Paul Star
Biographic Data
| ID | 1515147 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Star |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Star |
| SIGNATURE | STAR P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Waikato |
| ORCID | 0009-0007-5749-1647 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
From Broken Glass to Stained Paper
From small beginnings running a glazing and house-painting business in Mountmellick, later members of the Star family became master-painters and wallpaper manufacturers in Dublin between 1820 and 1880. In Mountmellick, they were Anglicans with a Quaker clientele; in Dublin, a new generation became Catholics, serving a Catholic clientele and specialising in church decoration. Their story highlights both possibilities and problems in operating a bu…
On the edge of Canterbury settlement, 1854–58
By reference to the 1850s diaries of Thomas Potts, an early European settler in Canterbury, New Zealand, this article illustrates how farm diaries might be used to extend our understanding not only of environmental but also of rural history. Potts lived in Canterbury from 1854 until his death in 1888 and was a 'well bred' and wealthy runholder, politician, writer and naturalist. My interest in Potts has always centred on his curiosity about New Z…
Russell McGregor, Idling in Green Places
The letter
Regarding New Zealand’s environment
My earlier paper in IREH 1 (2015) discussed conservation and development in New Zealand in the 1860s through reference to Thomas Potts's contribution to the forest question. Following on from this (but standing alone), the present paper describes and examines Potts's contribution to the understanding and protection of New Zealand's natural environment in general over the following two decades, and suggests contemporary comparisons. I argue that c…
Thomas Potts and the Forest Question
Environmental historians need to differentiate between the origin of forest concerns on one hand, and the structuring of legislative responses on the other.The former began at the local level and resulted mostly in tree-planting in the first instance.The latter developed later, and drew not only on local realities, but also on American or European precedents.In New Zealand in the 1860s, concern for the native environment was primarily an aspect o…
Human Agency and Exotic Birds in New Zealand
The subject of biological invasion is now accepted as a major theme in environmental history. This paper analyses the role of human agency in the deliberately managed invasion of British birds to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century, and finds both historical and ecological relevance in the available data. Evidence concerning these introductions, largely undertaken by acclimatisation societies, has already played a significant role in the d…
Books
Tree Planting in Canterbury, New Zealand, 1850-1910
One hundred and fifty years ago, T.H. Potts (1824-1888) tried to save the totara forests near Christchurch, and in Parliament he made conservation of native bush a national issue. At the same time, he sought the development of New Zealand through the introduction of exotics. Potts was among the first to suggest public plantations of exotic forest trees and he experimented on his estate with Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and Monterey cypress (Cupr…
Fescue to the Rescue
Fescue to the Rescue
Under British settlement, New Zealand’s export income became increasingly dependent upon new and improved pasture for sheep and cattle. While the introduction of familiar pasture plants--such as ryegrass and cocksfoot--was preferred, from the 1880s farmers also experimented with different grass species to suit newly experienced environmental conditions. Both Chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commutata) and paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum) were exp…
New Zealand Environmental History
As a land to which not only Europeans, but also humans of any kind, came late, New Zealand is a fascinating case study in environmental history. The author's own research into the early years of European settlement plots an evolving cultural engagement with the indigenous environment, and in particular with forest or 'bush', which ran parallel with its extensive replacement by agroecosystems. Research of this character must now be closely compare…
Native Forest and the Rise of Preservation in New Zealand (1903-1913)
This paper analyses the turning-point in attitudes to the most distinctive feature of one nation's indigenous environment. Some conservation of New Zealand's native forest began long before the Scenery Preservation Act of 1903, but until then the primary motivation was economic. After 1903, aesthetics and national identity became recognised as important additional factors. In 1913, the Forestry Commission found that managed native forest was inco…
Books
Australian Feminism: A Companion. Edited by Barbara Caine, Moira Gatens, Emma Grahame, Jan Larbalestier, Sophie Watson and Elizabeth Webby. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pp. xxix + 607. $87.50 cloth. The Imaginary Australian: Anglo‐Celts and Identity, 1788 to the Present By Miriam Dixson. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1999. Pp. viii + 216. $27.95 paper. Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism. By Marilyn Lake.…
Native Forest and the Rise of Preservation in New Zealand (1903-1913)
This paper analyses the turning-point in attitudes to the most distinctive feature of one nation's indigenous environment. Some conservation of New Zealand's native forest began long before the Scenery Preservation Act of 1903, but until then the primary motivation was economic. After 1903, aesthetics and national identity became recognised as important additional factors. In 1913, the Forestry Commission found that managed native forest was inco…
New Zealand Environmental History
