New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was prepared over just a few days in February 1840. On the day that it was first signed, there were versions in English and Maori. Was the Treaty drafted too quickly? Did the Crown officials know what they were doing? Was the translation into Maori rushed, ambiguous or misleading? These and other questions have been debated since 1840.
About 40 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. By the end of the year, about 500 other Maori, including 13 women, had put their names or moko to the document; all but 39 signed the Maori text. While 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.
Hobson (who served from 1840 until his death in 1842) and Robert FitzRoy (who served between 1843 and 1845) were naval officers. Their administrations were grossly under-resourced. They were challenged in providing even the most basic infrastructure while preserving harmony between the British settlers and the numerically and militarily dominant Maori.
New Zealand officially became a separate colony of Britain, severing its link to New South Wales. The North, South and Stewart islands were to be known respectively as the provinces of ‘New Ulster’, ‘New Munster’ and ‘New Leinster’.
Lieutenant-Governor 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.
Auckland’s Anniversary Day commemorates Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson’s arrival in New Zealand in 1840. Today it is best known for the huge Anniversary Day Regatta on Waitematā Harbour, held every year (except one) since 1850 and often described as the largest one-day regatta in the world.
Protecting Māori, regulating land transactions, controlling the activities of settlers and dealing with the influx of New Zealand Company migrants underpinned British policy in 1839. Other nations watched with interest. French and American whalers used New Zealand waters and ports. The United States had appointed the English trader James Clendon as its consul to New Zealand in 1839, and a shipload of French colonists was heading for New Zealand.
