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It’s 29 January 1840, and William Hobson, British consul, soon to become the first Governor of New Zealand, arrives in Kororāreka (Russell) with instructions from the British government to form a treaty with Māori. Although it’s just over 70 years since Captain James Cook first visited this country, the growing European presence (around 2000 by this time) has already brought immense changes for Māori and is becoming increasingly problematic...The Herald dropped anchor off Kororāreka on Wednesday, 29 January 1840. Busby hurried on board to welcome Hobson and offered to organise a meeting of chiefs at the Residency (his Waitangi home) on 5 February. A hundred invitations were quickly printed, and on the 30th they went out to Confederation chiefs, to representatives of deceased Confederation chiefs and to a few others who had not signed the 1835 Declaration of Independence. Over the next few days, Hobson worked on the wording of the treaty he had been instructed to make with Māori. The task was difficult because he had no legal training and the Colonial Office had not provided him with a draft... Several local missionaries gave advice; and, with the help of his secretary James Freeman, and George Cooper, Collector of Customs, Hobson wrote a rough draft of a treaty. Source: Claudia Orange: Questions of sovereignty.
Captain William Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands aboard HMS Herald on 29 January 1840 with a small group of officials, including an executive council consisting of Colonial Secretary Willoughby Shortland, Colonial Treasurer George Cooper and Attorney-General Francis Fisher. The legislative council comprised the above officials and three Justices of the Peace. Hobson appointed as three Magistrates, Messrs. Shortland, Johnson, and Matthew. Source: Wikipedia.
Sources
- Claudia Orange: Questions of sovereignty: https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/claudia-orange-questions-of-soverei...
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hobson