William
Hobson, the future Governor of New Zealand and the virtual
founder of that state was born in Newtown Lodge, Waterford city,
on September 26, 1792. He came from a family that had resided in
Ireland for a century before William was born. They were well
established in Ireland in the reign of king James II and, even
then, their connection with Waterford had commenced. Captain Samuel Hobson,
William’s
great-great-grandfather, was listed as a
rebel against king James in the king’s Act of Attainder but he
lived to see the king beaten at the battle of the Boyne and
forced into exile. Waterford’s Protestant Corporation granted
honours and privileges to Samuel Hobson’s grandson, another
Samuel, because of the family’s loyalty to the new king,
William of Orange.
This Samuel,
William’s grandfather, was in charge of the British garrison
at Youghal about 1750 and was noted for his stern discipline
towards his soldiers. He had such a reputation for harshness
towards his prisoners that a deputation of townspeople,
accompanied by their womenfolk, waited on him to plead for
leniency. The captain promised to relax his iron discipline on
one condition, that he would be given, in marriage, the hand of
one of the supplicants, Angel, the daughter of Edward Laundy of
Muckridge, county Cork. The terms were accepted.
Samuel and Angel’s
son became a barrister and married, in 1772, a Martha Jones who
belonged to a family that had included a Protestant Archbishop
of Dublin, a Lord Chancellor (in 1605), a Lord Chief Justice, a
second Lord Chancellor, a bishop of Killaloe and a Governor of
Dublin, Lieut-General Michael Jones, in 1668. The first son of
that marriage, Archdeacon Hobson, was a remarkable Waterford
Protestant clergyman who held a number of ecclesiastical
appointments in Waterford and elsewhere. William was the third
of five sons. William spent but nine years in Waterford where he
had an unhappy childhood. His mother Martha was a harsh, proud,
woman and very severe on her children but his father was a
pattern of benevolence, remarkable in a son of the Youghal
tyrant.
William was sent to
England at the age of nine years to enter the navy, for which he
had been nominated by one of the more notorious members of the
Beresford family, Sir John Poo Beresford, one of the
illegitimate relatives of the Marquis of Waterford. This
nomination was obtained, apparently, by the false representation
that William was of age, whereas he was three years too young to
enter the service. He signed on as a second class volunteer, at
Deptford, London, on 25 August 1803.
His mother seems to have been
overjoyed to see her young son sent off to such a dangerous and
unhealthy career: most British warships in those days were
small, badly ventilated and hotbeds of yellow fever. The boy was
posted on
convoy duty to La Virginie,one of Beresford’s ships,
and he remained at sea, on his first posting, for
many months. During this maiden voyage Beresford amused himself
by occasionally making little Hobson drunk on brandy.
Young Hobson became a
midshipman at the age of thirteen
(though supposedly sixteen) in April 1806. He then went to sea on an expedition that lasted
three years during which time he had but brief periods ashore.
He spent his time on board acquiring
knowledge that was essential for one who was destined for
life in the navy. He gained, also, a thorough command of the
English language and he had good handwriting. His style was
good: he wrote forcibly, lucidly and with precision. After that
voyage, in 1808, Poo Beresford asked for young Hobson when
manning the “Theseus” (74 guns), which was to take part in
the famous blockade of French coasts during Napoleon’s land
campaigns. Napoleon had declared a blockade against British
trade and Britain had replied with a counter-blockade. Beresford
was in command of the British fleet and he conducted the
blockade just off the Basque Roads and, in the following year,
in the neighbourhood of Brest. On February 21, 1809,
Beresford’s three gunboats were attacked by twelve ships of
the French fleet; a few broadsides were exchanged at long range
and the French, who were running for the Basque Roads, gained
their point. That was the only naval engagement involving large
ships in which Hobson took a part. For the most part Hobson was
having adventures in small ships off newly discovered or little
known lands in the old and new worlds. Hobson was engaged,
whilst on the sloop Peruvian, in an interlude in the war
of 1812-14 against the United States of America and, in 1815,
Hobson was on the ship that brought home the first news of
Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
When Napoleon was
made prisoner and sent to exile in St. Helena in 1815,
Hobson’s ship Peruvian, escorted the general and
detoured to the island of Guernsey to load a supply of type of
French wines that Napoleon preferred. When they arrived at St.
