Far East Kingdoms

Colonial New Zealand (Australasia) (Oceania)

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Oceania starts where South-East Asia ends, to the south-east of Indonesia and East Timor. Its territory is somewhat debatable, but the Australasia section encompasses Australia, New Zealand, some minor islands, and Tasmania. Some authorities include New Zealand in Polynesia.

The twin islands of New Zealand are located to the south-east of Australia and to the south of New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga. That location is especially interesting as it is near the antipode to Great Britain. Those twin islands consist of North Island (known by the Māori as Te Ika-a-Māui, meaning 'fish of Māui') and South Island (Te Waipounamu, meaning 'waters of Greenstone'), along with an assortment of surrounding smaller islands which lie to the north, east, and south of the main islands.

Far to the north-east, in southern Polynesia, are the Cook Islands. These islands are a self-governing entity in association with New Zealand. Another small island, Stewart Island, is just off the southern coast of South Island. Exploratory Dutch later named the main islands 'New Zealand' after they became the first Europeans to discover them (in 1606).

New Zealand was the last major habitable land mass to be settled by anatomically modern humans (see feature link for the full story). Polynesians from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands arrived by canoe around AD 1200-1300, during the Neolithic Oceania period. These became the ancestors of the Māori, who were not known by that name until the arrival of Europeans. The term Māori means 'ordinary' and was used by the natives to distinguish themselves from the lighter-skinned European settlers.

The people who would become the Māori spread around the New Zealand islands, dividing themselves into tribes and sub-tribes. The Polynesians called the land Aotearoa, meaning 'land of the long white cloud'. Certain tribal legends name Kupe as the first Polynesian navigator to discover New Zealand.

(Information by John De Cleene and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Asia in the Modern World, Claude A Buss (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1964), from Hammond's Historical Atlas (C S Hammond & Co, 1963), from The Horizon History of the British Empire, Steven W Sears (Ed, American Heritage Publishing Co, 1973), from Washington Post (16 September 1999 and 20 September 1999), and from External Links: A Brief History (New Zealand Immigration Office), and Cook Islands, New Zealand, and Niue (Flags of the World), and History (Te Ara - The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand), and New Zealand (Zárate's Political Collections (ZPC)), and BBC Country Profiles, and Peace Agreements (University of Edinburgh), and Cook Islands, New Zealand, Samoa, & Tokelau (Rulers.org), and Why wasn't I told? (New Zealand Geographic).)

1606

A Dutch admiral, Willem Jansz, discovers a Australasian landmass in the southern ocean which is eventually named Australia, but no effort is made to colonise it. Having sailed from the Netherlands in 1603 as skipper of the Duyfken, he is examining the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria at the time.

Willem Jansz later served as governor of Fort Henricus on Solor, in 1618-1628, during which time he also served as admiral of the Dutch fleet and then as as governor of Banda in 1623-1627

1642 - 1644

The Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, and the navigator, Visscher, leave Batavia in the Dutch East Indies and reach the north-western coast of Australia in their search for a commercial route to South America. In doing so he effectively ends the Neolithic Oceania period.

From there they sail through the Indian Ocean almost as far as Madagascar before returning to reach Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand. Their final return to Batavia is by way of the northern coast of New Guinea. Van Diemen's Land is named for Anthony van Diemen, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies and the sponsor of these voyages of discovery.

1769 - 1774

The British navigator and explorer, Captain James Cook, maps New Zealand in 1769. In the following year he becomes the first European to explore Australia. He reaches Easter Island in 1774.

The massive heads and torsos on Easter Island dot the landscape like stone sentinels, standing guard over the isle's treeless, grassy expanse

1815 - 1830s

The first missionaries arrive. In the 1830s, settlers pressure the British government to make New Zealand a colony to help establish law and order, to encourage settlement, and to prevent the possibility of French possession. From missionaries, the Māori learn European farming techniques and have their language transcribed into written form.

