Law and order in the Bay of Islands during the 1830’s was pretty much non-existent despite the missionaries’ best efforts. Even the British Resident (a kind of consul) appointed to Waitangi in 1833 had so little power that Māori named him the “man of war without guns”. Responsible residents at Kororāreka, European and Māori, decided to petition the British King William IV asking for the benefit of British protection. The reluctant British eventually agreed and declared New Zealand a British … Continue reading A New Nation