Black Sheep

The shady, controversial and sometimes downright villainous characters of NZ history. Join William Ray as he explores history through the lens of Kiwi dirtbags in NZ's most awarded podcast.

Hosted and produced by William Ray

The words "Black Sheep" are displayed in a vintage font above a black sheep with a creepy red eye.

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All episodes:

Headhunter: the story of Horatio Robley (Part 1)

Season 4 / Episode 1
Horatio Robley witnessed the most famous battle of the New Zealand Wars, he fathered a child with the daughter of a sworn enemy, his sketching helped end a war, his book helped save the art of Maori tattooing... But mostly he's famous for his grotesque collection of nearly 40 human heads.
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Headhunter: the story of Horatio Robley (Part 2)

Season 4 / Episode 2
The story of Horatio Robley continues... How did a man once dubbed a "predator of culture" for his collection of preserved Māori heads become better known as a "friend of the Māori"?
Includes discussion of mokomokai
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Con-artist: the story of Amy Bock

Season 4 / Episode 3
Amy Bock was a criminal "supreme in her cleverness". Her most famous con saw her pose as a man for 15 weeks and marry the daughter of her landlord. Nobody has ever been able to explain what motivated her lifetime of fraud and scams.
Amy Bock poster by Massey University student Zoe McEwan

Traitor: the story of Patrick Heenan (Part 1)

Season 4 / Episode 4
What drove a boy from Reefton to turn against his comrades in World War Two? How was a former boxing and swimming champion recruited as an agent of Imperial Japan? It's a story still shrouded in mystery more than 70 years later.
A Japanese poster for a propaganda film poster for a propaganda film

Traitor: the story of Patrick Heenan (Part 2)

Season 4 / Episode 5
Why do some historians think an NZ-born traitor was "instrumental" in the Japanese victory in Singapore during WWII? And why is there such a mystery surrounding the Reefton boy who seemingly spied for the Japanese?
A Japanese poster for a propaganda film poster for a propaganda film

Soldier of Fortune: the story of Gustavus von Tempsky (Part 1)

Season 4 / Episode 6
He was larger than life, a warrior, artist and musician whose legend has only grown since his death during the New Zealand Wars in 1868.... but Gustavus von Tempsky had a dark side.
Gustavus von Tempsky in uniform

Soldier of Fortune: the story of Gustavus von Tempsky (Part 2)

Season 4 / Episode 7
In the second of Black Sheep's two part series, we find out how the Prussian mercenary Gustavus von Tempsky went from a relatively famous soldier to an uber-hero of New Zealand's colonial mythology.
Kennett Watkins’ romanticised painting of the death of Gustavus von Tempsky during a battle against Tītokowaru at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, 1868.

Swashbuckler: the story of Bully Hayes

Season 4 / Episode 8
Bully Hayes is famous as a charismatic "pirate" of the South Pacific. But most stories gloss over his more heinous crimes: Slavery, sexual assault and the brutal abuse of his crew.
Contains discussion of sexual assault
Bully Hayes poster by Massey University student Danielle Langley

Death Sentence: the story of NZ's executions

Bonus episode
The death penalty has started wars, won elections, outraged the population and ruined lives. Join William Ray for this live podcast recording at the Bread and Circus Festival in Christchurch with guests Dame Fiona Kidman, Vincent O'Malley and Mark Derby as they unpick the history of executions in New Zealand.
William Ray, Dame Fiona Kidman, Mark Deby and Vincent O'Malley speaking at the Bread and Circus World Busker's Festival in Christchurch

The Aotearoa History Show!

Bonus episode
The story of New Zealand and its people, from its geological origins to modern day. Hosted by William Ray and Leigh-Marama McLachlan, with animation by Chris Maguren. Made possible by the RNZ/NZ On Air Innovation Fund.
William Ray and Leigh-Marama McLachlan on the Aoteatoa History Show episode one

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