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Elspeth Kerr was a beloved local nurse in 1930s Devonport, but when her husband died suddenly and her foster daughter fell into an inexplicable coma, locals discovered the shocking truth: Nurse Kerr was a serial poisoner. But more than 90 years later, elements of her crimes remain a mystery. In the first of a two part episode, Black Sheep investigates the chilling story. The Trials of Nurse Kerr: The anatomy of a secret poisoner by Scott Bainbridge Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Black Sheep returns on Friday 30 January for its 9th season with a new cast of rogues, villains and controversial characters. Murderous nurses, foul-mouthed goldfield barkeepers, sly grogging kāuri gum dealers and more! Join William Ray as he looks at the darker side of New Zealand history. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

“There was a time when I was proud of you men of the Anzac Mounted Division. I am proud of you no longer.” In the first of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. “There was a time when I was proud of you men of the Anzac Mounted Division. I am proud of you no longer. Today, I think you are nothing but a lot of cowards and murderers.” - General Edmund Allenby, reported speech to Anzac Mounted Division, 16 December 1918These words are attributed to General Edmund Allenby, the British Commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He was speaking to the Anzac Mounted Division in the aftermath of the Surafend massacre, where an estimated 200 members of the Division killed upwards of 40 male Arab civilians in a small village in southern Palestine in December 1918. More than a hundred years later, much of the story of the massacre remains a mystery. Basic facts around the numbers killed, the identity of the killers, and their exact motivation are unknown. In the first of a three part series, William Ray speaks with military historian Terry Kinloch, author of Devils on Horses, to unpick the story of the Anzac mounted Division's campaign through Sinai and Palestine, and how it might help explain the massacre. Further sources: Interview with former Anzac Mounted Division soldier Edward O'BrienWhat Happened at Surafend by Terry Kinloch - WW100Australian Light Horse Studies CentreGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

"They ​went ​out ​to ​this ​village, ​and ​they ​went ​through ​it ​with ​the ​bayonet.” In the second of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre of December 1918. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. “They ​got ​their ​heads ​together, ​the ​New ​Zealand and ​Australians, and they ​went ​out ​to ​this ​village ​and ​they ​went ​through ​it ​with ​the ​bayonet.” - Edward O'Brien, Veteran of the Anzac Mounted Division, 1988These are the words of Edward O’Brien - a former member of the Anzac Mounted Division. His words were recorded on tape by an oral historian and now sit in the archives of the Australian War Memorial. Edward was one of a handful of Anzac's to admit seeing the Surafend massacre first hand, but his testimony does little to explain what happened. In the second of a three part series, RNZ's Black Sheep podcast unpicks the story of the massacre, and the events which followed it - including the Anzac's little known role in suppressing the 1919 Egyptian revolution. William Ray speaks to military historian Terry Kinloch, author of Devils on Horses, Paul Daley, author of Beersheba and New Zealand Defence Force Historian John Crawford Further sources: Interview with former Anzac Mounted Division soldier Edward O'BrienWhat Happened at Surafend by Terry Kinloch - WW100Australian Light Horse Studies CentreTranscript of John Crawford's lecture on the Senussi CampaignGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

"As morning dawned we stood and watched / That devastated scene / Where but a single yesterday / Had flourished Surafeen." In the final episode of a three-part series, RNZ's Black Sheep investigates the Surafend massacre of December 1918. Read more about the story of Surafend on the RNZ website here. T’was a never to be forgotten night The village was soon in flames The wallads knocked when sighted But protected were the dames. Although we are fighting Anzacs Our honour we uphold And treat the women fairly As did our ancestors of old. As morning dawned we stood and watched That devastated scene Where but a single yesterday Had flourished Surafeen We turned away in silence But feeling justified That for our murdered comrade We would gladly have died. - RSA Review, August 1938These