The Waitangi Treaty lost and found.

Waitangi Treaty lost and found.

People usually know about the Waitangi treaty as being a founding document that was signed by many of New Zealand’s Maori throughout the country. There is more to the story and there were other documents that had been written before including letters to the British King at the time. There was more involved at the time with the creation of the treaty and what had occurred to it after being signed. The Treaty itself still raises many issues within New Zealand and has resulted in many settlements over land disputes along with the wording of the treaty itself as it was written in both English and Maori. The journey of the actual treaty is an interesting story to follow though there area few events that occurred during the time afterwards.

Before the Waitangi Treaty in 1840, there was another document that had been created in 1835 called the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand. This was mainly towards the Northern Tribes in the Bay of Islands area, which was drawn up by James Busby. It was after around 13 tribes had sent off a letter to King William IV in 1931 asking to be protected from other powers. There is debate over the role of the treaty being the first step towards the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840. 34 tribal chiefs had signed the declaration in 1935 and by the end of 1839 there had been an additional 18 chiefs. New Zealand wasn’t devoid of Europeans as there were missionaries in the country working with the Maori and traders arriving in the Bay of Islands before the arrival of James Busby.

The English version of the treaty was put together over a few days by James Busby with notes from William Hobson. The wording of the treaty was based on instruction from Lord Normanby the Colonial secretary in London. The treaty was then translated into Maori overnight by Henry Williams the leader of the Church Missionary Society. The treaty was read out in both English and Maori to the group who were in front of Busby’s house in Waitangi, which is why it is called the Waitangi Treaty. The people had gathered on the 5^th of February.  The people who were present at the time were hundreds of Maori, Officials of William Hobson along with English and French missionaries. Others who were present were residents of Waitangi who could not have a say about the treaty no could they sign it as the treaty was more of Maori concern with their relationship with the British Crown. The Maori debated the treaty as was their custom to give the positives and negatives well into the night. It was not until the next day on the 6^th that the Maori present were ready to sign. 45 of the Maori signed with either signatures of the moko facial patterns. Hobson’s people and Hobson himself were summoned and was in civilian clothing, which is different to paintings and other media showing William Hobson in full military uniform. The first Maori to sign was Hone Heke Poki and to Hobson the surprise was the people who spoke against the treaty also signed it.

Copies of the treaty were made and sent to other parts of New Zealand to be signed in 1840 with the help of missionaries and traders. This occurred between February and September. In October of 1840 one copy of the treaty had been sent to the Colonial office in London. A number of women had also signed the treaty though they were of higher status in society

There has been many issues relating in New Zealand due to the treaty and many events have occurred since then. One of which was the beginnings of the Northern Wars also known as the New Zealand Wars that began in 1845 when Hone Heke cut the flag pole down at least four times in Kororareka otherwise known as Russell today.  I wont go into the complex details of the ramifications of the actual treaty as there were many that changed the country especially since I am following the path of the document.

The treaty itself was nearly destroyed by fire in government buildings in 1841 where it was rescued by the clerk at the time. In 1865 the documents were sent to Wellington when the city became the capital of New Zealand. The documents then vanished again only to be found in the basement of government building in Wellington and had been damaged where rats, water and time had been involved in 1908. An attempt to restore the documents resulted in some more damaged and they were placed into storage in a vault within the Department of Internal affairs. In 1957 the archives act was passed and the treaty became property of the National Archives as it was now considered to be an official archival subject. Some more restoration began in 1966 and around 1977.

The document has been on display on and off especially when it was put on display in 1940 for its 100^th year anniversary. The treaty went under display again in 1961 within the Alexander Turnbull Library before being returned to the care of the National archives in 1978 where new facilities were being built for the safe storage of the documents to be put on display. The treaty was placed within a secure vault in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand before being placed into its new location in 1991 at the National Archives newly built Constitution room that had been officially opened  on the 9^th of December. There is a display in the Te Papa museum in Wellington about the treaty and where it went to be signed. It also explains the differences between the English language and the Maori language of the two documents.

Since the creation of the treaty at Waitangi in 1840 the document itself has had a journey and so has the country of New Zealand. There has been conflicts with the people in the country especially in regards to the land that was taken from them though some of it was sold by other Maori who were enemies to the tribes in question. There were creations of movements within the country including that of the Kingi movement. In 1975 there was a tribunal established under the Waitangi Treaty Act of 1975 that was meant to look into the breaches of the Treaty.

