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.

Britain is dragged into New Zealand

In 1831 Yate persuaded 13 northern chiefs to sign the “Letter to King William.” This petition sought British protection from the French. It seemed that the good Mister Yate used the arrival of the French ship ‘la Favourite’ to stir up the Chiefs into believing that France was about to annexe New Zealand and would take the opportunity to take revenge for the murder of Marion du Fresne some 40 years earlier… as it turns out the French ship was simply continuing their tradition of scientific research and left without doing much at all.

What is interesting is that by recognising the letter Britain gave some semblance of recognition of the country itself. Combined with the terrible events surrounding the Elizabeth affair it was enough to encourage the Colonial office under Stephen to look at some way of controlling the behaviour of British citizens in the islands.

Sending a Resident would help to alleviate the situation. Instructions sent to the Governor in Sydney were relayed with the expectation that he would provide a suitable candidate. By all accounts James Busby was an irritating twit. He seems to have continually sought higher office within the administration of the Governor and did not seem to realise how annoying he was. The new position of resident allowed the Governor to fulfil the Colonial office instructions and to rid himself of a pest at the same time. Unfortunately he disliked Busby so much he refused to provide him with all of the things necessary for the job. A ship, troops were denied him, he even had to plead for the house he needed to live in. Busby had plans for a 500 pound house drawn up, the Governor reduced it to 250 pounds. The problem of course was that while Port Jackson had to provide the Resident they were unwilling to pay for him – there were no taxes to be collected in New Zealand.

A Resident is just about the lowest position available in Diplomatic circles. It ranks below Consul and Ambassador. A resident has few powers and would not normally do more than represent his countries views to his hosts. By appointing Busby however this appears to be a tacit recognition of New Zealand as a sovereign nation.

Busby was expected to do little except keep the peace. Without any formal backup he failed miserably. Thus, the unkind name given to him of “Man’o’war without guns’. He was left in the position of writing letters to anyone who would listen. But he was not entirely witless and recognised the need for an ensign that would allow New Zealand built ships to be registered and allowed to trade with Sydney without being confiscated.

The Flag chosen in 1834 was negotiated by Busby and a number of Northern Chiefs. Its design was one of three presented to them. When it was gazetted by the Admiralty it again reinforcedthe view of New Zealand as an independent state.

The following year Busby again exceeded his authority and negotiated with 35 Northern chiefs and created the Declaration of Independence. This was also sent to Great Britain and again it was recognised by the Government.

In the meantime Baron De Theirry had arrived in the North causing a mild panic amongst some, apart from Busby who sent off a number of wild letters to the Governor and the Colonial office concerning an imminent takeover by the ‘King’ of New Zealand. Luckily for Busby the Nga Puhi of the Hokianga were less than impressed with the Frenchman’s claims to 40,000 acres (sold to him in 1820 by Hika) and allowed him only a few hundred. His French settler promptly rioted and left. Poor old De Theirry ended his days as a piano teacher in Auckland.

There was also growing French interest in Akaroa and Busby continued to bombard the Colonial Office with letters of annexation in the south. Not only were the French a colonial threat but the large numbers of American whalers and the appointment of an American Consul (Clendon) was also a matter of concern.

My Dads Birthday

My Dads birthday today made me consider something. My kids called their Koro and told him all about their day and how much they were looking forward to seeing him next week. He's old of course (but fit) but when I told the kids how old it seemed to fly over their heads which made me think...What had he lived through?

Well lets see...

• He was born and lived through the worst of the Great Depression. Living in rural New Zealand cannot have been easy.
• The rise of the fascists and the appeasement process that blighted the late 1930's.
  
• His brothers left to fight in the Second World War and suffered through their capture in Crete and their incarceration for the duration of the war.
• The end of the various Fascist regimes in Germany, Italy and Japan.
• After WWII the Cold War began, with all the attendant paranoia that came with it.
• The betrayal of both the Palestinians and Jews in Israel and the on-going violence in the Middle East.
  
• He joined the Maori diaspora from the rural East Coast to seek work in and around the Country.
• The Korean War.
  
• Eventually he joined the Navy and travelled around the world.
• He met my Mum and she came to New Zealand to marry and raise a family.
• They settled on the North Shore, close to the Naval Base in Devonport.
  
• He was sent to Malaysia to fight in the 'Emergency'.
• He was supposed to observe the Nuclear testing at Christmas Island but was left behind to play for Navy in an important rugby game... many of those sailors and their children now suffer various forms of radiation poisoning.
• We sent 'White' teams to play the Springboks in the 1950's, '60's and '70's
  
• Britain joining the EEC and the effect on our economy.
  
• The Vietnam War.
• The 'Muldoon' era including the infamous 'dawn raids'
  
• Three major wars in the between Israel and various Arab nations. (1948-67-73)
  
• Rogernomics and the economic Boom of the 1980's.
• The subsequent crash of 1987 that ended a lot of peoples fortunes.
• The release of Nelson Mandela and the fall of Apartheid in the 1990's.
• The fall of the Berlin Wall and with it Communism.
• Desert Storm
• 9/11 and the War on Terrorism.
  

I may add more later, but its a lot isn't it? Consider this one of those odd digressions I wander off on in class! It would be nice to know that some of you considered asking your own Koro/Kuia about their lives.