On 26 May 1840, Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield returned to the Manawatū district in the schooner Ariel, captained by George Thomas Clayton. While they were there, seven rangatira (chiefs) from Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Apa and Ngāti Te Whiti, among other tribes (iwi), signed the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) copy of the Treaty of Waitangi. Both missionaries witnessed the signatures, but it was Williams who conducted the negotiations.
Each of these signatories added a distinctive mark next to their name, which was written by Williams.
