Jack Renton

John (Jack) Renton (1848–1878), also known as The White Headhunter,[1] was a Scottish seaman from Orkney. In 1868, he was among four or five deserters from the American ship Renard, which specialised in the trade of guano. He and the other deserters travelled in a small boat for 2,000 miles, and eventually landed at Maana'oba (Manaoba), a small island off the north-east coast of Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands.[2] He became a slave of a bigman named Kabbou for 8 years, in which he learnt the Lau language, participated in the island's culture, and became a headhunter. While on Malaita, he befriended a local warrior, Kwaisulia, and taught him English.[3] He is the only European to have been a headhunter and was the first European to live for a long period on Malaita.[4]

Jack Renton
Born1848
Orkney, Scotland
Died1878 (age 29/30)
Aoba Island, Vanuatu
Occupation(s)Seaman, slave, headhunter

Renton was rescued by a Royal Navy schooner called the Bobtailed Nag in 1875, being traded for "a dozen tomahawks, several yards of calico, some pipes, [and] tobacco", as well as several other items, along with a promise to return with more supplies.[5][6] He returned to Orkney, where he became a local celebrity.[6] He later travelled back to the South Pacific, fulfilling his promise to return with supplies to the island he had inhabited, before taking up work as a regulator of the recruitment of Melanesian islanders for work in Queensland, where his role was mainly to prevent blackbirding.[6] He was killed in 1878 at Ambae Island, while on a ship called the Mystery.[7] Upon learning of his death, Kabbou and the people of the village Renton had lived in mourned his death by sacrificing 300 pigs in his name, telling tales of his life for 3 days straight, and building a reliquary house which acted as a shrine to his memory. The shrine survived for 85 years until it burned down in 1963.

See also

References
  1. Randell, Nigel (July 17, 2003). The White Headhunter: The Story of a 19th-Century Sailor Who Survived a South Seas Heart of Darkness. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786712562.
  2. Moore, Clive (1985). Kanaka: A History of Melanesian Mackay (PDF). Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies and the University of Papua and New Guinea Press. p. 63. ISBN 9980-68-000-8.
  3. Moore, Clive (1985). Kanaka: A History of Melanesian Mackay. Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies and the University of Papua and New Guinea Press. p. 53. ISBN 9980-68-000-8.
  4. Moore, Clive; et al. (1 June 2013). "Biographical entry: Renton, John". Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  5. "The Recovery of John Renton from the Solomon Islands". Rockhampton Bulletin. September 17, 1875. p. 2. Retrieved October 10, 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. The Newsroom (March 2, 2003). "Secret life of the white headhunter". The Scotsman. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  7. Moore, Clive (1985). Kanaka: A History of Melanesian Mackay (PDF). Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies and the University of Papua and New Guinea Press. p. 36. ISBN 9980-68-000-8.

Further reading
  • Holthouse, Hector (January 1, 1988). White Headhunter. North Ryde, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson Publishers. ISBN 978-0207158971.
  • Marwick, J.G. (January 1, 1935). The Adventures of John Renton. Brisbane, Queensland: Kirkwall Press. ASIN B000884AJ6.
  • "The Adventures of John Renton". The Colonist. Vol. 18, no. 1987. Brisbane Courier. November 2, 1875. Retrieved October 10, 2020 – via Papers Past.
  • Lloyd, Nikolas (September 30, 2018). The White Headhunter. YouTube. Lindybeige. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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