Sources and further reading:

King, Michael The Penguin History of New Zealand, Penguin Books, Auckland, 2012.

 McLauchlan, Gordon A short history of New Zealand, David Bateman, Auckland, 2014.

Reed, A.H. The Story of Northland, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1975.

 National Archives Treaty

Women signatories to the treaty of Waitangi 

Drafting the Treaty 

Treaty of Waitangi 

Declaration of Independence 

Treaty Events 

Preserving the documents 

Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 

The Beginning of the Gallipoli campaign and the aftermath for Turkey

The Gallipoli campaign and the aftermath

World War One was seen as the war to end all wars though that would not entirely be true. One of the battles of the war has become widely known throughout Australia and New Zealand not because it was a victory, but due to the fact it was a defeat. This defeat is celebrated every year on the 25^th of April. The conflict, which is often overlooked as an invasion of another country and the country pushing back at the invaders. Nearly everyone knows the stories of the campaign with its battles between Turkish soldiers and the ANZACs. I wont be doing a blog on that here as it tends to be well written about. The beginning and what came afterwards for Turkey might not be known very well.

The idea of invading Turkey by sea and taking Constantinople was created by Winston Churchill, First Lord of Admiralty and First Sea Lord Fisher. The idea was to send the navy up the Dardanelles and onto Constantinople where the idea was to bombard the city hoping for a quick defeat. The hope was for other countries to join the allies. The attack had begun on the 18^th February 1915 and was not until 18^th March 1915 where the allied ships had to withdraw after a few had struck mines. The Allies had lost three older battleships; two older ships and one modern battle cruiser were badly damaged. This set in motion for the operation that would become known as the Gallipoli campaign.

The task for the Gallipoli campaign seemed simple enough where the ANZAC troops were meant to land on a small beach on the Gallipoli peninsula, over run the Turkish positions and march onto Constantinople.  The campaign that began in the early hours of April 25^th in 1915 was anything but a cakewalk. To other nations outside of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand the campaign is remembered as just another name in a list of battles during World War one. The German and Ottoman troops were not just fighting against the ANZAC troops as the story seems to go, but there were other soldiers located on other beaches. There were British, Indian, French and Newfoundland soldiers too. . In total there were supposedly almost a million men fighting in the area. When comparing casualties at Gallipoli the Ottomans suffered more casualties than any other campaign of the war. The last of the ANZAC troops were evacuated from Gallipoli on the 20^th December 1915.

The battle to the Turkish people was known as the Battle of Canakkale. Canakkale was actually a town that was nearby situated on the side of the straits called Canakkale otherwise known to Europeans as The Narrows.

World War One was not the only conflict that Turkey or the Ottoman Empire was in. It did seem like the country had been in one continuous struggle. Conflict in Turkey had begun in 1902 with the Macedonian Insurrection followed by World War One and then the war of Independence that ended in 1923.

Turkey views the commemorations around the victory of the British and French fleet on 18 march 1915. Turkey now remembers the campaign as the launching of Mustafa Kemal’s career. He had won nearly all his victories against the ANZACs though he was unknown to them until the end of the war. Today there is a massive monument that dominates Chunuk Blair commemorating his contributions. Both Australians and Turkish people see Gallipoli as a unique bond between the nations. Turkey is proud to have fought the war on both sides as it was their victory and the ANZACs defeat.

Visiting the locations of the war graves in Europe including those at Gallipoli in Turkey for many would be viewed as visiting a sacred place as the locations are no longer just sightseeing. To many who visit, Gallipoli provides many different experiences to people.

The career of Mustafa Kemal later known as Ataturk was a soldier whose career was launched from the Gallipoli campaign and he would later become Turkey’s first president. Not long after the end of World War one the Turkish war of Liberation began in 1919. This bought about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and a new nation was created out of the ashes in 1923, The Republic of Turkey. The nation’s capital moved inland to the small town of Ankara where it was redesigned along with a number of reforms that included abolishing the caliphate and Islamic educational Institutions. Istanbul had been seen as the centre of the Ottoman government and Islam for 500 years so the reason for the new location. One of the reasons for Ankara was that it had a railway and the town was redesigned with automobiles in mind as the streets would be wide to accommodate the vehicles.

