William Spain was an attorney from Hampshire appointed to head the
commission established to investigate all land purchases prior to
British annexation.
The news from Wairau was greeted with shock by settlers throughout the
colony. The killing of men who had surrendered was viewed as
cold-blooded murder. There were fears that these events signalled the
beginning of a widespread Maori insurrection.
On 17 June 1843, 22 European settlers and four Maori were killed when an armed party of New Zealand Company settlers clashed with Ngati Toa over the purchase of land in the Wairau valley, near modern-day Blenheim.
A clever theorist of mercurial character, Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862) masterminded the large-scale British settlement of New Zealand. (He also played significant roles in the settlement of South Australia and Canada.)
William Spain was born in England in 1803 and trained in the law. In 1841 he became a Land Claims Commissioner in New Zealand. His task was to investigate the New Zealand Company's claims that it had purchased a total of some 20 million acres (8 million hectares) in 1839. Even though most of these purchases were hotly disputed by Maori, hundreds of settlers had arrived to take up the land.
Francis Bell arrived in New Zealand in 1843. He settled at Nelson, where he worked for the New Zealand Company. Between 1847 and 1848 he was involved in purchasing land at Wairarapa, Taranaki and Waitohi (Picton). He did not acquire any land at Wairarapa, but was more successful in Taranaki and the South Island.
Robert FitzRoy was born in England in 1805, and later studied at the Royal Naval College. His first command was the Beagle. In 1831 he surveyed the coasts of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Straits of Magellan. He was accompanied by the naturalist Charles Darwin, whose later publications were largely based on discoveries and observations made during this voyage.
In the late 1830s the British government became concerned about how land was being obtained from Māori. Action was needed, it decided, to protect Māori from the worst ravages of European contact.
The Fifeshire arrived in Nelson with immigrants for the New Zealand Company's latest venture, which followed the settlement of Wellington, Whanganui and New Plymouth.
Surveyors arrived in Port Nicholson to lay out the proposed New Zealand Company settlement of Britannia at Pito-one (Petone). This site would prove unsuitable, prompting a move across the harbour to the present-day site of Wellington.
After charting the coastline, European surveying and exploration of the interior were a fundamental part of the settlement process, defining the boundaries of ownership and identifying resources, useable land and access routes.
The Scots - where from?1842 –521853 –701871 –801881 –1915 UK Census 1871Far North6.1%5.9%12.6%3.6%3.1%Highlands10.3%16%10.4%8.8%8.5%North-east7.9%10.2%9.7%11.9%11.7%East Lowlands36.2%32.7%25.5%31.2%31.5%West Lowlands36.2%26.5%32.8%38%37.1%Borders3.3%8.6%9%6.7%8.1%The table and graph suggest:In terms of regional origins the migrants from Scotland to New Zealand were a very balanced cross-section of the Scots as a whole.
This graph charts the immigrants from all countries who came to New Zealand from 1840 to 1914. This includes those who migrated from places such as Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and most significantly Australia.
