James Cowan (14 April 1870 – 6 September 1943) was a New Zealand non-fiction author, noted for his books on colonial history and Māori ethnography. A fluent Māori speaker, he interviewed many veterans of the New Zealand Wars. His book The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Māori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period (1922–23) is his best known work.
Early life
James Cowan, the son of William Andrew Cowan, an Irish soldier who had served in the Waikato during the New Zealand Wars, and Elizabeth Jane Qualtrough, was born at East Tāmaki on 14 April 1870. William Cowan acquired land for a farm in Kihikihi, on the border of the King Country, and this was where James grew up. There was a strong military presence in the area; the family farm included a portion of the battlefield of Orakau and was near a fortification of the Armed Constabulary. There was also a considerable Māori community in the area. Cowan grew up speaking both English and Māori and developed a keen interest in Māori culture as well as the military and colonial history of New Zealand.
In 1886 Cowan sat for a civil service examination and his marks saw him offered a cadetship with the Native Department. However, due to the influence of his mother, he declined to take it up. Instead, he aspired to become a journalist.
Journalist
Thanks to his father's connections, Cowan found work in Auckland as a printer for a newspaper title, Evening Bell. He also had essays published in the New Zealand in 1887. The following year he commenced employment as a reporter at the Auckland Star and over time he developed a lively, vivid style of prose. His articles covered a range of subjects, including interviews with individuals like Te Kooti, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir George Grey and the Māori King, and often required him to travel to remote areas of the country. In July 1894, he married Eunice Lililia Nicholas; there were no children from the relationship.
