What do you think?
Rate this book
The Stolen Island
‘What had happened to the stolen islanders? Had any survived slavery?’
One day in 1863 a strange ship stopped at ‘Ata, a tiny island in the wild seas between Tonga and New Zealand, and sailed away with one hundred and forty-four men, women and children. The ‘Atans were never heard from again, and in Tonga their fate became the subject of legends and superstitions.
Uncovering the tragedy of ‘Ata takes Scott Hamilton on a journey to the kava circles and caves of Tonga and back to the streets of Auckland. The Stolen Island is a twenty-first century true sea story revealing slavers, mutinies, castaways, pirates and a cruel streak in Pacific history that is often overlooked but not forgotten.
One day in 1863 a strange ship stopped at ‘Ata, a tiny island in the wild seas between Tonga and New Zealand, and sailed away with one hundred and forty-four men, women and children. The ‘Atans were never heard from again, and in Tonga their fate became the subject of legends and superstitions.
Uncovering the tragedy of ‘Ata takes Scott Hamilton on a journey to the kava circles and caves of Tonga and back to the streets of Auckland. The Stolen Island is a twenty-first century true sea story revealing slavers, mutinies, castaways, pirates and a cruel streak in Pacific history that is often overlooked but not forgotten.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
112 pages
First published November 20, 2016
3 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Scott Hamilton
2 books2 followersScott Hamilton has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Auckland and has published books and essays about British socialism, Tongan art, kava drinking, and New Zealand history. He won the inaugural Auckland Mayoral Literary Grant in 2015 for his study of the city's Great South Road and wrote The Stolen Island with the help of a D'Arcy Literary Residency. He contributes regularly to the online arts journal Eyecontact and blogs at readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 4, 2017
Shock History: A sensationalist fictional horror story not to be taken seriously.
Scott Hamilton makes the claim that a New Zealand/Australia slave trade in the South Pacific existed in the early 1860’s. The tale revolves around the supposed capture and sale of 144 people at an unknown date in 1863 from the island of ‘Ata and the later resettlement of the remaining inhabitants on ‘Eua Island, south-east of Tongatapu. The small and remote island of ‘Ata is now part of the present day Kingdom of Tonga. The villain of the slaving tale is Captain Thomas James McGrath of the Hobart whaler, the Grecian. If the author is to be believed, McGrath resembles a dastardly pirate from his looks to his behaviour, having forsaken whaling for the more lucrative occupation of slave trading.
The author, Scott Hamilton, whose earlier research is into the New Left in post-war Britain, ventures for the first time into maritime history. This booklet is ‘shock history’ and is full of the errors made by an inexperienced author writing in a new field. His knowledge of nautical terminology is poor, for example he calls hatches ‘trapdoors’. Uncritically he accepts the 1981 version offered by H E Maude in Slavers in Paradise: the Peruvian Labour Trade in Polynesia, 1862-1864. This is the authoritative work on this brief era of Polynesian labour recruiting by the Peruvians.
Hamilton accepts Maude’s estimate that the 144 people on board the Peruvian barque, the General Prim which arrived in Callao on 19th July 1863 with 174 ‘recruits’, were from the island of ‘Ata. This is a calculation made by Maude as he was more certain that 30 of this group were from Niuafo’ou or Tin Can Island, guessing that the remainder came from ‘Ata. The captain claimed they were from the Frinately Islands. This strange name for a Pacific island arose, Maude believed through the Peruvian captain confusing it with the Friendly Islands, one of the former names for the Tongan archipelago. It was Maude who set the ‘Ata legend in motion by guessing the General Prim recruits were purchased from the Grecian. As Maude frequently points out, the Peruvian captains deliberately kept their recruiting locations secret for fear of competition.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of the 10th May, 1854, pg. 3, entitled ‘The Friendly Islands’ by C. Sr Julian gives the pre-Grecian raid population on ‘Ata as 159 Tongans. The King of Tonga had already indicated at this date an interest in resettling the population of ‘Ata or Christianising them. Less than ten years later the departure of 144 Polynesians would denude the island leaving behind approximately 15 presumably elderly or very young inhabitants and unsuitable labour recruits, to resettle on ‘Eua Island. Scott Hamilton lists this newspaper article in his further reading list but did not do the maths. The only other source of oral history is a brief quote from interviews with two ‘Atan adults who were school children at the time by the anthropologist Edward Gifford. These are not likely to be reliable memories but they add grist to Hamilton’s mill.
Scott Hamilton is well known for his inventive blogs. He has blogged extensively on his search for the ‘stolen island’ of ‘Ata. It is no surprise to find that Hamilton inserts himself into the ‘Atan tale, which becomes a long meandering account of his search for the descendants of the ‘Atan people who relocated to ‘Eua Island. He portrays himself as a ‘historical saviour’ for one particular family, whom today he claims still suffer from the stigma of having sold their relatives to blackbirders. He gives graphic descriptions of the difficulties of ‘doing history’ as a palangi in ‘Eua as the locals are less than forthcoming. He also got off sides with the relatives of Captain McGrath, whom initially were very co-operative, providing him with family photographs. Getting wind of the hatchet job being done on their ancestor, they stopped answering his emails (page 53). Hamilton makes no secret of his love for kava and alcohol and this book can be described as a deep look into a kava bowl or the bottom of many beer bottles in an ‘Eua hotel pub (page 74).
