Portal:New Zealand/Selected article/2
Captain William Hobson RN (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.
In his
Napoleonic wars and was involved in the suppression of piracy in the Caribbean. In 1836 he sailed HMS Rattlesnake to Australia where he spent several months surveying Port Phillip District (later Melbourne
).
In 1837 he sailed to the
Lieutenant Governor and British consul
to New Zealand (confirmed on 13 August 1839). He was instructed to purchase land "by fair and equal contracts."
Hobson arrived back in the
Waitemata Harbour to obtain more signatures and survey a suitable location for a new capital. In November 1840 the Queen signed a royal charter for New Zealand to become a Crown colony separate from New South Wales. Hobson was sworn in as Governor and Commander in Chief on 3 May 1841. (Full article...
)