Bay of Plenty Treaty copy

Use the tool bar at the bottom of this interactive to zoom in and navigate. The drop down menu at the top lists the names of those who signed - choosing a name takes you to their signature on the document.

The Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) copy of the Treaty

The Bay of Plenty or Fedarb Maori-language copy of the Treaty of Waitangi was one of two made by missionary James Stack at Tauranga; the other has been lost. There are 26 names on the copy. All were collected by trader James Fedarb who sailed around the Bay of Plenty between 22 May and 19 June 1840, getting agreement from chiefs at Opotiki, Te Kaha, Torere and Whakatane.

Fedarb gave the copy to printer William Colenso, for whom he had once worked, to pass on to Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson. No one commented on the fact that the signature – William Hobson - on the copy was, strictly speaking, forged. James Stack had written this in his own hand when he made the copies at Tauranga; Hobson always signed as 'W Hobson' with no governor's title.

The copy also has Christian crosses against some of the names. At the request of chiefs affiliated to the Church Missionary Society, Fedarb identified the Opotiki chiefs who were Roman Catholic by placing a cross beside each name. It suggests that the effort to get these marks was to counter the influence of Roman Catholic Bishop Pompallier, who had had disagreements with local Protestant missionaries. This is one of two copies signed by Maori witnesses, Papahia and Wiremu Maihi, both possibly from the north.