Scott Hamilton’s strong political bias towards left wing social criticism shines through and his limited historical lens ignores contemporary events in the Pacific and the turbulent wider Tongan history of the time. Captain McGrath is portrayed as one of many nasty exploitative colonials in the Pacific. Hamilton fails to consider that small remote islands like ‘Ata have limited resources and that there may be other explanations such as famine or illness for the reduction in the population. The dubious practices of one captain out of Hobart in an era where morals and standards were very different, does not reflect a large industry. Only one Tasmanian ship participated in what was touted to be a profitable business. It seems strange that no other colonial ships heard about this commercial opportunity and chose to participate in it. A great deal more evidence for a New Zealand slave trade is needed before the conclusion can be drawn that one existed.
The historical material the author has unearthed is slim, and in the main is from newspaper articles that a quick search of the internet brings up. The book is poorly referenced and presents no new material. There is certainly a need to revise and check Maude’s research now that so many previously unavailable sources can be accessed but Hamilton’s book falls far short in this respect. This book, ‘The Stolen Island’ on the purported blackbirder of ‘Ata should be treated with scepticism as a sensationalist fictional horror story, constructed on limited evidence and unreliable local legends.
Scott Hamilton makes the claim that a New Zealand/Australia slave trade in the South Pacific existed in the early 1860’s. The tale revolves around the supposed capture and sale of 144 people at an unknown date in 1863 from the island of ‘Ata and the later resettlement of the remaining inhabitants on ‘Eua Island, south-east of Tongatapu. The small and remote island of ‘Ata is now part of the present day Kingdom of Tonga. The villain of the slaving tale is Captain Thomas James McGrath of the Hobart whaler, the Grecian. If the author is to be believed, McGrath resembles a dastardly pirate from his looks to his behaviour, having forsaken whaling for the more lucrative occupation of slave trading.
The author, Scott Hamilton, whose earlier research is into the New Left in post-war Britain, ventures for the first time into maritime history. This booklet is ‘shock history’ and is full of the errors made by an inexperienced author writing in a new field. His knowledge of nautical terminology is poor, for example he calls hatches ‘trapdoors’. Uncritically he accepts the 1981 version offered by H E Maude in Slavers in Paradise: the Peruvian Labour Trade in Polynesia, 1862-1864. This is the authoritative work on this brief era of Polynesian labour recruiting by the Peruvians.
Hamilton accepts Maude’s estimate that the 144 people on board the Peruvian barque, the General Prim which arrived in Callao on 19th July 1863 with 174 ‘recruits’, were from the island of ‘Ata. This is a calculation made by Maude as he was more certain that 30 of this group were from Niuafo’ou or Tin Can Island, guessing that the remainder came from ‘Ata. The captain claimed they were from the Frinately Islands. This strange name for a Pacific island arose, Maude believed through the Peruvian captain confusing it with the Friendly Islands, one of the former names for the Tongan archipelago. It was Maude who set the ‘Ata legend in motion by guessing the General Prim recruits were purchased from the Grecian. As Maude frequently points out, the Peruvian captains deliberately kept their recruiting locations secret for fear of competition.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of the 10th May, 1854, pg. 3, entitled ‘The Friendly Islands’ by C. Sr Julian gives the pre-Grecian raid population on ‘Ata as 159 Tongans. The King of Tonga had already indicated at this date an interest in resettling the population of ‘Ata or Christianising them. Less than ten years later the departure of 144 Polynesians would denude the island leaving behind approximately 15 presumably elderly or very young inhabitants and unsuitable labour recruits, to resettle on ‘Eua Island. Scott Hamilton lists this newspaper article in his further reading list but did not do the maths. The only other source of oral history is a brief quote from interviews with two ‘Atan adults who were school children at the time by the anthropologist Edward Gifford. These are not likely to be reliable memories but they add grist to Hamilton’s mill.
Scott Hamilton is well known for his inventive blogs. He has blogged extensively on his search for the ‘stolen island’ of ‘Ata. It is no surprise to find that Hamilton inserts himself into the ‘Atan tale, which becomes a long meandering account of his search for the descendants of the ‘Atan people who relocated to ‘Eua Island. He portrays himself as a ‘historical saviour’ for one particular family, whom today he claims still suffer from the stigma of having sold their relatives to blackbirders. He gives graphic descriptions of the difficulties of ‘doing history’ as a palangi in ‘Eua as the locals are less than forthcoming. He also got off sides with the relatives of Captain McGrath, whom initially were very co-operative, providing him with family photographs. Getting wind of the hatchet job being done on their ancestor, they stopped answering his emails (page 53). Hamilton makes no secret of his love for kava and alcohol and this book can be described as a deep look into a kava bowl or the bottom of many beer bottles in an ‘Eua hotel pub (page 74).
