Pages tagged with: pre-1840 contact

See some of the key events between 1800 and 1849 relating to the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Christian missionaries of the pre-1840s have been described as the 'agents of virtue in a world of vice', although they were not immune to moral blemish themselves.

An important feature of early contact in New Zealand was the role of intermediaries or kaiwhakarite who acted as go-betweens – people from one culture who lived with the other culture and helped bridge the gap between them.

In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents.

The New South Wales government played an important role in New Zealand in the 1830s. An official British government presence in New Zealand was made in 1833 with the appointment of James Busby as British Resident.

The experiences of the explorers Abel Tasman, James Cook and Marion du Fresne convinced many Europeans that New Zealand was a dangerous place.

A European population explosion first impacted on New Zealand in the closing decade of the 18th century when sealers and whalers began to arrive in their hundreds seeking to exploit local resources.

Māori responses in the early contact period were determined by well-established customs and practices.

In December 1809 the sailing ship Boyd was anchored in Whangaroa Harbour. It was attacked by a group of Māori who killed most of its crew and passengers in retaliation for the captain's mistreatment of a young local chief.

In 1830 Captain William Stewart of the brig Elizabeth made an arrangement with the Ngāti Toa leader Te Rauparaha to ferry a taua (war party) of 100 warriors from his base on Kapiti Island to Banks Peninsula to make a surprise attack on Ngāi Tahu.

The rescue of Betty Guard and her two children from Ngāti Ruanui in the spring of 1834 involved the first use of British troops on New Zealand soil.

Charlotte lived with a Nga Puhi chief and refused to be 'rescued' on at least two occasions, before disappearing from the record.

The selection of the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand as New Zealand's first flag

At a hui (meeting) at Waitangi on 28 October 1835 called by James Busby, 34 northern chiefs who were to become known as the Confederation of United Tribes signed 'A Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand' and asked King William IV of Britain to be their 'parent' and 'Protector'.

This engraving of a Māori family in Dusky Sound, Firodland, is from a drawing made by William Hodges during Captain James Cook's second visit to New Zealand in the mid-1770s. The image depicts Māori as 'noble savages', a term associated with the romantic philosophy popular in this period.

Te Pahi was a prominent chief from Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands who was blamed for the Boyd incident.

This view of Kororāreka from the sea was drawn by Captain Clayton on 10 March 1845, the day before the town was attacked by the forces of Hōne Heke and Kawiti.

In 1830 Australian-born Elizabeth (Betty) Guard – shown here in a shadow portrait – married Jacky Guard, a convict who, after serving his sentence, became a seafarer, whaler and trader.

In this painting, Meeting of the artist and Hongi at the Bay of Islands, November 1827, by Augustus Earle, Hongi Hika is seated in the centre with huia feathers in his hair.

The Pakeha–Maori Barnet Burns was described as 'a New Zealand Chief' in this advertisement for three lectures he delivered at the Mechanics' Institution in Lincoln, England in 1842.