Use the tool bar at the bottom of this interactive to zoom in and navigate. The drop down menu at the top lists the names of those who signed – selecting a name takes you to their signature on the document.
Herald (Bunbury) copy of the treaty
For more than two months in 1840, Major Thomas Bunbury sailed around New Zealand acquiring signatures for the Treaty of Waitangi. His instructions were to complete negotiations in North Island areas that had not been covered and to gain agreement in the South Island. It was during this trip that he proclaimed British sovereignty over the South Island – before he had finished gaining the agreement of chiefs there to the treaty. He gained 27 signatures on this Māori-language copy of the document.
Bunbury left the Bay of Islands on HMS Herald on 28 April. A week later he met with chiefs at Coromandel Harbour. Some signed the treaty, but others felt that more time should have been allowed for discussion and refused to sign. Two chiefs signed when the ship anchored off the Mercury Islands.
Bunbury’s first stop in the South Island was on 28 May at Akaroa, where two chiefs signed two days later. Bad weather forced the ship to bypass Otago, but three chiefs signed on 10 June at Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait. The Herald then returned up the east coast, sending a boat ashore in Otago Harbour, where two chiefs signed. Another signing occurred at Guards Bay in Cloudy Bay on 17 June. Ngāti Toa chief Nohorua insisted that his signature be witnessed by his son-in-law, whaler Joseph Thoms; according to Nohorua, if his grandchildren lost their land, their father would share the blame.
Having proclaimed sovereignty over the South Island at Horahorakakahu Island, Bunbury sailed for Kapiti, off the south-west coast of the North Island. Off Mana Island he encountered Te Rauparaha and insisted that he sign. The chief assured Bunbury that he had already given his agreement to Henry Williams, but he neveretheless signed Bunbury’s copy on 19 June. After a brief stopover at the mouth of the Tukituki River in Hawke’s Bay, where Te Hāpuku signed, Bunbury arrived back at the Bay of Islands on 2 July.
The Herald (Bunbury) copy was probably made by translator Henry Kemp. It is on parchment and suffered severe damage from rats decades later while in storage. The copy has Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson’s signature.
Follow links in this table to find out more about those who signed and the signing occasion.