1827 - 1830

Te Pēhi Kupe and seven other Ngāti Toa chiefs of Kāpiti Island off North Island enter the Ngāi Tahu stronghold of Kaiapoi pa on South Island to trade for greenstone (New Zealand jade). The people of Kaiapoi are aware of a Ngāti Toa attack on some of their relatives, so they kill and eat the chiefs. A three-year war begins between the Ngāti Toa and the Ngāi Tahu.

1830

Britain's Captain John Stewart hides a hundred Ngāti Toa warriors aboard his brig, Elizabeth, and transports them to Kakaroa near the site of today's Christchurch on South Island.

Stewart entices the Ngāi Tahu chief, Tama-i-hara-nui, and his wife and daughter on board with promises to trade for muskets. The Ngāti Toa ambush and kill Tama-i-hara-nui and his wife. The chief has already strangled his daughter to 'save' her from possible enslavement.

This hand-coloured woodcut of a nineteenth century illustration attempts to show a Maori fortified village, or pah, in Taranaki, New Zealand, in the mid-1800s

Stewart is tried by the government of New South Wales for his part in the venture. With the Ngāi Tahu being considered heathens and therefore ineligible to testify, Stewart and his crew are acquitted.

1835

Thirty-five Māori tribes of North Island issue a declaration of independence, thereby asserting Māori sovereignty over all of New Zealand in spite of an increasing European presence there.

1839 - 1840

The planning out and settlement of the town of Wellington takes place, with this being the first major European town in New Zealand. Wellington becomes a busy port just as Britain inaugurates an official governorship of the islands, with William Hobson being the first holder of the post.

1840 - 1842

First governor. Signed Treaty of Waitangi.

1840 - 1841

On 6 February 1840, William Hobson, lieutenant-governor of New Zealand as part of New South Wales, signs the Treaty of Waitangi with assembled Māori chiefs, including Tāmati Wāka Nene of North Island. The treaty establishes British law in New Zealand, which becomes a colony within the colony of New South Wales.

New Zealand's Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, although this oil on canvas by Marcus King was produced a century later and has somewhat romanticised the event: Māori leader, Tāmati Wāka Nene, is shown signing the treaty in front of British officials and witnesses, with Governor Hobson the central seated figure

The treaty is carried around the country and, following vigorous debate, is signed by more than five hundred chiefs. While British controls are implemented, the treaty also guarantees the rights of the Māori, who become subjects of the crown. It is understood to be a sharing of power between the British and the Māori.

The treaty is so significant that, even today, Waitangi Day is one of the most important holidays in New Zealand. New Zealand becomes a colony in its own right in 1841, no longer under the authority of New South Wales. Hobson becomes the first full governor.

1842 - 1843

Acting governor.

1842 - 1850

The British New Zealand Company founds Whangarai, Nelson, and New Plymouth in 1842. In 1848, it establishes Otago and, in 1850, Canterbury. Auckland, the first capital, arises separately.

1843 - 1845

Governor.

1845 - 1872

The New Zealand Wars, also referred to as the Land Wars, break out as the Māori in North Island resist British encroachment. Following the conclusion of the wars, for some twenty years, the British government takes or purchases much Māori land.

British forces attack a Māori stronghold village in 1863, during the New Zealand Wars - detail from a watercolour of about 1865 by Orlando Norie

1845 - 1853

Governor (governor-in-chief after 1848).

1850s

Europeans explore almost all the interior of North Island, mostly with the help of Māori guides. South Island still remains mostly unknown to Europeans settlers, however.

1852

In response to settler demands for self government, the British Parliament passes the New Zealand Constitution Act of 1852, giving British settlers a central government with an elected house of representatives and an appointed legislative council, as well as six (and later ten) provincial governments.

1854 - 1855

Acting governor.

1855 - 1861

Governor.

1859 - 1881

In 1859, during the continuation of the New Zealand Wars, the Māori establish a kingship (the 'King Movement' or 'Kingitanga Movement') which opposes British rule of New Zealand. Britain manages to suppress the kingship by 1881.

