Native Lands Frauds Prevention Act 1881. This work enabled him to pursue a long-standing interest in Māori language and history. In 1892 he was one of the founders of the Polynesian Society. He contributed a number of articles to its journal, one of which was described by Edward Tregear as 'Absolutely and entirely valueless....All the old stuff...we left behind 20 years ago'. It appears that he had earlier written three books, Reminiscences of the war in New Zealand (1879), The history and doings of the Māoris (1885) and The defenders of New Zealand (1887), all of which were published under his father's name. Cook Islands British Resident In August 1898 Gudgeon, now a lieutenant colonel, was appointed British Resident in the Cook Islands. Seddon intimated that Gudgeon's real task was to annex the islands to New Zealand, and Gudgeon, whose belief in his 'manifest destiny' had led him to dream of one day being 'Governor of Fighi', accepted this mission with alacrity. In April 1900 the Rarotonga ariki consented to annexation, but to Great Britain, not New Zealand. A quickly arranged visit 'for health reasons' by Seddon, who made lavish and mostly unfulfilled promises of aid, and some fast talking by Gudgeon persuaded the ariki to agree to be annexed to Great Britain and federated with New Zealand. In reality, the island became New Zealand territory. When the formalities were completed in June 1901, Gudgeon was rewarded as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) on 19 June 1901, on the occasion of the visit of TRH the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary) to New Zealand. Later life In 1909 the increasingly cantankerous Gudgeon was retired by Prime Minister Joseph Ward, according to Gudgeon because of his lapsed Catholicism. In 1914 he served briefly as censor of telegraphic messages before his official career ended, appropriately, in a row over his salary. He died at his home in Devonport, Auckland, on 5 January 1920. Bertha Gudgeon died in 1933. In the 1940s, John Cowie Reid gave plaudits for Gudgeon's account saying he showed respect for his Māori adversaries in his writings. Bibliography T.W. Gudgeon, Reminisces of the War in New Zealand (1879) T.W. Gudgeon, The History and Doings of the Māoris: From the Year 1820 to the Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 (1885) T.W.