Helena Hobson was placed in charge of a party that sank a well
in that sterile land. When Hobson left St. Helena at last he had
been at sea on continuous duty for thirteen years and by then he
had been made a first lieutenant. In 1821, Hobson commanded the
sloop Whim, assigned the task of attacking pirates in the
West Indies and it was there that he met the novelist Captain
Marryat, furnishing that writer with material for many of his
sea stories. Michael Scott, another novelist, made Hobson the
hero of a somewhat famous yarn, “Tom Cringle’s Log”
which was said to be, in reality, an account of Hobson’s West
Indian adventures. He and his crew were captured by pirates in
1821, but released after a week of ill treatment. He was
captured again in July 1823 while commanding a small flotilla
attacking pirate strongholds. He made a daring escape and
continued with his operations; the pirate chief who had captured
him in 1821 was routed and driven to his death. During his West
Indian service Hobson was afflicted by yellow fever three times,
and suffered recurrent headaches for the rest of his life.
Hobson was promoted commander in March 1824 on the
recommendation of Sir Edward Owen, who referred to him as 'an
officer of great merit and intelligence'. After a time in
England he returned to the West Indies, again taking action
against pirates and slaveships, and capturing the Spanish ship Diana.
While visiting Nassau, in the Bahamas, he met Eliza Elliott,
only daughter of a Scots West Indian merchant, Robert Wear
Elliott. They were married at Nassau probably on 17 December
1827, and went to England with Eliza's mother in mid 1828 when
Hobson's ship, the Scylla, was paid off. They were to
have four daughters and one son.
After returning to England Hobson made
a last visit home to Waterford but then he made a home in
Plymouth for himself and his wife.
Peace descended on Europe with the defeat of
Napoleon, and Hobson was unemployed. He bombarded the Admiralty
in London with memorials detailing his service record and asking
for an appointment. These pleas remained unheeded until Lord
Auckland became first lord commissioner of the Admiralty. In
December 1834 Hobson was appointed commander of the frigate Rattlesnake
, leaving Portsmouth in March 1835 to serve in the East
Indies. In 1836 the Rattlesnake was dispatched to the
Australia station. It acted as a transport ship, helped with the
founding of Williamstown (Melbourne) and surveyed Port Phillip.
Early
in 1837 the British Resident in New Zealand, James Busby, sent
word that tribal war was endangering British subjects. Hobson
left in the Rattlesnake , arriving at the Bay of Islands
on 26 May. He met Busby, spoke with missionaries, prominent
settlers and Maori leaders. With Samuel Marsden and Busby he
interviewed the warring chiefs, Pomare II and Titore, attempting
to reconcile them, and warned against violence to British
subjects. He visited other parts of the North Island, returning
to the Bay of Islands on 30 June. Marsden sailed with him to
Port Jackson (Sydney); there the ship was refitted and arrived
in England in early 1838.
Hobson submitted a report on New Zealand, in which he proposed a
system of trading 'factories' similar to those in India, and a
treaty with the Maori to secure the necessary land. In a letter
to his wife he entertained the idea of an official appointment
to New Zealand. On 12 December 1838 Lord Glenelg, secretary of
state for the colonies, requested the Foreign Office to consider
appointing a British consul to New Zealand. Hobson was chosen,
and accepted in February 1839; his appointment as consul was
confirmed on 13 August 1839. His appointment as lieutenant
governor was ratified on 30 July. Lengthy instructions, partly
an apology for intervention, partly directions for establishing
a British colony, were issued by Lord Normanby, Glenelg's
successor, on 14 August. The sovereignty of the Maori people,
ratified by Busby's Declaration of the Independence of New
Zealand of October 1835, was reaffirmed. Hobson was to obtain
land from Maori 'by fair and equal contracts', reselling to
settlers at a profit to fund future operations.
The Druid sailed from Plymouth on 25 August with Hobson
and his family on board, arriving at Port Jackson on 24
December. Hobson spent three weeks there, became acquainted with
his immediate superior, George Gipps, the governor of New South
Wales, and selected his staff. Leaving his family in Port
Jackson, Hobson sailed on the Herald on 19 January 1840,
arriving at the Bay of Islands on 29 January. During the voyage
he had heated arguments with the captain, Joseph Nias, who was
obstructive of Hobson, apparently out of envy.
On 30 January, in the CMS church at Kororareka (Russell), Hobson
read the Queen's commission appointing him lieutenant governor,
omitting to read his consular commission, and cautiously calling
himself only lieutenant governor of the British settlements in
progress. Invitations were issued to Maori leaders to a meeting
at Waitangi. In the meantime Busby and Hobson drafted a treaty,
later called the
Treaty
of Waitangi.
The meeting was held on 5 February in a large marquee in
front of Busby's house, beginning at 12 noon. Henry Williams,
CMS missionary, was interpreter, and Hobson was joined on the
platform by Busby, Nias, and Catholic, Wesleyan and Church of
England missionaries. The British flag was lowered and the
treaty read out in English and Maori. Maori leaders then spoke:
the first speakers were against the treaty, but the feeling of
the meeting changed when Tamati Waka Nene, Hone Heke and
Patuone, who had been counselled by the missionaries, commended
it.
