The 1830's Britain arrives

Towards the end of the 1830’s several things came to a head to force Britain into New Zealand. As late as 1838 after Hobson’s reported that GB would be best served by establishing the Indian style factories. The settlements would be British but their hinterland would be Maori. This of course presupposed that British interest in New Zealand lay only in exploitation of its resources by traders…

In 1839 the Colonial Office was prepared to send Hobson back to negotiate such a plan, and then in the space of only a few months this became a decision to annexe the whole country – albeit with the agreement of as many chiefs as possible.

Missionary pressure had originally been against any increase in British presence so that they could complete their ‘civilise and convert’ mission. However this changed in the late 1830’s and they became more inclined toward a treaty of some sort. This may have been because of the French and the imminent arrival of settlers.

Bishop Pompalliers arrival was alarming for the CMS/WMS. They had had the country to themselves and were happily converting Maori to the Anglican religion. Pompallier threatened them in two ways, he was French and he was Catholic. Its debateable which of these two evils they feared the most. But fear them they did. The missionaries expected Britain to be the dominant presence in New Zealand, any chance that it might become French and thus Catholic was unacceptable. Their monopoly on Native souls was threatened and they did not want them tainted by Papist heresy. New Zealand as a British colony would ensure their legitimacy and their dominance. They were able to feed off the anti-French sentiments in Busby’s communications to the Government.

In their own way they could influence the Government. Stephen at the Colonial Office has been described as the most powerful man in the British Empire. The Office oversaw the running of the entire Empire from Australia, India, the Caribbean and North Africa. Nothing happened anywhere without their knowledge, and if the Government needed to know anything they asked Stephen.

Stephen for his part was an Evangelical Christian. He was also an important member of the CMS. Communications from the missions in New Zealand inevitably found their way across his desk.

Interest in New Zealand as a possible site for settlement had existed for some time. Many people saw this a way of making money and so there was great interest in exploiting the situation. There were several iterations of the New Zealand Association/Company. The first sent settlers in 1825 but this attempt failed and the Company also failed.

In Britain in the 1830’s settlement again raised its head. It was best represented by the Company set up by Edward Gibbon Wakefield. We have covered his early career in class and there will be a handout covering him in more detail, later.

Many of the people involved in his scheme were also involved in the Government, including several members of Parliament. As 1838 moved into 1839 the Company and the Government eyed each other warily. The Company feared the intrusion of the Government into their affairs, especially the supply of cheap land their scheme relied upon.

For their part the Government were worried that an unfettered influx of settlers would result in disputes with the Maori that would inevitably require an armed intervention by the Government. Humanitarian sentiments meant that they could not allow this to happen.

When Hobson arrived in Port Jackson his expected status had changed from Britain’s Consul to New Zealand to Lieutenant Governor of the Colony.