Lord Normanby (Constantine Henry Phipps, 1st Marquess, 1797-1863) was the Secretary of State for the Colonies from February 1839, when the British relationship with New Zealand was being finalised.
It was he who approved the annexation of New Zealand to Britain and approved Captain William Hobson as the first Lieutenant-Governor.
On 14 August 1839, Lord Normanby issued the final version of the detailed instructions guiding Hobson as to how he was to proceed, including gaining Maori approval for a cession of sovereignty, the broad outline of the need for a treaty to be signed with Maori and the way in which existing purchases by Europeans were to be dealt with.
In those instructions, Normanby confirmed that the British Government had already recognised New Zealand as "a sovereign and independent state" (to the extent that was possible with a non-centralised group such as Māori) and insisted that there was absolutely no intention to seize the country. Instead, he said, Hobson was to gain "the free and intelligent consent of the Natives according to their customary usages" for "the recognition of Her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands which they may be willing to place under Her Majesty's dominion".
This Lord Normanby was the first Marquis of Normanby; the third Marquis of Normanby was Governor of New Zealand from 1875 to 1879.
Adapted from material originally found on www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz, a site developed by the Treaty Information Unit in the State Services Commission
Lord Normanby
Ko Lord Normanby (a Constantine Henry Phipps, 1st Marquess, 1797-1863) te Hēkeretari o te Whenua o Ingarangi mō ngā Koroni mai i Pepuere 1839, i te wā e whakatatūria ana te tū o Ingarangi ki Aotearoa. Nāna i whakaae te whakapiringa o Aotearoa ki Ingarangi, nāna hoki i whakaae ki a Te Hopihona hei Rūtene-Kāwana tuatahi. I te 14 o Akuhata 1839, ka whakaputaina e Lord Normanby te kaupapa whakamutunga o ngā tini tohutohu ki a Hopihona, kei reira nei ngā tikanga hei whai māna i tana mahi hou. Kei roto i ēnei te rapu i te whakaaetanga o te Māori ki te tuku i te mana whenua, ngā take i whakaarotia ai he mea tino nui tēnei hainatanga tiriti ki te iwi Māori, me ngā tikanga hei whai mō ngā hoko whenua ki ngā Pākehā kua oti kē.
I ēnei tohutohu i whakaae a Normanby e ai ki te Kāwanatanga o Ingarangi, kua oti kē a Aotearoa te whakaingoa hei "whenua whai mana, hei whenua motuhake" (me te mōhio anō he uaua tēnei āhua i te noho motuhake o tēnā iwi, o tēnā iwi). E ai ki ngā tohutohu nei, kāore rawa te Karauna i hiahia ki te kōhaki i te whenua hou. I raro i ngā tohutohu, me mahi nui kē a Te Hopihona "kia āta whakaae mārire te iwi Māori i runga anō i ā rātou tikanga tuku iho" kia "tukua te mana whenua o te katoa, o tētahi wāhi rānei o ngā moutere e hiahia ai rātou ki te tuku, ki raro i te mana o te Kuini o Ingarangi''.
Ko tēnei Lord Normanby te Mākihi o Normanby tuatahi, ko te Mākihi tuatoru o Normanby te Kāwana o Aotearoa mai i 1875 ki te tau 1879.