after the barque Harriet ran aground on the Taranaki coast.
Harriet Affair
Events In History
Articles
A frontier of chaos?
In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents. Read the full article
Page 6 - The Harriet affair
The rescue of Betty Guard and her two children from Ngāti Ruanui in the spring of 1834 involved the first use of British troops on New Zealand soil.
Biographies
Betty Guard is believed to be the first European woman to settle in the South Island. In 1834 she was taken hostage by a group of Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui Māori before being rescued several months later by her husband Jacky and a detachment of 60 men from the 50th Regiment.
Main image: Betty Guard
In 1830 Australian-born Elizabeth (Betty) Guard – shown here in a shadow portrait – married Jacky Guard, a convict who, after serving his sentence, became a seafarer, whaler and trader.
