Colonial game

Over in the Chimera forum the topic of a colonial NZ game came up again, and I suggested that opinions from newspaper archives might be a good way of briefing players on perspectives of the time.

I don’t have immediate plans to run a game like that, but I thought I’d start collecting material from around 1851 that might be useful when the game does come to pass. Turns out the Herald didn’t quite exist then, but one of it’s forerunners the Southern Cross did exist and was publishing in Auckland.

A great place to find historical newspaper is the National Library’s “Papers Past” website.

Here’s a quote on colonisation and race from an editorial in the Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 367, 3 January 1851, Page 3

I love the front pages of these old papers, they’re all advertising. And typically for stuff you’d never see in a paper today, like shipping and ironmongery. Like this:

Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 368, 7 January 1851, Page 1

And then the news itself is like one long rambling editorial.

I was starting to think there wouldn’t be letters, but I’ve found one under the title “original correspondence” in the paper above. Kind of funny, given what the Chancery is today:

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]I love the front pages of these old papers, they’re all advertising. And typically for stuff you’d never see in a paper today, like shipping and ironmongery. Like this:

Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 368, 7 January 1851, Page 1[/quote]Brown & Campbell sure had their fingers in a lot of pies.

Wow. That is such a great idea for reference material for a game of that setting. Fascinating!