The originator of the New Zealand Company was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Hutt six months after arriving in the colony. He had been quick to lobby for the introduction of responsible government.
New Zealand Company
Events In History
1 February 1842
The Fifeshire arrived in Nelson with immigrants for the New Zealand Company's first settlement in the South Island.
22 January 1840
The New Zealand Company's first settler ship, the Aurora, arrived at Petone to found the settlement that would become Wellington.
17 August 1839
The sailing ship Tory dropped anchor in Queen Charlotte Sound to pick up fresh water, food and wood before proceeding to Port Nicholson (Wellington Harbour).
Articles
British & Irish immigration, 1840-1914
Who were the ancestors of Pākehā New Zealand? Where did they come from and what sort of people were they? These are some of the questions which this feature sets out to answer. Read the full article
Page 2 - Overview - immigration to New Zealand 1840-1914
Overview of immigration trends
Page 3 - Where did they come from?
The composition of the inflow from Britain and Ireland was quite different from the composition of the United Kingdom as a whole.
Page 4 - English immigrants
Table and graph showing which part of England immigrants to New Zealand came
Page 5 - Scottish immigrants
Table and graph showing which part of Scotland immigrants to New Zealand came
Page 9 - Conclusions about immigration 1840-1914
These statistics suggest some larger conclusions about the character and values of New Zealand's founding Pākehā
Taming the frontier
In 1832 James Busby was appointed as the official British Resident to New Zealand. After arriving in the Bay of Islands in May 1833 he took steps to tame what he saw as a chaotic frontier society. Read the full article
Page 4 - Land issues on the eve of the Treaty of Waitangi
In the late 1830s the British government became concerned about how land was being obtained from Māori. Action was needed, it decided, to protect Māori from the worst ravages of
Treaty timeline
See some of the key events between 1800 and 1849 relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. Read the full article
Page 1 - Treaty events 1800-49
See some of the key events between 1800 and 1849 relating to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Exploring New Zealand's interior
After charting the coastline, European surveying and exploration of the interior were a fundamental part of the settlement process, defining the boundaries of ownership and identifying resources, useable land and access routes. Read the full article
Page 1 - Exploring New Zealand's interior
After charting the coastline, European surveying and exploration of the interior were a fundamental part of the settlement process, defining the boundaries of ownership and
The Wairau incident
On 17 June 1843, 22 European settlers and four Māori died when an armed party of New Zealand Company settlers clashed with Ngāti Toa over the purchase of land in the Wairau valley, near modern-day Blenheim. Read the full article
Page 1 - The Wairau incident
On 17 June 1843, 22 European settlers and four Māori died when an armed party of New Zealand Company settlers clashed with Ngāti Toa over the purchase of land in the Wairau
Page 2 - Ngāti Toa and the New Zealand Company
The Wairau incident had its origins in the migration of Ngāti Toa and its allies from Kāwhia to the Kāpiti coast in the southern North
Page 3 - Violence erupts
When Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata told William Wakefield to stop the survey, he told his brother Arthur to ignore
Page 4 - The fallout from Wairau
The news from Wairau shocked settlers throughout the colony. The killing of men who had surrendered was viewed as cold-blooded murder. Many feared that these events signalled the
Biographies
Robert FitzRoy, who first visited New Zealand as commander of the Beagle in 1835, was Governor from 1843, succeeding the late William Hobson. He served until 1845, when he was recalled to Britain and replaced by George Grey.
Politician Francis Bell staunchly supported the Waitara purchase in 1860, which led to the Taranaki war. In 1862 he became Minister of Native Affairs. His administration has been described as 'not particularly efficient or vigorous', although he did support the 1862 forerunner of the Native Land Court
William Spain was a land commissioner who investigated the New Zealand Company's claims that it had purchased 20 million acres in 1839. The claims were not settled until several years after Spain's death
A clever theorist of mercurial character, Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862) masterminded the large-scale British settlement of New Zealand.
The multi-faceted Charles Heaphy made quite an impact on colonial New Zealand as an artist, explorer, soldier and colonial administrator. He was the first colonial soldier to win the Victoria Cross.
A stalwart of Wellington political life, Featherston served as provincial Superintendent and later served as a member of the House of Representatives, colonial secretary and minister without portfolio.
As the only son of New Zealand Company director Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Edward Jerningham Wakefield's life was inevitably bound up in his father's colonial and political ventures.
Colonel William Wakefield was one of the earliest European settlers at Port Nicholson (Wellington), where he served as the New Zealand Company’s Principal Agent between 1840 and 1848.
Main image: Land Commissioner William Spain
William Spain was an attorney from Hampshire appointed to head the commission established to investigate all land purchases in New Zealand prior to British annexation.