On a side note:

In New Zealand a native contingent committee had been established as they thought Maori had every right to fight in the war even when there had been Imperial concern about Maori picking up arms against Europeans. The first contingent had sailed in Feburary 1915 and they were sent to Malta for garrison duty that would free pakeha soldiers to fight on the front. Due to the casualties in Gallipoli and changing Imperial policy, the native contingent landed at ANZAC Cove on 3^rd July 1915 joining other New Zealanders already there. During the campaign 50 Maori lost their lives also according to an account by Te Rangi Hiroa the efforts of the Maori had earnt the respect and admiration of British troops.

Bibliography

Aksan, Virginia H ‘Ottoman to Turk: Continuity and change’,

International Journal, 61, Winter 2005/2006, pp. 19 – 38.

Erickson, Edward J. ‘One more push: forcing the Dardanelles in March 1915’, Journal of Strategic Studies, 3, 2001, pp. 158 – 176.

Fewster, Kevin Bargam,Vecihi and Bargam, Hatice Hurmuz Gallipoli: The

Turkish Story Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2003, pp. vii (contents), ix-x, 1-3, 5, 6-

15, 18.

Foster, John ‘No man’s land has two sides: A view for children of Gallipoli, 1915, from the Turkish and Australian trenches, Birdbook, 41, 2003, pp. 21 – 27.

Kucar, Duygu ‘Ankara, a small town transformed to a nation’s capital’, Journal of Planning History, 9, 2010, pp. 43 – 65.

Scates, Bruce ‘In Gallipoli’s shadow: Pilgrimage, memory, mourning and the Great War’, Australian Historical Studies, 119, 2002, pp. 1 – 21.

Native contingent. Maori at war 

Pioneer Battalion, Maori 

The Maoris in the Great War 

Turkey in the First World War  

The Middle East during World War One 

Turkey from 1911 to the End of World War One

The beginnings of Penal colony of New South Wales

Colonising Australia was no easy feat and was something that did take years to sort out even before sending convicts to the new country. All I am doing is pointing out the basics to the fledgling colony and not a huge essay that would end up going for hundreds of words. Some information could be a little outdated especially Geoffrey Blainey’s The Tyranny of distance. I did get two versions of information about La Perouse and his vessels. I am not opening the whole debate over what was or wasn’t happening within the new penal colony. This is just some simple information about the very beginning. If you do want to read further on the subject there is plenty of literature around that gives in depth details.

Colonising Australia

England had a problem with criminals in London during the 1700s and needed ideas on where to send the undesirables. When the war in America had begun, transportation of criminals to the plantations had stopped. This would have been the American war of Independence in 1776, where they wanted to separate themselves from Britain. Around 1,000 people had been sent to America a year until the war. The government debated over other locations to send the criminals though India had no need for labour and the East India Company would have to be paid for transport. They were also afraid if criminals were sent to Africa they would band with the Negros to destroy the British forts.

They did have the idea to send people to far off places to have a distant colony. In 1777, Sir Joseph Banks suggested sending people to Botany Bay as he had been on the voyage with Captain James Cook. Banks explained escape would be impossible, no wild animals or hostile natives though at the time the House of Commons dismissed the idea. Some convicts were sent to America and Honduras in 1785, but both countries refused them. The penitentiary act of 1779 had been replaced by in 1784 by another act to transport of felons and other offenders.

The idea of a colony began gaining momentum in 1779 with rumours of a settlement and in 1883 another person who was on Cook’s voyage, James Mario Matra wrote to the government about the colony. By 1785 there had been suggestions settlements in New South Wales, New Zealand, New Caledonia or Norfolk Island would be both disposal places for convicts and have commercial advantages. The scheme to have a penal colony in Botany Bay was announced in 1787. By 1788 an act had passed for a criminal court in the colony and the transportation act was extended to include the new colony. Arthur Phillip in 1784 had been given the commission of governor.

Other reasons

There could have been other reasons for the colony in New South Wales and the dumping place of undesirables. There had been suggestions as early as 1756 by Frenchman, Charles de Brosses for a French colony in New Britain. There were objections within England about the creation of the colony especially about the expense and being no place to send felons. Others had ideas the colony could be an asylum for American refugees. People also didn’t want to rock the boat with the trading monopoly of the East India Company.

