TREATY OF WAITANGI - THE EARLY SETTLERS

1. THE TREATY OF WAITANGI
THE FIRST SETTLERS
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2. WAKEFIELD SCHEMES
As a boy, Englishman Edward Gibbon Wakefield
(1796-1862) was always in trouble at school.
When he was 20, he married a girl in secret.
They had two children before she died. Four
years later Edward married a 15-year-old
schoolgirl with a rich father. He married in
Scotland, but her family chased them to France
and Edward got three years in Newgate prison.

3. THE COLONISATION SCHEME
He used the time in prison to work out his next money-making scheme –
colonisation of New Zealand. Edward's idea was to buy land cheaply from
Maori and sell it at a higher price to people from Britain.
1. The New Zealand Company was formed in London
2. People with money came to buy land in New Zealand (even though they
had never been to New Zealand)
3. Wakefield’s son (Edward Jr.) was sent to New Zealand to scout for land
4. Rumours flew around London that soon the British government was
going to take over New Zealand

4. FIRST PASSENGER SHIP IN WELLINGTON
On 22 January 1840 the first passenger ship entered the narrow
heads of the harbour at Wellington.
The settlers found wind, sand, thick bush and swamps.
They and their belongings were dumped on the beach to wait for surveyors
to mark out streets and sections.

6. LEARNING NEW SKILLS
The settlers faced earthquakes, gales and fires.
They had to learn new skills - how to build a raupo hut, how to fish, how
to hunt wild pigs and birds, how to recognise danger such as tutu
berries which could kill them, how to make tea from leaves of manuka,
how to get through bush with no roads, how to cut down the forest with
axes and crosscut saws, how to cope with being so isolated, how to make
clothes, how to cope with medical emergencies and the death of children.

7. RAUPO HUT

8. 2500 PEOPLE LIVING IN WELLINGTON
The only way to reach the Bay of Islands was by ship and even a ship
might not make it because the coasts were so dangerous and the winds so
bad.
Yet by the time of the first Anniversary Day of 22 January 1841, almost
2500 people were living in Wellington.

9. HOMEWORK