Stamp Story—No. 71 NEW ZEALAND ASKED TO BE OCCUPIED

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29820, 12 May 1962, Page 8

Stamp Story—No. 71 NEW ZEALAND ASKED TO BE OCCUPIED

Britain Had Ignored Her For 70 Years [By KEN ANTHONY]

IT is sometimes said that the British Empire was acquired in a fit of absence of mind. And certainly the way in which New Zealand was colonised provides some evidence in support of that theory. Abel Tasman, the Dutch navigator, was the first European explorer to reach New Zealand, as far back as 1642 but he saw so little of the country that he considered it to be part of the Antarctic continent!

It was left to the famous Captain Cook to survey the coastline and to provide the first realistic map of the area in 1768. For 70 years afterwards. New Zealand was practically ignored by European governments. And when the country finally came under Britain’s wing, it was done reluctantly —and at the request of the natives. The Maoris were sufficiently impressed by missionaries from England to suggest that British rule for themselves.

British sovereignty was proclaimed only in 1840, when

the French began to show an interest in New Zealand.

The first British immigrants arrived on January 22 of that year, and within two weeks the Treaty of Waitangi was signed with the Maoris. In the same year the first local post office was established. This 3d stamp, one of a series issued in 1940 to mark the centenary, shows the actual landing of the pioneers at Petone Beach. As can be seen from the design, this colonisation was

remarkable in that the landing party consisted entirely of civilians—surely the most peaceful “occupation” on record. The 5d stamp in the same series shows the formal raising of the Union Jack. But this did not take place until August, 1840, with the first arrival of a British warship. The visit was prompted by the appearance of a small group of French settlers at Akaroa. Those who remained in New Zealand became British citizens.—(Central Press Features, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.)