Rhys Richards | |
---|---|
Nationality | New Zealand |
Occupation | Diplomat |
Years active | 1980s to the present |
Known for | Historian |
Notable work | Whaling and sealing at the Chatham Islands (1982) |
Rhys Morgan Richards is a former New Zealand diplomat and a current historian and ethnographer. He has written extensively on maritime history and Pacific artifacts and art. He has also spoken on these subjects on New Zealand radio and at many conferences and seminars around the world.
He attended the University of Canterbury in Christchurch where he completed a Master of Arts degree. The title of his MA thesis is, An historical geography of Chatham Island (1962).
After graduating from university he worked as a career diplomat in the New Zealand Foreign Service. His diplomatic postings included New York, Hong Kong, Manila, Geneva, Apia, and Honiara .[1]
He was responsible for overseeing New Zealand government aid to Melanesia.
From 1996 to 1999 he was the New Zealand High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands.
He was a programme editor, writer and presenter for Radio New Zealand International.[2] He has served as chairman of the Pacific Conservation and Development Trust.[3]
In retirement he and his wife Margaret live in Wellington, New Zealand. They have three children.
He has written many books, journal articles, chapters in books, book reviews and articles in newspapers. He has also contributed content to online resources, such as The Encyclopedia of New Zealand[4] and the British Southern Whale Fishery website.[5]
Richards served on the committee of the Friends of the Turnbull Library (2000-2016).[6][7]
In the year 2000, he was presented with the 16th annual L. Byrne Waterman Award for his "outstanding contribution to maritime history," in a ceremony at The Kendall Whaling Museum, Massachusetts.[8]
In 2002, he held a Visiting Research Fellowship for Pacific Arts at the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.[9]
In 2008, he was awarded a Tasmanian Research Fellowship by the State Library of Tasmania.[10]
He describes his research as, “strongly committed to testing prevailing generalities through quantitive research drawing on primary materials.”[11]