176 The Whaling Trade in old New Zealand

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The Whaling Trade in Old New Zealand is a 1965 historical book by L. S. Rickard (published by Minerva Ltd, Auckland) that chronicles the rise, operations, and social impact of the country's first major commercial export industry.

Whaling was New Zealand’s earliest Pākehā (European) commercial export engine in the late 18th and 19th centuries, driven by global demand for whale oil (used for industrial lubrication and urban lighting) and baleen/whalebone (used similarly to modern plastics).

While the trade initially relied on pelagic (deep-sea, ship-based) hunting by American, British, and Australian vessels, it evolved by the late 1820s into shore-based bay whaling stations (such as those in Cook Strait, Cloudy Bay, and Preservation Inlet).

Shore stations required land, provisions, and local labor. This led to close economic and social integration with Māori, including trade for goods like muskets, intermarriage with women of mana to secure land access, and the establishment of foundational mixed-race coastal communities (giving rise to prominent early New Zealand family names like the Guards, Heberleys, and Barretts).

First edition 1965, in excellent condition. A5 sized hardback with excellent dustjacket.