A story which is rarely told is of Parihaka, which from 1879 and under the leadership of Te Whiti and Tohu began to resist European settlement encroachment by peacefully establishing their own settlements on land-grab areas

1861 - 1868

Governor for the second time.

1860s

Settlement on South Island flourishes as sheep farms are established to exploit the extensive grasslands. Canterbury province becomes the wealthiest province in the colony.

1861

Gold is discovered in Otago on South Island. A bit later, gold is also discovered on the west coast of the island. Dunedin booms and becomes the largest town in New Zealand.

1868 - 1873

Governor.

1870s

The government encourages the settlement of British people all over New Zealand. The government builds railways, and towns spring up everywhere. By 1882, New Zealand becomes a major supplier of meat to Great Britain. The expansion of agriculture clears out large tracts of forest land.

Although having suffered from the land clearances of the 1870s-1800s, New Zealand's surviving temperate forest on North Island is still very lush and verdant

1873

Acting governor (March-June).

1873 - 1874

Governor.

1874 - 1879

Governor.

1879

Acting governor.

1879 - 1880

Governor.

1880

Acting governor for the second time.

1880 - 1882

Governor.

1882 - 1883

Acting governor for the third time.

1883 - 1889

Governor.

1880s - 1890s

Following the rapid expansion of New Zealand's population and economy, a long depression sets in. Hard times and unemployment prevail. The population declines as many emigrate to Australia. Still, in 1882, with the first export of frozen meat to Great Britain, a revival of the economy is anticipated. New Zealand will become a principal food source for the United Kingdom.

Back in Britain the rebuilt Palace of Westminster had been completed in 1870 by Sir Charles Barry, although it still contained, at its heart, St Stephen's Chapel in which Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I held their parliaments

1889

Acting governor for the fourth time.

1889 - 1892

Governor.

1890

The Liberals, the first modern political party, are elected to power. The government buys up Māori land in North Island and distributes it to whites. It also subdivides large estates into family farms. Worker dwellings and old age pensions follow.

1892

Acting governor for the fifth time.

1892 - 1897

Full governor for the first time.

1893 - 1898

New Zealand becomes the first country in the world to give women the right to vote (in 1893). In 1898, New Zealand provides government pensions to the elderly (later, in the 1930s, the state will offer public housing for workers).

The New Zealand contingent took part in the suffrage procession in London in 1910, with Anna Stout standing left-of-centre, in front of the banner, having been elected in April 1892 as president of the Women's Franchise League in Dunedin, one of the leading local suffrage organisations

In the 1890s, as Australia prepares for the federation of its colonies into a single state, the Australians invite New Zealand to join. Already having developed its own national identity, New Zealand turns down the offer.

1897

Acting governor for the sixth time.

1897 - 1904

Governor.

1899

New Zealand sends soldiers to help Great Britain fight the Boer War. This is the first time New Zealand troops are sent overseas to fight a war.

1900 - 1901

The kingdom of Niue-Fekai, which consists of the island of Niue in the South Pacific Ocean, to the south of the Samoa Islands, east of the Tonga Islands, and west of the Cook Islands, becomes a British protectorate.

In 1901, New Zealand (still a British possession) annexes Niue-Fekai and makes it part of the 'Cook Islands Federation', which also includes Rarotonga and Avarua. New Zealand then incorporates the Cook Islands.

'The Dominion of New Zealand', Simpson & Williams Ltd, Christchurch, release on 4 November 1927 as a colourful booklet, having been created for the 'Department of Tourist and Health Resorts' to advertise New Zealand for holidays (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 2.0 Deed)

1904 - 1907

Governor. Became first modern New Zealand governor.

1907

On 26 September 1907, colonial New Zealand becomes a self-governing dominion which effectively remains independent of the United Kingdom. When it becomes self-governing, it includes the Cook Islands within its territory, which in turn includes the kingdom of Avarua, all of which form part of modern New Zealand.