Next day Hobson received signatures from over 40 chiefs, 26 of
whom had previously signed the 1835 Declaration of Independence;
it would later become obvious that Henry Williams's translation
of the treaty, and thus Maori understanding of it, was
inadequate. A week later Hobson and his staff went to a meeting
at Mangungu, Hokianga, attended by 2,000-3,000 Maori. There was
concerted opposition to the treaty but 56 or more chiefs signed
after Hobson had warned, through his interpreter, that the Maori
would lose their lands to the untrustworthy Europeans he had
been sent to govern, and after he had given assurances that the
Crown would protect their lands, .
Hobson sailed on 21 February to the Waitemata Harbour, intending
to survey it as the location of the future capital, and to get
signatures from other North Island Maori. He had renewed
quarrels with Nias over the use of men and boats, and on 1 March
suffered a stroke which paralysed his right side and impaired
his speech. He was taken back to the Bay of Islands and cared
for at the CMS mission station at Waimate North. Nias returned
to Port Jackson, reporting that Hobson was not expected to
recover and that Willoughby Shortland was deputising for him.
Better news about Hobson's condition was conveyed by Alexander
Lane, surgeon of the Herald , who added that 'violent
mental excitement' was the cause of the disease. Meanwhile
Hobson was recovering daily and by 15 March could begin a diary
to his wife; his handwriting improved steadily over the
following weeks.
Gipps sent Major Thomas Bunbury, with 80 soldiers, to assist
Hobson and to take over government if he was incapacitated.
Bunbury left on 5 April on the Buffalo with Eliza Hobson
and family, reaching the Bay of Islands on 16 April. He found
Hobson performing nearly all his duties. The two men became good
friends. Shortland had begun to organise the collection of
signatures on copies of the treaty in various parts of the
country, and Bunbury sailed with some soldiers on the Herald to
Coromandel, the Bay of Plenty, the East Coast, the South Island
and Port Nicholson (Wellington) for the same purpose.
Hobson had been informed in February that New Zealand Company
settlers had arrived at Port Nicholson, were laying out town
sites, and flying the national flag of independent New Zealand.
On 21 May, disregarding the fact that copies of the treaty were
still circulating and responding to an act of high-handedness by
the settlers' Council, Hobson hurriedly drafted proclamations
asserting British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand.
Shortland and some soldiers were sent to Port Nicholson on 25
May; the Council was disbanded and the offending flags struck.
The settlers' leader, William Wakefield, later went to the Bay
of Islands with an address pledging their allegiance to the
Crown and suggesting that Hobson make Port Nicholson the
capital. This was declined, but Hobson was reassured by their
gesture.
Another crisis faced Hobson when the French frigate L'Aube arrived
on 11 July, en route for Banks Peninsula, where the
Nanto-Bordelaise Company expedition was about to found a
settlement. The ship's captain, C. F. Lavaud, met Hobson and
courteously refused to acknowledge his status until he should
hear from the French government. Hobson hastily dispatched two
magistrates to Akaroa to hold courts as a sign of 'effective
occupation' by British subjects. They were followed soon after
by L'Aube, and on 17 August the Nanto-Bordelaise ship Comte-de-Paris
arrived, carrying the immigrants.
On 18 September the British flag was raised on the shore of the
Waitemata Harbour, land was bought and preparations made for
establishing the capital there. The town was named after
Hobson's patron, Lord Auckland. In October the first 40
immigrants arrived, from Australia. The official move came in
February 1841, when the government officials, their families,
and official records travelled from Kororareka in the brig Victoria.
Compared with Port Nicholson, Auckland was sparsely populated,
labour was in short supply, and food had to be imported from the
north or from Sydney; prices, wages and rents were high.
Further strife with the New Zealand Company occurred late in
1840 when it offered for sale blocks of land at Wanganui and
Taranaki. The Port Nicholson settlers sent a petition to the
Queen complaining about Hobson's treatment of them and
requesting his dismissal. Hobson dealt with their criticism in a
dispatch of 26 May 1841 to the secretary of state.
New Zealand became a Crown colony separate from New South Wales
when Hobson took the oath as governor and commander in chief on
3 May 1841; a royal charter had been signed by Queen Victoria
the previous November. As governor, Hobson now dealt directly
with the home government, but the answers to his dispatches took
at least nine months to reach him. He was further handicapped by
the inferior advice of his Executive and Legislative councils.
