The pioneering era of New Zealand's history was fraught with conflict and difficulty. The resistance of the Maori to European settlement in the North, though well documented, is often biased and therefore inaccurate. This is certainly the case regarding the major British/Ngapuhi conflict which was reportedly instigated after the Ngapuhi invasion of a small settlement at Kororareka in March 1845, and which resulted in the first large-scale British march inland. This struggle was known simply as ˜The War in The North". Most information describing this war comes from officer reports and personal diaries, but there is a fascinating portion of information gathered from artistic depictions of key battles and victories which augments the written records. Two artists are responsible for these visual representations: Colonel Cyprian Bridge and Lance-Sergeant John Williams. Colonel Cyprian Bridge came to Auckland in 1845 aboard the SLAINS CASTLE in command of the 58th Regiment to assist in the assault against Hone Heke. Lance-Sergeant John Williams was a subordinate in Bridge's contingent, though little is mentioned regarding his involvement in this war. Although works by both artists are invaluable historical documents and have been used to illustrate this, the first pakeha war, from as early as 1859, specific information about the works and their creation is incredibly rare and at times unreliable. This is primarily due to the rampant misattribution of works, usually in favour of Bridge, whilst Williams is relegated to the position of a glorified copy-artist. Roger Blackley suggests some of this confusion is partly the fault of the Bridge family, citing an account of the Turnbull collection when it was owned by H.B. Bridge, Cyprian Bridge's son, that appeared in the New Zealand Free Lance (30 October 1909, p. 4), which claimed Bridge was the only artist from the 58th Regiment during the conflict, with Williams mentioned only briefly as a sort of artistic assistant to Bridge. Some have even suggested that Williams and Bridge shared a sketchbook in the field, though there is no actual evidence to support such a theory. However, there is some evidence to suggest Williams did work in a reproductive manner at times. Several of his works, though clearly signed by Williams, are also inscribed with the original artist's name, the most common example being a sepia study of Ohaiawai (from the Nan Kivell collection) which Williams himself inscribed, From a Sketch Taken on the Spot by Major Bridge 58th Regiment. Apparently on the basis of this one credit line, all other drawings and watercolours by Williams in the Nan Kivell collection have been ascribed to John Williams after Cyprian Bridge. To further complicate matters, there are occasionally two or three versions of the same scene produced between the two, this watercolour being but one example. Though unsigned and untitled, an attached document indicates the work is a representation of the "Attack on Pamoare's Pa, 30th April, 1845". The Alexander Turnbull Library currently holds the Williams version of the battle and there does not seem to be any evidence to suggest who the painter is and who the copyist. Recent scholarship has progressed considerably in its effort to untangle this web of confusion, but what is ultimately important to remember is that both Bridge and Williams provide priceless perspectives of this war from both a military and an historic standpoint. Williams' relationship with Bridge is never mentioned, though it is very probable that both men knew of and saw each other's work, and realistically probably copied freely off one another. In the end, they were both soldiers with a penchant for drawing and watercolour who provided some of the earliest surviving images of New Zealand. Sarah McCrory