RESIDENT JAMES BUSBY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 278, 20 August 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

RESIDENT JAMES BUSBY

Beginnings of Law and Order In New Zealand

“Mr. Busby has frequently been made the butt of the humorist, because his bark was necessarily worse than his bite. , The Maori cynic of his day chuckled as he dubbed him a man-0 "War without guns,’ and many a playful jest has since been made at his expense, all of which is both unfair and ungenerous to Mr. Busby,„ wrote the late Mr. Lindsay Buick in “The Treaty of Waitangi. With the approach of the centenary of British occupation in New Zealand the spotlight of history will be played on the life and work of Tames Busby, if for no other reason than that he. occupied the first official position in this country. His official position brought him into relations with Maori and pakeha, trader and missionary, with Marsden, Hobson and de Thierry, each of whom left his mark on the history of those early years.

James Busby was born in Glasgow in. 1801, and received his education at the High School, Edinburgh. When he was 21 he visited the South of France in search of health, and there made a careful study of French grape culture and wine-making. In 1923 Busby proceeded to Sydney with his father, mineral surveyor and civil engineer in New South Wales. The son went as a settler, taking with him capital to the value of £lOOO, but on his arrival at Sydney he received an appointment as collector of internal revenue. In 1825 Busby published the first book printed in Sydney, entitled “The Culture of the Vine and the Art of Wine-making.” He followed this with a further volume in 1830. In the summer of 1831 he left for England and made further visits to the vineyards of France and Spain. While Busby was in England he was offered the post of British Resident in New Zealand. Thus, at the age of 31, Busby became first civil servant in this country. The appointment came about as the result of representations made to the Home authorities by the Governor of New South Wales, missionaries at the Bay of Islands, and certain Maori chiefs, all of whom requested that some form of authority should be constituted to check the unhealthy state of affairs that existed. These petitions eventually bore fruit. Lord Goderich, Colonial Secre tary, sent the following communication to the chiefs in 1832: “In order to afford better protection to all classes, both natives of the Island of New Zealand and British subjects who may proceed or may already he estah lished there for purposes of trade, the King has sent the bearer of this letter, James Busby, to reside amoni’ you, as His Majesty’s Resident, whose duties will be to investigate all complaints which may be made to him. It will also be his endeavour to prevent the arrival among you of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and who may effect escape from the place to which they have been banished, as likewise to apprehend such persons of this description as may be found at present at large.”

This communication was conveyed by Busby to the Maoris and settlers on his arrival in New Zealand in the H.M.S. Imogene on May 5, 1833. Owing to unfavourable weather, no landing ceremony was carried out until on the 17th of the month, Busby went ashore, heralded by a salute of seven guns, and accompanied by the ship’s officers. After receiving a hearty welcome from the missionaries the official party repaired to the mission station at Paihia, where the Maoris delivered hakas and speeches of welcome. Thus was Busby installed, as Resident, the position carrying a salary of £5OO per annum, with an allowance of £2OO. For the seven years prior to 1840, he was the only official in the length and breadth of New Zealand. Governor Bourke, of New South Wales, explained to Busby the difficulty Involved in investing the Resident with legal power. “You are aware,” he wrote, “that you cannot be clothed with any legal power or jurisdiction, by virtue of which you might be enabled to arrest British subjects offending against British or Colonial Law In New Zealand. . . . You can, therefore, rely but little on the force of law, and must lay the foundation of your measures upon the influence which you shall obtain over the native chiefs.” Busby was informed that, the Supreme Courts of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land had power to hear ami determine all offences committed in New Zealand by the masters and crews of any British ships, or by any British subject living there, and persons convicted of such" offences might be punished as if the offences had been committed in England. This provision, however, entailed such complicated legal procedure that the ends of justice were virtually defeated'. Busby soon realised that his position was not an enviable one. As far as the apportionment of justice between Maori and European was concerned, he was a nonentity.

In spite of the difficulties attaching to his official position, Busby contrived to make himself useful. He devoted attention to placing the shipping trade on a more satisfactory basis; at the time of his arrival there was a number of New Zealand-built vessels plying for trade, but these had no register. They could not fly the Union Jack, and they could not be registered unless the country had a national flag; furthermore, there existed the danger of such unprotected vessels being seized by pirates. Accordingly, Governor Bourke approved of Busby’s suggestion that the time was ripe for the adoption of a national flag. Under the guidance of the Resident the ceremony of choosing a flag from three designs forwarded from Sydney was carried out. 28 head chiefs being given the honour of making the choice in the grounds of the Residency at Waitangi on March ‘461834. The popular choice incorporated the cross of St. George, and was acclaimed with due ceremonial and feasting. • In his capacity of Resident for nearly seven years, Busby found oilier matters to warrant his attention. Events were moving to the climax of British intervention In New Zealand affairs. His opportunity to preserve British interests came when news reached him that Baron de Thierry intended to set up a kingdom at Hokiangn. Busby and the Maori chiefs were seized with concern. To check any unwarranted activity on de Thierry’s part, tile Resident drew up the debatable document known ns the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand. Thirty-five chiefs assembled

at Waitangi signed the declaration in the presence of missionaries and merchants on October 28, 1835.

Briefly, the declaration stated that the country was an independent state, to be known as the United States of New Zealand, and that all power and authority were invested in the hereditary tribes and heads of tribes. One of the clauses provided for the meeting of the chief each autumn at Waitangi, where laws might be framed for the maintenance of justice and peace, and for the regulation of trade. However, de Thierry occupied the stage for but a brief space, and the fears of Busby and the chiefs# ultimately proved groundless. The declaration was referred to by Governor Gipps as “a silly as well as an unauthorised act —a paper pellet fired off at the Baron de Thierry.” Busby’s official position ceased, of course, with the arival of Hobson, but the erstwhile Resident rendered valuable assistance to the new Governor in acting as an intermediary between Hobson and the chiefs, and in drawing up the draft of the. Treaty of Waitangi, He remained an important figure during the treaty negotiations and the subsequent signing. He was one of the witnesses to the signatories of the original sheet of the document.

After a short visit to Sydney Busby returned to the Bay of Islands as a permanent settler, bringing with him the first hive of honey bees introduced into New Zealand. In 1870 he visited England to undergo an operation for a cataract, the result being successful; but an acute attack of bronchitis followed. His death took place in July, 1871, at Amerley, near London, when he was 70 years of age. As far as the writer is aware, there exists no biography of Busby, but in view of the part he played in the years immediately preceding British sovereignty, this is an omission that should be repaired.:— G.L.T. (Masterton).