Signing the Treaty in Manukau in 1840
Bruce Ringer
Where was the Treaty of Waitangi signed in the Manukau area?
On 6 February 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in the Bay of Islands. Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson afterwards circulated copies of the treaty for signature by other chiefs throughout New Zealand. Over the next few months five or six treaty meetings were held in the Waitemata and Manukau areas.
The first of these was held during Hobson’s first visit to the Waitemata, on 4 March 1840. The exact location is uncertain, but it probably took place somewhere along the shoreline between Maraetai and the Tamaki River. Sixteen chiefs of the Ngati Paoa, Ngati Maru and Ngati Tamatera – and perhaps also Ngai Tai – signed a copy on this occasion, with Captain Joseph Nias and the missionaries Henry Williams and William Fairburn acting as witnesses.
Later in the month Captain W.C. Symonds was commissioned to seek further signatures in the Manukau area. With help from the CMS missionary James Hamlin, he organized two meetings on the Manukau Peninsula. These were held in the vicinity of Awhitu, perhaps at Orua Bay. At the first meeting the organizers failed to gain any signatures. At the second, on 20 March 1840, although several chiefs again refused to sign, Apihai Te Kawau and two other Ngati Whatua chiefs did so. The Waikato chief Te Wherowhero may have been present at these meetings. (This copy of the treaty is today known as the 
Manukau-Kawhia copy.) (http://www.waitangi.co.nz/manukau-8.htm)
The above-mentioned copies of the treaty were in Maori. An English copy of the treaty was sent to the Reverend Robert Maunsell at his mission station at Maraetai, near the mouth of the Waikato River (today’s Port Waikato). On or around 11 April 1840 a total of 32 chiefs signed the so-called Waikato-Manukau copy here, including several Ngati Te Ata, Ngati Pou and Ngati Tipa chiefs.
On 26 April 1840 a further seven further chiefs signed the same copy at another meeting organized by Symonds somewhere on the Manukau.
On 9 July 1840, while Hobson was on his second expedition to the Waitemata, a further meeting was held on the shores of the Tamaki River. Again, the exact location is unknown, but it is thought to be Karaka Bay. Seven chiefs signed the treaty on this occasion, including Kupenga of Whakatiwai. This was the last treaty meeting held in the region.
In some accounts the treaty meeting of 4 March 1840 has been confused with that of 9 July 1840. A memorial unveiled at Karaka Bay on 4 March 1953 listed only the chiefs who had signed on the first date.
Sources: For more information see Facsimiles of the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi, Wellington, 1976 [1877]; Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi, Wellington, 1987, pp. 62, 67-9, 275; 
New Zealand History Online (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/waikato-manukau-treaty-copy); other references given in Manukau’s Journey.
Publication record: First published in Connexions, no. 106, February 2010, p. 6. Revised for publication on the Manukau Libraries website in March 2010.
Copyright: © Manukau Libraries. This text may be freely used for the purposes of private study or research and for non-commercial publication provided that the author and Manukau Libraries are duly acknowledged.