Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9531, 25 November 1889, Page 4

Dr. Pollen's letter in our Saturday's, issue will .have.been read with considerable interest. It raises appoint which is not, as he says, of importance in itself, but which is surrounded with others of great interest to anyone" desirous of knowing the history of his adopted country. Dr. Pollen, we believe, was one of the earliest settlers in the colony. Whether he came before ! Captain Hobson's arrival or immediately after we cannot say, but he ;was living at the Bay of Islands before Auckland was founded, and reminis-; , cehces of that time will be always ac- [ ceptable. The books of the period are i many, but each contains only its own scrap of information. The published documents are voluminous, but many 1 others were lost in the wreck of the i White Swan when conveying the Gq- - vernment records from . to , Wellington. Information is not, therefore, always so full and precise as might be desired, and : personal recollections 5 are proportionally valuable. In the " present case the discussion was raised I by "Wellington claiming the 22nd of $ January, 1840, as the foundation of the colony in consequence of its being' the day on which the first settlers, sent by ' the New Zealand Company, anchored " in Port Nicholson. The day : hitherto > observed and,, we presume, to be obj served in connection with the approach-*

ing "Jubilee," is tlie 29th of j January* beings that-on which Captain>Hobson arrived at Kororareka (now Russell) in the year ; 1840r ' -,'j '■'■-,' Captain kHobson left England -as British Consul for New Zealand, where Mr. Busby-r-then living near the mouth of the Waitangi in the BayTof Islandshad been stationed for seven years as British Resident. On the 30th January, 1840, the day after his arrival, he issued at Kororareka a proclamation respecting land claims.. The/proclamation is. duly .sealed, signed by William Hobsoh, and countersigned "by His Excellency's command" by a Mr. Cooper who came with him as Treasurer and | Collector of Customs for the new colony. It is issued by " His Excellency, William Rbbson. Esq., Lieutenant-Gover 1 nor of the British settlements in progress in New Zealand." The original manuscript is to be seen in the Auckland Museum. The apparent confusion between British Consul and Lieutenant-, Governor sis easily explained. Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South ; Wales, issued an ante-dated Royal Proclamation in Sydney immediately after Hobson's departure from that place for New Zealand. The boundaries of New South Wales were thereby extended so as to include New Zealand. Gipps was appointed Governor of the new territory and Hobson Lieu tenantGovernor. The territory was to consist of such lands as British subjects might have acquired in New Zealand, and as its' chiefs; might cede to the Queen. Hence, ; while sovereignty 'was at once assumed by Captain Hobson, he did not officially proclaim the Queen's authority till the 21st May, 1840, -when the Treaty was returned to him at the Bay of Islands, with 512 signatures obtained in different parts of the North Island. The Treaty was dated the sth February, but first signed on the 6th, at the British Residency. Eater in the month Hobson went in H.M.s. Herald, Captain Nias, to inspect the Waitemata harbour. He had violent quarrels with Nias on the way, and on the Ist March was seized with paralysis when in the Waitemata. The Herald returned to Kororareka, and Hobson was taken to the mission station at Paihia, where he remained some months. Governor Gipps, on hearing of this, sent Major Bunbury to act as LieutenantGovernor if necessary. With him he sent a company of the 80th Regiment. Bunbury lauded at Kororareka, and marched his company "five miles" to Clendon's land, referred to by Dr. Pollen, , and then known as Okiata. Hobson feared another voyage with Nias, and induced Bunbury to go instead to secure the cession of the Middle Island. His instructions to Bunbury are dated at Paihia, 29th April, 1840, at which date he must still have been there. As to the purchase of Clendon's land referred to by Dr. Pollen the circumstances as, narrated at the time are sufficiently, extraordinar} r . 11l and weak, poor Governor Hobson's leading idea was to get from Sydney his wife and children, who were waiting there till he could find a house to receive them. Then, followed what was denounced as an incredible job, and for which the poor Governor was severely reprimanded, though all admitted that he was merely used for their own purposes by some of the higher officials who had been sent with him from Sydney. Okiata—3oo acres in extent, and with a house upon it—was bought by Government for £15,000, of which £2500' was paid in dratts on Sydney, and £12,500. left at 10 per cent, per annum. To-day, after fifty years li#ve passed, the land is perhaps worth about £150. The land was much too broken for a town, and never became one so far as we can find. Old settlers say that it and Kororareka were both known as "Russell," though a distinction was sometimes made by calling them new and old Russell respectively. On the oldest survey maps Kororareka is called Russell, while Clendon's.land does not bear any such name. Kororareka is known as Russell to the present day. When was it first called so 1 Perhaps Dr. Pollen can say. At all events, it is plain that the 29th January is the right and proper day on which to celebrate the foundation of the colony. It was then founded, in fact. The formal proclamation of sovereignty did not take place till the following 21st May circumstances above stated.