As a land to which not only Europeans, but also humans of any kind, came late, New Zealand is a fascinating case study in environmental history. The author's own research into the early years of European settlement plots an evolving cultural engagement with the indigenous environment, and in particular with forest or 'bush', which ran parallel with its extensive replacement by agroecosystems. Research of this character must now be closely compare…
Human Agency and Exotic Birds in New Zealand
The subject of biological invasion is now accepted as a major theme in environmental history. This paper analyses the role of human agency in the deliberately managed invasion of British birds to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century, and finds both historical and ecological relevance in the available data. Evidence concerning these introductions, largely undertaken by acclimatisation societies, has already played a significant role in the d…
Books
Australian Feminism: A Companion. Edited by Barbara Caine, Moira Gatens, Emma Grahame, Jan Larbalestier, Sophie Watson and Elizabeth Webby. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pp. xxix + 607. $87.50 cloth. The Imaginary Australian: Anglo‐Celts and Identity, 1788 to the Present By Miriam Dixson. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1999. Pp. viii + 216. $27.95 paper. Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism. By Marilyn Lake.…
Native Forest and the Rise of Preservation in New Zealand (1903-1913)
This paper analyses the turning-point in attitudes to the most distinctive feature of one nation's indigenous environment. Some conservation of New Zealand's native forest began long before the Scenery Preservation Act of 1903, but until then the primary motivation was economic. After 1903, aesthetics and national identity became recognised as important additional factors. In 1913, the Forestry Commission found that managed native forest was inco…
New Zealand Environmental History
As a land to which not only Europeans, but also humans of any kind, came late, New Zealand is a fascinating case study in environmental history. The author's own research into the early years of European settlement plots an evolving cultural engagement with the indigenous environment, and in particular with forest or 'bush', which ran parallel with its extensive replacement by agroecosystems. Research of this character must now be closely compare…
Fescue to the Rescue
Fescue to the Rescue
Under British settlement, New Zealand’s export income became increasingly dependent upon new and improved pasture for sheep and cattle. While the introduction of familiar pasture plants--such as ryegrass and cocksfoot--was preferred, from the 1880s farmers also experimented with different grass species to suit newly experienced environmental conditions. Both Chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commutata) and paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum) were exp…
Tree Planting in Canterbury, New Zealand, 1850-1910
One hundred and fifty years ago, T.H. Potts (1824-1888) tried to save the totara forests near Christchurch, and in Parliament he made conservation of native bush a national issue. At the same time, he sought the development of New Zealand through the introduction of exotics. Potts was among the first to suggest public plantations of exotic forest trees and he experimented on his estate with Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and Monterey cypress (Cupr…
Books
Human Agency and Exotic Birds in New Zealand
The subject of biological invasion is now accepted as a major theme in environmental history. This paper analyses the role of human agency in the deliberately managed invasion of British birds to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century, and finds both historical and ecological relevance in the available data. Evidence concerning these introductions, largely undertaken by acclimatisation societies, has already played a significant role in the d…
Thomas Potts and the Forest Question
Environmental historians need to differentiate between the origin of forest concerns on one hand, and the structuring of legislative responses on the other.The former began at the local level and resulted mostly in tree-planting in the first instance.The latter developed later, and drew not only on local realities, but also on American or European precedents.In New Zealand in the 1860s, concern for the native environment was primarily an aspect o…
Regarding New Zealand’s environment
My earlier paper in IREH 1 (2015) discussed conservation and development in New Zealand in the 1860s through reference to Thomas Potts's contribution to the forest question. Following on from this (but standing alone), the present paper describes and examines Potts's contribution to the understanding and protection of New Zealand's natural environment in general over the following two decades, and suggests contemporary comparisons. I argue that c…
The letter
On the edge of Canterbury settlement, 1854–58
By reference to the 1850s diaries of Thomas Potts, an early European settler in Canterbury, New Zealand, this article illustrates how farm diaries might be used to extend our understanding not only of environmental but also of rural history. Potts lived in Canterbury from 1854 until his death in 1888 and was a 'well bred' and wealthy runholder, politician, writer and naturalist. My interest in Potts has always centred on his curiosity about New Z…
Russell McGregor, Idling in Green Places
From Broken Glass to Stained Paper
From small beginnings running a glazing and house-painting business in Mountmellick, later members of the Star family became master-painters and wallpaper manufacturers in Dublin between 1820 and 1880. In Mountmellick, they were Anglicans with a Quaker clientele; in Dublin, a new generation became Catholics, serving a Catholic clientele and specialising in church decoration. Their story highlights both possibilities and problems in operating a bu…
History (8 works) · History (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Ecology (4 works) · Agroforestry (3 works) · American Environmental and Regional History (3 works) · Environmental ethics (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Law (3 works)