George Grey

George Grey was born in 1812. He was trained in the military and rose to the rank of lieutenant. His political views were shaped by long service in Ireland. After exploring western Australia in two expeditions between 1837 and 1839, Grey became deeply interested in the cultures of indigenous peoples. In 1840 he wrote a paper for the Colonial Office setting out his theories on racial assimilation. Grey impressed his superiors, who made him Governor of the struggling colony of South Australia. He succeeded in improving the financial position of the colony, but not in handling race relations.

In 1845 Grey was appointed Governor of New Zealand, which faced many of the difficulties he had confronted in New South Wales. The colony was virtually bankrupt, and race relations were at a low point. But Grey was given both the funds and the troops which had been denied the previous Governor, FitzRoy. And unlike FitzRoy, Grey was ruthlessly determined.

The Nga Puhi chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti were defeated in the north, and there was fighting in the Hutt Valley, near Wellington. At the time of the fighting in the Hutt Valley, the Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha was kidnapped and imprisoned without charge or trial. Under Grey's able lieutenant, Donald McLean, the purchase of large areas of fertile Maori land was negotiated. As a result European settlement grew rapidly. In 1848 Grey received a knighthood. He was the chief author of the 1852 constitution which set up provincial and national representative assemblies.

Grey left New Zealand in 1853 to become Governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa. But in 1860 war broke out in Taranaki over the disputed Waitara purchase, and Grey was reappointed Governor of New Zealand. The hope was that through his mana and authority he could make peace. In 1861 he introduced a system of "new institutions" - local tribal councils. Known as rūnanga, they would have some administrative and judicial functions. The aim was to avoid a repetition of the Waitara disaster, encourage further land sales, and create common ground between settler and Maori which would help racial assimilation. In this Grey largely failed. Fighting broke out again in Taranaki in 1863, partly because of his own delay in returning Waitara to its owners.

After defeating the Taranaki "rebels", Grey resolved to invade the Waikato, the seat of the Kingitanga (Maori King Movement). It was also the main site of resistance to land sales and settler encroachment. His justification was that the Waikato/Maniapoto tribes planned an attack on Auckland. Historians differ on whether this was a real threat, or was exaggerated by Grey and his officials. The Maori King and his followers were driven from their lands in the Waikato after a series of hard-fought battles. In 1864 Grey and his ministers resolved to confiscate almost three million acres from the "rebels" in the Waikato and elsewhere. Much of this land was set aside for military settlers or sold to pay for the costs of the war.

By 1865 the British Imperial authorities were demanding that settlers defend themselves, and that British Imperial troops withdraw. Grey was reluctant to carry out these instructions. He was aware that the colony’s military were unprepared, and that there was a danger of further conflict. As a result the British government terminated his appointment in 1868.

After a short period in England Grey retired to his New Zealand home on Kawau Island, where he studied ethnography. He later entered Parliament, and became Premier in 1877. Eventually he returned to England, where he died in 1898.

If Grey had not taken up a second governorship in 1861 he would no doubt be remembered more affectionately. His reputation is tarnished, however, by his later policies in Taranaki, his invasion of Waikato - which is now generally acknowledged to have been unjustified - and the massive confiscation (raupatu) of Maori land which followed. The confiscations, in particular, caused decades of bitterness and deep division.

• See also: biography of Governor Grey at DNZB website