Wilkinson, James Frisby (Lieutenant, b.1836 - d.1882)

Collection relating to the New Zealand Wars service of Private (later Lieutenant) James Frisby Wilkinson, Taranaki Military Settlers, Manawatu-Wanganui, 1865. Collection consists of handwritten letters to his sister Sophia, his cousin Tom, and his mother and father during the period of the Second Taranaki War. The letters include accounts of Wilkinson's travel up the Wanganui River, his provisioning, his interactions with Maori groups who had allied with the Colonial Government, and with Maori rebels. His descriptions of interactions with Maori rebels include skirmishes, defences of redoubts, and Koreroa [negotiations]. Wilkinson also describes a number of incidents of friendly fire; one between a group of bushrangers and allied combatants, another between two Waikato men discharging their revolvers.

These letters were originally written on bifolia pages of a book, but later removed; as a result the letters may not be ordered sequentially. A printed transcript has been placed with the collection to assist with ease of reading.