Shortland, the colonial secretary, was brusque, tactless and
incompetent. George Cooper, the colonial treasurer, was even
more unsatisfactory. Francis Fisher, the attorney general, was
competent but suffered ill health and soon retired. Hobson was
undoubtedly misled in some of his decisions; for example, he
purchased land at Kororareka for £15,000, a transaction of
which the secretary of state later disapproved. Shortland and
the venal Felton Mathew, the acting surveyor general, engaged in
questionable appropriation of land in Auckland before the first
town land sales.
In August 1841 Hobson was at last able to visit Wellington,
travelling on the Victoria; he stayed at a waterfront
hotel, received settlers and heard their complaints, and
selected magistrates. The people of Wellington were reassured
about their title to land. Provisions were made for court
hearings, and customs duties were removed. Relations with
Wellington were improved by this visit, but the company's
founding of Nelson was to cause further discord. Hobson sailed
to Akaroa, where settlement of French claims was still awaited.
After returning to Auckland, Hobson was joined by more able
staff: William Swainson, attorney general from October 1841, and
William Martin, judge of the Supreme Court from January 1842.
After the murders of a European family, their servant and a
Maori child in the Bay of Islands in November 1841, a Maori
uprising was feared. However, the Supreme Court trial and
subsequent execution of Maketu occurred without conflict, and
was taken to emphasise the rule of law over both races. An
outbreak of intertribal warfare and cannibalism at Thames was
another challenge to Hobson's authority: the offending chief,
Taraia, wrote to him, saying the fighting was a Maori affair
only. At first Hobson intended to send soldiers, but finally his
officials with the assistance of missionaries calmed the
situation and admonished the
participants. Throughout his
administration Hobson had insufficient troops to deal with major
conflict, and could only resort to moral suasion. He appointed
George Clarke as protector of aborigines; this was the beginning
of the Native Department, but it was a position compromised by
the requirement that Clarke should also act as government land
purchaser.
Hobson's government was ridiculed and criticised by journalists
in Wellington and Auckland. Over-protective of his authority, he
took their words too seriously. The New Zealand Herald and
Auckland Gazette under the editorship of Samuel Martin, who
made swingeing attacks on land policy and government
expenditure, was closed down.
The poor state of the government's funds, because of excessive
official expenditure and diminishing income from land sales,
became a pressing concern. Hobson appealed to the Colonial
Office in January 1842. During the long delay before he received
a reply, and on the advice of his Executive Council, he issued
unauthorised bills on the British Treasury. High land prices and
economic depression inevitably led to settler unrest, fomented
in Auckland by the Senate clique, a group of radicals led by
local merchants, who agitated for representative government.
They petitioned the secretary of state, Lord Stanley, for
Hobson's recall. When Hobson called a meeting to vote a
congratulatory address to the Queen on the birth of a princess,
the Senate held a rival meeting and sent a counter-address. As a
naval officer accustomed to instant obedience, Hobson found
their unruly behaviour intolerable.
In continuing ill health since his first stroke, Hobson suffered
another stroke and died at 12.15 a.m. on 10 September 1842.
After a military funeral on 13 September, he was interred in a
brick vault in the new burial ground at Auckland, now known as
Grafton cemetery. Eliza Hobson remained in New Zealand until
June 1843, returning to England with her children and living at
Stoke, Devonshire. She died in 1876.
William Hobson's intelligence and sound education, most of which
was gained at sea, are reflected in his dispatches and letters.
He was of medium height and slender build, appearing prematurely
aged from years in the tropics and from the inroads of disease.
His private conduct was irreproachable; he was a good husband,
father and friend, a gracious host and an entertaining speaker.
A firm Christian believer and member of the Church of England,
he showed marked tolerance for other denominations. When some of
his entourage endeavoured to ban the Catholic religion in New
Zealand, Hobson gave an assurance to Archbishop Pompallier, who
was present at the treaty negotiations, that all Christian
religions would be tolerated. In his official duties he strove
to be just, and saw protection of the Maori as a major reason
for establishing British rule. He could be obstinate and lacking
in diplomacy. He was capable of poor decisions, but the tragedy
of his governorship arose mainly from his ill health and inept
advisers, and unrealistic Colonial Office policy towards the new
colony.
Extracted,
in part, from a series of articles in the Waterford News
Aug 12/Sept 16, 1938; from
The
Oxford Illustrated History of New Zealand, ed. Keith Sinclair,
©OUP, 1993 and from Simpson,
K. A. 'Hobson, William 1792 - 1842'. Dictionary of New
Zealand Biography, updated 31 July 2003,
URL:
http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/
(The
original version of Simpsons biography
was published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
Volume One (1769-1869), 1990
©
Crown Copyright 1990-2003. Published by the Ministry
for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand.
All rights reserved.
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