The fleet arrival

The 11 ships of the First Fleet entered Botany Bay within two days of each other in January 1788 on a journey that had taken 8 months and a week. Phillip had arrived at Botany Bay on the 18^th of Jan.  By the 20^th the rest of the slower ships including the Sirius had arrived. They did find Botany Bay to be unfit, so sailed to Port Jackson which was a better location for the founding of the new colony. The fleet did have problems exiting the Bay to move to Port Jackson something that was witnessed by the French.

The French arrive

The French had arrived not long after the first fleet had in 1788. The two ships had been spotted and were at first thought to be English ships. It was actually Jean – Francis de Galaup, comte de La Perouse a French explorer with the ships La Boussole and L’Astrolabe.  They had been on a journey that had began nearly two years before. On board were many scientists from Botanists to natural historians. The French stayed in the area for 6 weeks. The two ships would later be lost after leaving the colony on the 10^th of March. Luck would have it that La Perouse would send his journals, some charts and letters on board a British naval ship The Alexander one of the ships used in the first fleet.

Australia Day?

It was on the 26^th of January 1788 that Arthur Phillip and his men raised the flag proclaiming the land to belong to Britain. The marines had shot volleys and the officers had drank to the King’s health. It wasn’t until the 7^th of February when Phillip formally proclaimed Australia to be established. The convicts did not step ashore until the 27^th of January and for many the first time they had been ashore in more than a year.

Natives

The natives around the area of Sydney Cove had come to visit Phillip while they had been exploring the area. The people were curious about the Europeans and food being cooked in a metal pot. In Botany Bay some Aboriginal people had been observed carrying spears and shields and some officers had gone ashore to meet them. Surgeon White had shot at them with a pistol to frighten them and had been written to say that it had the desired effect as the bullet had hit a shield. Over the first few months of the colony there had been little contact with the native people.

Weather

It had been noted that the weather was harsh and the colonists were not prepared for the climate. There had been summer storms where five sheep had been struck by lightning while under a tree.

Shelter

After two years not many of the colonists had been upgraded from tents to crude shacks with walls made from the bark of the cabbage tree. In the first year only four timber buildings had been built. The governor himself lived in a framed tent for the first 18 months. The first brick building completed was the governor’s house.

Flax

One of the reasons to send people to the colony was said to be for flax that had been found on Cook’s voyage. There had been thoughts to create a colony on Norfolk Island for this purpose. France had been interested in Flax too and on a journey that began around 1785, a French expedition under Jean de La Perouse arrived at Norfolk to secure specimens. He had been prevented by strong surf on the island to land.  The next leg of the journey would take him to Botany Bay.

It had been known that the New Zealand natives could weave flax and a request had been sent to get people from there to show the colonists. In 1793 two maori men were delivered, one was a warrior and the other a priest. It soon became known that women were the experienced ones at weaving as the men were inexperienced. Britain at the time along with other countries relied upon flax from the Baltic so wanted to have their own market.

Other visitors including Second Fleet.

Apart from the early French visitors after the arrival of the First Fleet there were other visitors in Australian waters. Maori were visitors to the penal colony around 1800 called Tipahee and son. Other ships were traders like with the Dutch East Indies trader Waaksamheyd in 1790 that helped with a convict escape. Other ships were usually American Whalers. The Second Fleet began arriving in 1790, which one of the first was the Lady Juliana.

Sources:

Blainey, Geoffrey The tyranny of distance, Sun books, Melbourne, 1966.

Hill, David, 1788 The brutal truth of the first fleet, Random House, North Sydney, 2008.

Hughes, Robert The Fatal Shore, Vintage books, 2003.

Parker, Derek Arthur Phillip, Woodslane Press, Warriewood, 2010.

Shaw, A. G. L, 'The beginning of transportation to Australia'  Convicts and the colonies: a study of penal transportation from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia and other parts of the British Empire, London: Faber and Faber, 1966. pp. 38-57.

la-perouse-jean-francois-de-galaup 

26 january 1788 

First Fleet 

Captain Arthur Phillip & Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse 

http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/colonial/