lines are extracted from a longer poem published in RSA Review, the official magazine for New Zealand War veterans. They were credited to an unnamed New Zealand soldier who participated in the 1918 Surafend massacre. In the final episode of our three part series RNZ's Black Sheep we look at the unanswered questions surrounding these killings, and especially the question of what motivated them. Host William Ray speaks to military historian Terry Kinloch, author of Devils on Horses, Paul Daley, author of Beersheba and New Zealand Defence Force Historian John Crawford Further sources: Interview with former Anzac Mounted Division soldier Edward O'BrienWhat Happened at Surafend by Terry Kinloch - WW100Australian Light Horse Studies CentreTranscript of John Crawford's lecture on the Senussi CampaignGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In 1892 a masked figure in a bizarre uniform began a 15 month crime spree, robbing people at gunpoint in and around New Plymouth. When he was finally arrested and unmasked, residents were dumbfounded to discovered the perpetrator was mild-mannered Robert Wallath - the teenage son of a local farmer and carpenter. Wallath, it turned out, had a deep fascination for highway criminals and at trial his lawyers claimed his mind had been "polluted" by trashy novels about Dick Turpin and Ned Kelly. But later in life, Wallath claimed his crimes had divine inspiration. So what really drove this Taranaki teenager to commit such a brazen string of robberies and thefts? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In the 1900s a series of lurid headlines were published in the New Zealand Truth about George Howe, a "Beastly Brothel-keeper" who pimped out underage girls from his shop on Wellington's Adelaide Road. But what Truth found most "beastly" about Howe, is that he was Chinese. Black Sheep looks at the case of George Howe, and the "editorial hate-crimes" of what was once NZ's most influential newspaper. Content warning: contains discussion of underage prostitution and quotes racist slurs which featured in the NZ Truth Newspaper i.e. "slimy slit-eyes" and "concupiscent chows" Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Early Missionary Thomas Kendall facilitated the sale of hundreds of muskets to Ngāpuhi Māori, helping to enable the bloodiest wars in New Zealand history. But there's more to Kendall's story. He was instrumental in the transformation of Te Reo Māori into a written language, and became so fascinated by Māori spirituality that he (in his own words) "almost completely turned from a Christian to a Heathen". Thomas Kendall was among the very first missionaries to arrive in Aotearoa. In 1814 the devoted Calvinist and former schoolteacher threw caution to the wind, taking himself, his wife and five children to live alongside Māori at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands. Kendall had dreams of founding a school, teaching Māori to read and write - and eventually converting them to the Christian faith. It all went wrong almost immediately. The school failed, Kendall fought bitterly with his fellow missionaries, his wife gave birth to another man's child, and he swiftly discovered the only way for the mission to survive in the Bay of Islands was by trading muskets to Māori - particularly the famous Ngāpuhi Rangatira Hongi Hika. Over the next decade, Thomas Kendall facilitated the sale of hundreds of muskets to Māori, helping to enable the bloodiest wars in New Zealand history: The Musket Wars. However, Kendall's most important legacy was formed during a trip to England in 1820 alongside Hongi Hika and another Ngāpuhi chief, Waikato. Together with an academic at Cambridge University, Kendall, Hongi and Waikato would create the first dictionary and grammar of Te Reo Māori. In the first of a two part series of Black Sheep, William Ray speaks to religious historian Peter Lineham Professor Emeritus at Massey University and Ngāti Rarawa kaumatua Haami Piripi about the complex, fraught story of Thomas Kendall. Further reading: The Legacy of Guilt: a life of Thomas Kendall by Judith BinneyThomas Kendall - Dictionary of New Zealand BiographyHongi Hika - Dictionary of New Zealand BiographyGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Early NZ missionary Thomas Kendall arrived in London in 1820 with the Ngāpuhi Rangatira Hongi Hika. He would return to Aotearoa a year later with the first ever written dictionary of Te Reo Māori, a newly won clerical collar ...and more than 300 muskets. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Freddie Angell was New Zealand's most notorious wildlife smuggler. His repeated attempts at stealing and exporting native wildlife in the 1990s, including Kea and Tuatara, made him all but a household name. Black Sheep speaks to documentary-maker Andy MacDonald about his extraordinary story. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On 27 September 1974 New Zealanders woke to the news Dr Bill Sutch, a famous economist, historian, and former senior government official had been arrested and accused of spying for Soviet Russia. He was later found not guilty, but over the last 50 years, suspicion has swirled, and new evidence has been revealed. Check our RNZ's award Winning Podcast The Service for more about the history of the SIS in New Zealand. Check our RNZ's award Winning Podcast The Service for more about the history of the SIS in New Zealand Further reading: Spy by Kit Bennets Shirley Smith: An Examined Life by Sarah Gaitanos Trying to Understand Dr Bill Sutch by Brian Easton Bill Sutch - Dictionary of NZ Biography by Brian EastonGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We're ducking into your feed to bring you an episode of a new RNZ podcast: Kelly Tartlon's Final Treasure Hunt. This story has everything! Kidnapping, smuggling, scurvy, and imaginary islands full of Jewish gold... Make sure to follow Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt wherever you get your podcasts. To see more of Kelly Tarlton's Final Treasure Hunt, visit the RNZ website here. Special thanks to the Tarlton family for their support and trust in making this podcast. For more about Kelly Tarlton we recommend: Watch: Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's AnchorThrow Me the Wreck, Johnny: memories of Kelly Tarlton by Steve Locker-LampsonKelly: the Adventurous Life of Kelly Tarlton by E. V. SaleNavigators and Naturalists, By Michael LeeThe Fateful Voyage of the St Jean Baptiste, By John DunmoreThe Expedition of the St Jean Baptiste to the Pacific 1769 - 1770, Translated and edited by John DunmoreGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Black Sheep Season 8 is just around the corner with a whole new cast of controversial, villainous, or simply misunderstood figures from New Zealand history. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

For more than 50 years the name of Mayor Charles Mackay was all but forbidden in Whanganui. In 1920 Mackay shot a man through the chest after he threated to expose the mayor's homosexuality. RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates the downfall of Charles Mackay, and how his story is being reevaluated in modern New Zealand. For 50 years the name Charles Mackay was all but forbidden in Whanganui. The former mayor's name was chiselled off public buildings, ripped off street signs and deliberately excluded from official histories. His official portrait was taken down and destroyed. The reason? In 1920 Charles Mackay shot and nearly killed D'Arcy Cresswell, a 24-year-old returned soldier who had been threatening to out Mackay as homosexual. Over the last few decades people have tried to drag Mackay's story back into the spotlight. In the 1980s, LGBTQ+ activists successfully campaigned to have his name re-inscribed on the foundation stone of the Sarjeant Gallery and in 2022 historian and author Paul Diamond released a long awaited book digging into Mackay's story. But Mackay's story still has many unanswered questions. Was D'Arcy Cresswell acting alone when he tried to blackmail the mayor? Was he solely motivated by homophobia, or was there something more complicated going on? In this two part episode of Black Sheep, host William Ray investigates the story of the former Mayor. We look at Mackay's upbringing, and his meteoric rise to the mayoralty, which coincided with a meteoric rise for the town of Whanganui itself. We investigate attitudes towards homosexuality in early 20th century New Zealand, and how Charles Mackay may have understood his attraction to other men. And, we discuss the multiple scandals leading up to the Mayors arrest, including a catastrophic concert for a member of the royal family Further reading: Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay by Paul DiamondMates and Lovers: A History of Gay NZ by Professor Chris BrickellGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In the second of a two-part episode on Charles Mackay Black Sheep investigates the mysteries surrounding the Whanganui Mayor's attempted murder of D'Arcy Cresswell - a former soldier who threatened to out the Mackay as homosexual if he didn't resign the mayoralty. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details