New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was prepared over just a few days in February 1840. Several versions of the Treaty were taken around the country for signing. Find out how the Treaty came to be drafted and locate the signing places of the different copies.
By the end of 1840 about 540 Maori, including 13 women, had signed the Treaty of Waitangi; all but 39 signed the Maori text. Some had clear expectations about what their agreement would bring; others chose not to sign the Treaty at all.
New Zealand became a British colony in 1840, legitimised by the Treaty of Waitangi and Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson's declaration of 21 May declaring sovereignty over the islands.
Protecting Maori, regulating land purchases, controlling the activities of settlers and dealing with the potential influx of migrants came together in British policy in 1839; New Zealand would be annexed.
After a lengthy Royal Navy career in which he saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and was twice captured by pirates in the Caribbean, William Hobson (1792-1842) became New Zealand's first Governor.