Scott Hamilton’s strong political bias towards left wing social criticism shines through and his limited historical lens ignores contemporary events in the Pacific and the turbulent wider Tongan history of the time. Captain McGrath is portrayed as one of many nasty exploitative colonials in the Pacific. Hamilton fails to consider that small remote islands like ‘Ata have limited resources and that there may be other explanations such as famine or illness for the reduction in the population. The dubious practices of one captain out of Hobart in an era where morals and standards were very different, does not reflect a large industry. Only one Tasmanian ship participated in what was touted to be a profitable business. It seems strange that no other colonial ships heard about this commercial opportunity and chose to participate in it. A great deal more evidence for a New Zealand slave trade is needed before the conclusion can be drawn that one existed.
The historical material the author has unearthed is slim, and in the main is from newspaper articles that a quick search of the internet brings up. The book is poorly referenced and presents no new material. There is certainly a need to revise and check Maude’s research now that so many previously unavailable sources can be accessed but Hamilton’s book falls far short in this respect. This book, ‘The Stolen Island’ on the purported blackbirder of ‘Ata should be treated with scepticism as a sensationalist fictional horror story, constructed on limited evidence and unreliable local legends.
March 18, 2017
A very easy read about the pacific slave trade, told through the story of a group of Tongans kidnapped for the guano industry in Peru in 1860. An eye opener into the blackbirding of the early 1800s. My ancestors worked in a sugar plantation in Fiji en route to NZ and would have worked alongside indentured labour from the rest of the pacific. At least in Fiji it was easier to get home than from Peru!
October 19, 2021
77 📘& 78📱🧑🏾🦱BLACKBIRDING🧑🏾🦱This is a thematic post rather than a geographic one, and it’s difficult for me to isolate as I have learned that many countries in the Pacific were devastated by this barbaric practice. I learnt about black-birding - the practice of coercing or forcibly kidnapping islanders to work in the sugar and cotton plantations of Queensland and Peru from many books, so I decided to take a deep dive into the topic, as confronting as it is. Published in 1978, The Forgotten People is an ediuted transcript of an an @abcaustralia radio program which interviewed descendants of the kanakas living in Far North Queensland, mostly around Mackay. Many of the people (mostly men) came from the #solomonislands or #vanuatu, and their populations were decimated. Published in2016, The Stolen Island: Searching for ‘Ata is a fascinating account of a group of islanders kidnapped from a remote island in #tonga who ended up in Peru, only to contract smallpox and die on another island in the Caribbean. Absolutely tragic. There are a few other books of note on this topic, but one cannot underestimate or comprehend the devastation that the dislocation of more than 60,000 people, over a 40-year period can have on the people, culture and region. Absolutely devastating. #🌏📚#readingworldtour2021 #readtheworld2 #worldliterature #readingworldliterature #reading #readingwomenchallenge #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #bookstagram #booklover #book #booknerd #bibliophile #travel #travelogue #fiction #nonfiction #nonfictionreads #travelbooks #ayearofreadingaroundtheworld #blackbirding
July 5, 2023
The Stolen Island: Searching For 'Ata by Scott Hamilton
I wish to say thank you to Scott Hamilton for sharing the result of his tireless work and research which he carried over many years. Absolutely fantastic read. One of my sister-in-laws is from Eua and some of my blood relatives live in Eua. Needless to say that there are rumours which in a way told over time and had moulded itself as part of the historical folktales. Thank you once again for your hard work ❤
I wish to say thank you to Scott Hamilton for sharing the result of his tireless work and research which he carried over many years. Absolutely fantastic read. One of my sister-in-laws is from Eua and some of my blood relatives live in Eua. Needless to say that there are rumours which in a way told over time and had moulded itself as part of the historical folktales. Thank you once again for your hard work ❤
May 11, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Very informative, especially blackbirding of Tongans in the late nineteenth century. Very informative. Well researched.
June 17, 2017
I picked this short book up on a trip to Wellington. I loved it on the first read while there and loved it even more on a second reading. It's a surprisingly complex book that works on a number of levels.
First, it tells the grim story about the island of 'Ata and the tragic fate of many of its nineteenth century inhabitants. This compelling story alone is worth the read. Second, the book is a fantastic example of place-based research: how a small, particular spot can have rich, complex histories that interweave with global narratives. Finally, it's also a book that, due to the self-reflexive and thoughtful approach of the author, is as much about the twists and turns of research, and how to to research well, as it is about the main story. We get a sense of his obsession in tracking down the details of 'Ata that hits up against the interests and lives of the descendants of those from the island, giving the narrative a further layer in its link to the present.
First, it tells the grim story about the island of 'Ata and the tragic fate of many of its nineteenth century inhabitants. This compelling story alone is worth the read. Second, the book is a fantastic example of place-based research: how a small, particular spot can have rich, complex histories that interweave with global narratives. Finally, it's also a book that, due to the self-reflexive and thoughtful approach of the author, is as much about the twists and turns of research, and how to to research well, as it is about the main story. We get a sense of his obsession in tracking down the details of 'Ata that hits up against the interests and lives of the descendants of those from the island, giving the narrative a further layer in its link to the present.
October 21, 2025
Very very interesting story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews