William Mariner is a feature length docudrama that tells the story of the 15-year-old English cabin boy who was aboard the British privateer Port Au Prince when it was sacked, burned and sunk after a bloody conflict with Tongan warriors off the Ha’apai Islands in 1806. Saved from massacre, Will was adopted by King Finau Ulakalala, becoming prince of the islands for 6 years before finally making his return to London. There he lived a “normal” life, marrying and having eleven children, and becoming a successful stockbroker, writing his memoirs of his time in Tonga – then as a middle-aged man, jumping into a London river and killing himself. William Mariner’s memoir is one of the most important early contact stories in the Pacific, an instance of imperial adventuring colliding with Pacific histories.
Rebekah Kelly & Annie Goldson
New Zealand Film Commission
University of Auckland