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In 1806 a Ngāpuhi man, Moehanga (Te Mahanga), was the first Māori known to visit England, from 27 April to 20 June 1806, where he met King George III and Queen Charlotte. Also he was given access to a local prostitute whom, he claimed, became pregnant with his child. He travelled on the HMS Ferret with John Savage, in late December 1805 and returned via Sydney in March 1807. He was still living in the Bay of Islands in 1827, when he was described as the uncle of Te Whareumu, the Ngāti Manu leader at Kororāreka (now Russell). (Maori had been known to be travelling back and forward to Sydney (1806 Te Pahi & his sons) and there were many whaling ships from 1800 taking whale oil operting from Sydney.) An account by Peter Dillon, in his 1829 Narrative and Successful Result of a Voyage in the South Seas, describes a meeting between Moehanga and Dillon. More than twenty years after travelling to London with John Savage, Moehanga recalled meeting King George III and Queen Charlotte. Moehanga also claimed to Dillon that he received a prostitute, whom he supposedly got pregnant. Historian Vincent O'Malley has researched these claims and found no supporting evidence, noting that Moehanga arrived in London on 27 April, and departed on 20 June.
Hongi Hika, the Ngāpuhi chief, was among a group that arrived in England in 1820. He sought an audience with King George IV, worked on a Māori grammar/dictionary in Cambridge, and obtained muskets in Sydney on his return trip. Hoani Wiremu Hīpango met Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, and the Māori King, Te Rata met George V in 1914.