Abstract
Reframing the history of nineteenth-century New Zealand around the ocean and the maritime connections that were central to migration, warfare, economic life, and the development of communities, opens out and transforms our vision of the colonial past. Taking the ocean seriously – and recognising the crucial importance of shipping – returns New Zealand to the broader sets of connections that made and remade colonial life. Thus, ties back to Britain, trans-Tasman networks, and the links that reached out into the Pacific and Asia become more prominent elements in our understanding of colonisation.