Black Sheep

Host of Black Sheep William Ray recommends a new RNZ podcast for history fans, NZ Wars Collection - Kohikohinga o nga pakanga o Aotearoa. We’re bringing all our New Zealand Wars stories together in your favourite podcast app, with another chapter on the way. Each chapter zeroes in on one of the many wars, battles, and skirmishes that make up what are collectively known as the New Zealand Wars. Sea...

The founding father of West Auckland - Don Buck was notorious in the early 20th century for his hard drinking, hard living gum digging camp in the foothills of the Waitakere ranges. Black Sheep investigates the legend of this enigmatic and feared folk hero - the original Westie. Watch the video of Marianne Simpkins reading her poem The Ballad of Don Buck's Hill Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz...

“Oh Mummy save me from Dr Gray, because teacher says he’s coming today, and if I’m stupid he’ll take me away”. William Ray looks at the life and legacy of Dr Theodore Gray, a staunch eugenicists who was head of New Zealand's Mental Hospitals Department for 20 years. Further reading: Statement of Hilary Stace to the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care A Brief History of Disability in Aotearoa by Dr H...

In part two, we look at the years Elsdon Best spent living in Te Urewera, attempting to preserve knowledge he believed was on the brink of being lost forever, the remarkable relatioship he built with Tūhoe leaders, and how that relationship fell apart. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Described in his own time as "the white Tōhunga of Tuhoeland" and by some today as a "structural rascist" who "stole" knowledge, it's fair to say Elsdon Best is a controvesial character. In the first of a two part episode, Black Sheep traces the early life of this self-taught ethnologist. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

New Zealand's most awarded podcast is RNZ's own Black Sheep, and it's back with its 9th season. Hosted and produced by William Ray - he explores New Zealand history through the lens of real life, shady, controversial and sometimes downright villainous characters. Saturday Morning's own Susie Ferguson has even been typecast as a murderous Scottish villain in it. Susie and William discuss how the se...

In the second of Black Sheep's two-part episode on Elspeth Kerr, detectives unravel the mystery of 9-year old Betty Kerr's poisoning and uncover more potential victims of a beloved nurse, turned serial poisoner. The Trials of Nurse Kerr: The anatomy of a secret poisoner by Scott Bainbridge Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Elspeth Kerr was a beloved local nurse in 1930s Devonport, but when her husband died suddenly and her foster daughter fell into an inexplicable coma, locals discovered the shocking truth: Nurse Kerr was a serial poisoner. But more than 90 years later, elements of her crimes remain a mystery. In the first of a two part episode, Black Sheep investigates the chilling story. The Trials of Nurse Kerr:...

Black Sheep returns on Friday 30 January for its 9th season with a new cast of rogues, villains and controversial characters. Murderous nurses, foul-mouthed goldfield barkeepers, sly grogging kāuri gum dealers and more! Join William Ray as he looks at the darker side of New Zealand history. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We're ducking into your feed to bring you an episode of a new RNZ podcast: Kelly Tartlon's Final Treasure Hunt. This story has everything! Kidnapping, smuggling, scurvy, and imaginary islands full of Jewish gold... Make sure to follow Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt wherever you get your podcasts. To see more of Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt, visit the RNZ website here. Special than...

On 27 September 1974 New Zealanders woke to the news Dr Bill Sutch, a famous economist, historian, and former senior government official had been arrested and accused of spying for Soviet Russia. He was later found not guilty, but over the last 50 years, suspicion has swirled, and new evidence has been revealed. Check our RNZ's award Winning Podcast The Service for more about the history of the SI...

Freddie Angell was New Zealand's most notorious wildlife smuggler. His repeated attempts at stealing and exporting native wildlife in the 1990s, including Kea and Tuatara, made him all but a household name. Black Sheep speaks to documentary-maker Andy MacDonald about his extraordinary story. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Early NZ missionary Thomas Kendall arrived in London in 1820 with the Ngāpuhi Rangatira Hongi Hika. He would return to Aotearoa a year later with the first ever written dictionary of Te Reo Māori, a newly won clerical collar ...and more than 300 muskets. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Early Missionary Thomas Kendall facilitated the sale of hundreds of muskets to Ngāpuhi Māori, helping to enable the bloodiest wars in New Zealand history. But there's more to Kendall's story. He was instrumental in the transformation of Te Reo Māori into a written language, and became so fascinated by Māori spirituality that he (in his own words) "almost completely turned from a Christian to a Hea...

In the 1900s a series of lurid headlines were published in the New Zealand Truth about George Howe, a "Beastly Brothel-keeper" who pimped out underage girls from his shop on Wellington's Adelaide Road. But what Truth found most "beastly" about Howe, is that he was Chinese. Black Sheep looks at the case of George Howe, and the "editorial hate-crimes" of what was once NZ's most influential newspaper...

In 1892 a masked figure in a bizarre uniform began a 15 month crime spree, robbing people at gunpoint in and around New Plymouth. When he was finally arrested and unmasked, residents were dumbfounded to discovered the perpetrator was mild-mannered Robert Wallath - the teenage son of a local farmer and carpenter. Wallath, it turned out, had a deep fascination for highway criminals and at trial his...

"As morning dawned we stood and watched / That devastated scene / Where but a single yesterday / Had flourished Surafeen." In the final episode of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre of December 1918. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. T’was a never to be forgotten night The village was soon in flames The wallads knocked when sighte...

"They ​went ​out ​to ​this ​village, ​and ​they ​went ​through ​it ​with ​the ​bayonet.” In the second of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre of December 1918. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. “They ​got ​their ​heads ​together, ​the ​New ​Zealand and ​Australians, and they ​went ​out ​to ​this ​village ​and ​they ​went ​through ​...

“There was a time when I was proud of you men of the Anzac Mounted Division. I am proud of you no longer.” In the first of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. “There was a time when I was proud of you men of the Anzac Mounted Division. I am proud of you no longer. Today, I think you are nothing bu...

Black Sheep Season 8 is just around the corner with a whole new cast of controversial, villainous, or simply misunderstood figures from New Zealand history. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The last of the so-called 'lunatic asylums' closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. In this special crossover with the Nellie's Baby Podcast, William Ray and Kirsty Johnston look into their origins. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

From the 1840s onward, Frederick Maning would become an increasingly bitter and angry man who demonised Māori who opposed colonisation. So what explains this radical transition from a romantic early Pākehā settler? RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates. Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aotearoa, marrying a high-ranking Ngāpuhi woman, and writing two books filled with c...

Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aotearoa, he married a high-ranking Ngāpuhi woman, and wrote two books filled with romantic anecdotes of his time living alongside Māori. So why did so many of his private letters express such violent, racist attitudes towards Māori? RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates. Frederick Maning was one of the first Europeans to settle in Aote...

In the 1910s, Hjelmar Dannevill wowed high society with gripping tales of adventure as a medical researcher and journalist. But suspicions over her fantastical stories and insistence on wearing men's clothing saw her locked up as a German spy during WWI. RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates the mystery of "Dr Dannevill". Content Warning: This podcast includes discussion of suicide and self-harm...

In 1935, a series of extraordinary newspaper articles claimed a backyard inventor called Victor Penny was trying to build a Death Ray for the New Zealand government. The claims seem absurd... So why were they taken so seriously? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details