In 1735, not yet a teenager, Marc Joseph Marion du Fresne joined the French India Company ship Duc de Bourgogne as honorary sub-lieutenant.
He worked his way up the ranks of the Company and the French navy until 1771, when he was given command of two ships for a voyage of trade and exploration to the Pacific sponsored by the French authorities.
En route to his destination Marion du Fresne searched for the fabled southern continent in the south Indian Ocean. Eventually landfall was made in Tasmania, and after several days there he set sail for New Zealand. On 25 March 1772 du Fresne sighted Mt Taranaki/Taranaki Maunga, naming it Pic Mascarin. He then sailed north to Spirits Bay, where a gale caused severe damage to the ships. Du Fresne then proceeded south-east and on 4 May reached the Bay of Islands.
The next five weeks were spent exploring the Bay and repairing the ships. On 8 June du Fresne was welcomed by local Māori at a special ceremony, but within a week he and 24 of his crew were killed by members of Ngare Raumati. The French ships could not leave the Bay until repairs to them were complete, and a counter-attack was organised. This soon turned into violent reprisals which caused an estimated 250 Māori casualties.
The reasons for the killing of Marion du Fresne and his men may never be known. It is likely that the French transgressed tikanga (Māori custom) in some way, possibly on the fatal day, or more likely on a number of occasions, until it was felt they had gone too far. A five-week-long visit with no sign of preparations for departure must have created economic and cultural strains.
The closeness of the contacts between the visitors and the local people produced many records of early Māori life. The events of mid-1772, however, strengthened the view in France that New Zealand was inhabited by dangerous natives and did not warrant an attempt at colonisation.
Adapted by Matthew Tonks from the DNZB biography by John Dunmore