[Chapter I]
Foundation and Settlement (1840-1850)
The City of Auckland was founded on the 18th September, 1840, by Captain William Hobson, R.N., Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand. Captain Hobson, on his arrival in New Zealand, made his headquarters at the Bay of Islands, at that time the most populous place in the colony, as far as white people were concerned, for here both missionaries and traders had settled in greatest numbers, and here, also, Mr. Busby, British Resident, was located. The Bay of Islands did not meet with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor, and, in his first conversation with the Rev. Henry Williams,[5] he asked for his opinion as to the most suitable place to erect the capital of the young colony. The Archdeacon recommended the Tamaki or the Waitemata. The Surveyor-General, Mr. Felton Mathew, visited both these localities, and favoured Tamaki, which, if his recommendation had been adopted, would have placed the seat of Government where Panmure now stands. Captain Hobson, however, decided to investigate the sites himself, and in company with Mr. G. Clarke, Protector of Aborigines, and Captain David Rough, who was appointed “Harbour Master at Waitemata” in August of this year, he sailed in the Revenue cutter Ranger, commanded by Captain Carkeek, from the Bay of Islands at the end of June, 1840. After inspecting the channel at the Tamaki, the Lieutenant-Governor decided against that site. He then visited the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour, and was again dissatisfied with the channel. However, as Captain Rough had left the vessel to take soundings near the Ponsonby shore, and on the report of these being satisfactory, Captain Hobson expressed his approval of the Waitemata as the site of the capital, but did not commit himself to a particular spot, and returned to the Bay of Islands. In a despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 15th October, 1840, Captain Hobson gives his reasons for “forming the seat of government on the south shore of the Waitemata,” and continues: “In the choice I have thus made, I have been influenced by a combination of circumstances: First, by its central position; secondly, by the great facility of internal water communication by the Kaipara and its branches to the northward, and the Manakou [sic] and Waikato to the southward; thirdly, from the facility and safety of its port, and the proximity of several smaller ports abounding with the most valuable timber; and finally, by the fertility of the soil, which is stated by persons capable of appreciating it, to be available for every agricultural purpose....” In a later despatch, dated 10th November, 1840, the Lieutenant-Governor states that he had “lately returned from a visit to the Waitemata, where I found the officers of the Government, and the mechanics and labourers under their orders, proceeding with the necessary works for establishing the town which I contemplate being the future seat of Government, and which I purpose distinguishing by the name of ‘Auckland.’”[6]
Hobson’s choice of the capital was strenuously opposed by the New Zealand Company, and its agents endeavoured to have Wellington made the seat of Government. The controversy between the Governor and the Company lasted until 1842, when Queen Victoria signified her approval of the Governor’s selection, notification of which appeared in the “New Zealand Government Gazette” of November 26th, 1842. Auckland remained the capital until February, 1865.
In September a move was made to occupy the new site, the ship Anna Watson (Captain Stewart) conveying the Government officers from the Bay of Islands to the Waitemata, where they arrived on the 15th. The vessel anchored off Freeman’s Bay, moving on the following day to an anchorage near Point Britomart, where the deepest water was found, and which was afterwards named Commercial Bay. East of Point Britomart the officers of the expedition took up their location in a pretty little bay, which was named Official Bay, and in the next bay, which received the name Mechanics Bay, the tradesmen found accommodation. Here the making of the city began.
The following extract from The New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette of September 24th, 1840, sets forth in detail the ceremony attending the establishment of the city:—“The barque Anna Watson, having on board several officers of the Government, mechanics, labourers, etc., anchored in the Harbour of Waitemata on Tuesday, the 15th instant, and the site for the intended Settlement on its shores having been selected by the Surveyor-General, on Friday, the 18th September, at 1 p.m., the ceremony of taking formal possession in the name of Her Majesty was duly performed. The whole party having landed, the British Flag was hoisted on a staff, erected on a bold promontory commanding a view of the entire harbour. The Flag was immediately saluted by twenty-one guns from the Anna Watson, followed by a salute of fifteen guns from the barque Platina, after which Her Majesty’s health was drunk at the foot of the flagstaff, and greeted by three times three hearty cheers. The Anna Watson then fired a salute of seven guns in honour of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, which was responded to by three hearty cheers, and ‘one cheer more’ from those on shore. The party then returned to the Anna Watson, and, after partaking of luncheon, a regatta took place between a five-oared gig belonging to the Surveyor-General and a six-oared gig belonging to the Anna Watson, both pulled in excellent style by amateurs. This was followed by a match for a purse of five pounds between two whale-boats pulled by sailors, and by another between two large canoes paddled by Natives. And thus concluded the ceremony of founding the first British Settlement established under the auspices of the Government in this part of New Zealand; a ceremony the more interesting, as this settlement is intended for the future Capital of what we may venture to predict will one day become a mighty empire. The Officers of the Government present on the occasion consisted of the [7]Police Magistrate, the [8]Colonial Surgeon, the [9]Harbour-master, the [10]Superintendent of Works, the [11]Sub-Protector of Aborigines, and the [12]Surveyor-General and his lady.”
Facsimile of the original Deed of Purchase of the site of the City of Auckland