Who is william hobson

Hobson explained the Treaty and urged the rangatira to sign it. Throughout the day, the rangatira debated. Some saw the Treaty as the best way forward. Others said the Treaty was unnecessary. Still others thought it was dangerous. By nightfall no one had signed. The meeting was adjourned for two days. Marcus King, Reconstruction of the Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi , , photograph of painting.

CC BY 2. We are not whites, nor foreigners This country is ours No one knows just what was said, but by morning most rangatira had decided they should sign the Treaty after all. It was when Hobson reached the Waitemata with the Treaty, now referred to as the travelling Treaty, that he suffered a serious stroke. This meant that while he convalesced the work of 'travelling the Treaty' around the country fell to others.

This prompted Hobson to proclaim British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand. The need for this action was further heightened by the arrival of the French frigate L'Aube at Banks Peninsula with plans to create a French settlement. Hobson hastily despatched two magistrates to Akaroa as a sign of 'effective occupation' 4. Hobson was often handicapped by having insufficient troops to deal with major conflict and therefore was left with argument as his sole resort.

As a naval officer he was also accustomed to instant obedience, which he did not always get in New Zealand. He was a firm Christian and Anglican, yet showed a marked tolerance for other denominations. He died aged fifty in September Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. About Collections Online. Biography of William Hobson Topic.

His mission accomplished, he returned to Sydney where he advocated negotiated treaties with Maori chiefs and the establishment in New Zealand of 'factory' enclaves on the Indian pattern. He returned in the Rattlesnake to India in August to help to meet expected trouble with Burma; but the crisis passed before he arrived and he was ordered back to England where he was put on half-pay.

Meanwhile the problem of maintaining law and order in New Zealand had become more urgent. A House of Lords report in and the dispatches of Governor Sir George Gipps and Busby argued strongly for increased British responsibility in the islands.

The British government, which had been impressed by Hobson's report on the country, in December appointed him British consul in New Zealand. With instructions from the Colonial Office to treat with the Maoris for the cession of their lands, he left England with his family in August and arrived in Sydney at the end of December to seek assistance from Gipps on whom he was to be temporarily dependent.

After proclaiming the extension of the boundaries of New South Wales to cover any territory that might be acquired in New Zealand and arming Hobson with appropriate powers, especially over the sale of land, Gipps in January sent him in the Herald , with a detachment of troops, to be lieutenant-governor of New Zealand.

Landing at Kororareka on 29 January he secured, with the help of Busby and the missionaries, the signatures of about fifty chiefs to a treaty made at a large Maori gathering at Waitangi.

By this treaty the Maoris, in return for British protection, ceded their lands to Queen Victoria. Intent on asserting his authority over the whole country and incensed with the New Zealand Co. Further hampered by lack of co-operation from Captain Nias of the Herald , he was forced to await reinforcements under Major Bunbury from Governor Gipps before sending the treaty throughout the North Island for further signatures.

On 21 May he proclaimed British sovereignty over the whole country: the North Island on the ground of cession and the South Island by virtue of James Cook 's discovery. On 1 July the short-lived connexion with New South Wales came to an end and New Zealand became a separate colony with Hobson its first governor.

With the ready counsel and limited resources of Gipps still available to him, he set about securing firm and efficient administration. In spite of vigorous protests from Port Nicholson settlers who wanted it in Wellington, he transferred the seat of government from Russell to Waitemata Auckland to be near the main centres of Maori and British settlement and possible sources of racial friction.

In August , however, he partly allayed the settlers' discontent by making a promised visit to Wellington.