Treaty events 1800-49 - Treaty timeline

1814  First mission

The Reverend Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society preached the first sermon in New Zealand, on Christmas Day 1814. Three lay missionaries, William Hall, Thomas Kendall and John King, helped him set up the first mission in New Zealand, at Rangihoua. The local chief, Ruatara, who had met Marsden in England, interpreted the sermon for Maori.

1831 Maori petition the British government

Growing lawlessness among Europeans in New Zealand and fears of a French annexation of the country led 13 northern chiefs to ask King William IV for his protection. Missionary William Yate assisted the chiefs to draft the letter to the King. The Crown acknowledged the petition and promised protection.

1833 British Resident arrives

To protect Maori, the growing number of British settlers and its own trade interest, the British government appointed James Busby as its official British Resident – a type of junior consular representative with little power. He arrived in May 1833 and built a house on land he bought at Waitangi.

1835  Declaration of Independence

He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene (the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand) was drawn up by  British Resident James Busby, without authorisation from his superiors. It asserted the independence of New Zealand, with all sovereign power and authority resting with the hereditary chiefs and tribes. The declaration was signed in 1835 by 52 Maori chiefs.

1837 Britain decides to establish a colony

In December 1837 the British government decided that it had to intervene in New Zealand to ensure that colonisation was regulated and that land transactions that defrauded Maori were stopped. The government had initially tried to avoid assuming responsibility. Instead it had attempted to influence the interaction of Maori and British settlers through the missionaries and by sending British Resident James Busby to work with chiefs. By mid-1839 the British government decided to annex at least part of New Zealand to New South Wales.

1839  Tory sets sail

The first of the New Zealand Company ships, the Tory, set sail for New Zealand in May 1839. The company had an ambitious plan to settle New Zealand, and its agents aboard the Tory were to buy land at Port Nicholson. The first shiploads of company emigrants left for New Zealand in September 1839.

1839 Consul appointed

The British government appointed William Hobson as consul to New Zealand in 1839. Hobson was instructed to obtain sovereignty over all or part of New Zealand with the consent of a sufficient number of chiefs. New Zealand would come under the authority of George Gipps, the governor of New South Wales, and Hobson would become Gipps's lieutenant-governor. Land-buying agents continued swarming over New Zealand in anticipation of purchases.

1840 Land purchases prohibited

Governor Gipps prohibited further private land purchases from Maori, and no existing claims were to be recognised until they had been investigated by the authorities. William Hobson repeated the proclamation in the Bay of Islands on 30 January 1840. 

1840 Treaty of Waitangi signed

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. The previous day a draft of the Treaty in English and Maori was discussed before 500 Maori and 200 Pakeha. Many Maori were suspicious of what was intended, but Tamati Waka Nene is thought to have swayed the chiefs towards acceptance. The meeting was reassembled on 6 February; the text was read again, and signing commenced. About 40 chiefs signed on the first day; by September 1840 another 500 chiefs in different parts of the country had signed. Almost all of the chiefs signed copies of the Maori text of the Treaty.

1840 Sovereignty proclaimed over New Zealand

On 21 May William Hobson proclaimed sovereignty over all of New Zealand: over the North Island on the basis of cession through the Treaty of Waitangi and over the southern islands by right of discovery. Maori agreement to the terms of the Treaty was still being sought. Hobson may have wanted to declare the Crown's authority over the whole country because he had learned of possible moves by the New Zealand Company to set up its own administration around Cook Strait. His deputy, Major Bunbury, also made proclamations of sovereignty over Stewart Island on 5 June by right of discovery, as no Maori could be found to sign the Treaty, and over the South Island on 17 June by virtue of cession.

1841 Native Protectorate Department created

Lay missionary George Clarke became chief protector of aborigines in 1841. Clarke and his staff were also given a second and conflicting role as land purchasers for the Crown.  Clarke persuaded the governor to free him of the land-purchasing responsibilities, but his sub-protectors retained their dual roles. In 1846 Governor George Grey, suspicious of anyone who exercised influence over Maori apart from himself, disbanded the Native Protectorate and appointed a native secretary to implement his instructions.

1842 Land purchases investigated

From 1842 land claims commissioners investigated all land purchases made before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. If the commissioners concluded that a purchase was made in good faith, they could validate it and award a Crown Grant, limited to 2560 acres (4 square miles). If the purchase was invalid or exceeded that size, the excess land became Crown land. Commissioner William Spain investigated the huge purchases claimed by the New Zealand Company. He determined that most of the purchases in Wellington and elsewhere were invalid, but not all his recommendations were acted upon. There was subsequently a shift to arbitrating agreements with Maori to allow settlement in Wellington to go ahead.

1842 Maori deemed under Crown authority

New Zealand and its inhabitants were considered to be under British sovereignty from 1840. This did not mean that British law had to be imposed immediately upon Maori. Conflict between some tribes in 1842 led to suggestions that chiefs who had not signed the Treaty of Waitangi (as was the case with one of the leaders in the fighting) were perhaps not bound by the Crown's authority. All Maori were deemed to be under Crown authority from that time.

1843 Wairau incident

Europeans and Maori clashed in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough, in April 1843. Local Maori had denied selling land in the valley to the New Zealand Company. A group led by Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata had disrupted surveyors, so a party led by the police magistrate, Henry Thompson, and the New Zealand Company representative, Arthur Wakefield, set out to arrest the chiefs. A musket accidentally went off, killing Te Rangihaeata's wife. In the fracas that broke out, up to five more Maori were killed; 22 Europeans were killed, including 13 who surrendered, in utu (revenge) for the Maori deaths.

1844 Private land purchases allowed

The Treaty of Waitangi gave the Crown the exclusive right to purchase Maori land. Governor Robert FitzRoy gave in to Maori and settler demands and waived this right.

1844–5 Heke cuts down the flagpole

Hone Heke attacked the Union Jack flagstaff at Kororareka (now Russell) four times between July 1844 and March 1845. He saw the flag as a symbol that Maori had lost their status and their country to the British. Bringing down the flag struck at British sovereignty without affecting settlers or the economic benefits of trade. After the flagstaff was felled in March 1845, Kororareka was sacked and pillaged, and most buildings burned. The townsfolk were evacuated to Auckland.

1845–6 War in the north

In the north in 1845 British troops and their Maori allies fought with Maori led by Hone Heke and Kawiti after Heke and Kawiti's forces sacked Kororareka. There were three major engagements: Maori victories at Puketutu and Ohaeawai, and, on 10 January 1846, a British victory – of sorts – at Ruapekapeka following the withdrawal of Heke and Kawiti's forces. Governor George Grey claimed victory and Maori submission.

1846 Surplus land taken

In 1846, the British government instructed that all Maori land ownership was to be registered; any lands deemed to be unused or surplus were to become Crown land. Governor George Grey reinstated the exclusive Crown right to purchase Maori land, as guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi. Crown agents developed some dubious practices to persuade Maori to sell, and they could offer whatever the government was prepared to pay, not a market rate. The government was the arbiter as well as the defendant in any Maori complaints.