The rescue of John Guard

Description

This is a watercolour painting (22.1 cm x 45.2 cm) of the 'Harriet Affair', made by C Watson in 1885. It is entitled 'The rescue of John Guard, then a child of three years of age by Captain Lambert of "HMS Alligator"'. The painting shows the kidnapped infant John Guard, who had been a passenger on the shipwrecked vessel 'Harriet', being rescued from Mäori in Taranaki in 1834. His rescuers were crew members of the naval vessel HMS 'Alligator'. The inscription in the bottom right-hand corner of the artwork reads: 'Rantwbacker Pah Irakraid [sic] New Zealand. / Where Betty Guard and her two children one at the Breast / and the other three years of age were rescued in the years 1834 by / H.M.S. Alligator Capt George Lambert'.

Acknowledgements