Historedia
Episode 1 of 3

Accidental Shooting of Nga Rangi

When
16 April 1847
Where
Whanganui
Part of
The Wanganui Campaign begins after a shooting at Whanganui

Minor Māori chief Nga Rangi was accidentally shot by British officer Crozier on 16 April 1847, triggering the conflict.

While collecting wages, Nga Rangi suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head from Crozier's pistol. This incident led to a bloody revenge attack on a settler family. The perpetrators were captured and hanged, prompting a major raid on the town as a reprisal, with homes plundered and burned.

Sources

  1. Whanganui campaign Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22
  2. New Zealand Wars Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.