Proclamation of William Hobson 30th January 1840

Proclamations of William Hobson, 30 January 1840 After arriving in Kororāreka on 29 January, William Hobson organised a meeting for the following day (30 January). It was held at Kororāreka or Russell Church, where he read the above proclamations.

Hobson proclaimed before 300 settlers and 100 Māori that his duties as Lieutenant-Governor had begun. Hobson also declared that the boundaries of New South Wales were extended to include any parts of New Zealand which “is or may be” acquired in sovereignty. In a second proclamation he announced – in accordance with Gipps’s Sydney edict – that no land titles would be recognised by Britain as valid unless derived from or confirmed by a grant from the Crown, and that henceforth private land purchases from Māori would be regarded as null and void.

As in Sydney, the local land purchasers reacted with dismay, but they were partly reassured by Busby, who advised them to have faith in the fairness of the British Government. Some settlers, however, sought to undermine Hobson’s work by telling local Māori the Kāwana (Governor) planned to make them taurekareka (slaves) of the Queen.