The Good Citizen

Description

The Good Citizen tells the story of Tom Ryan.

Tom Ryan, the illegitimate baby of an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, and his family were banished from Ireland to the far ends of the earth: New Zealand. He went on to score the first points for the first All Blacks rugby team. He had a huge influence on the development of tourism services in Taupō.  Tom Ryan became a distinguished artist. he created rare sketches of the controversial Māori warrior Te Kooti, and went on to marry the daughter of a Māori chief. He won one of the first inter-colonial yachting contests and became director of a mining company.

The Good Citizen is the remarkable story of Tom ‘Darby’ Ryan. The book includes photographs and Ryan’s own artworks. It paints a vivid and intimate portrait of early colonial New Zealand and the people who made up its society.