Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand

Address of the Wellington Settlers

Address of the Wellington Settlers.

To His Excellency Captain Hobson, of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor of the Islands of New Zealand.

Port Nicholson, 1st July, 1840.

Sir,—

We, the undersigned inhabitants of the District of Port Nicholson, avail ourselves of the opportunity presented by the arrival of the Colonial Secretary with sufficient means for the protection of life and property, to express to your Excellency those sentiments of respect for yourself, and loyalty to the Crown, in which we yield to none other of Her Majesty's subjects in these Islands.

The peculiar circumstances in which we were placed before the establishment hero of British authority, and the false reports which have been made to your Excellency, and of which we have heard with equal surprise and indignation, render it necessary for us to be the more explicit in our declaration of attachment to the Crown and Constitution of England, and to assure your Excellency that we took no steps but such as we thought consistent with our allegiance as British subjects and justified by the necessity of the case.

That such were our real feelings, and that our arrangements for the preservation of order were adopted by us as merely temporary and provisional, is proved by the acclamation with which the British flag was welcomed, as well as by the cordial support which has been rendered by all classes to the Colonial Secretary and the Magistrates, of which they themselves are the most competent witnesses.

We might add that in planning the surveys of our future town we had, as far as possible, anticipated the wants of Government, and set apart the most valuable sections of land for the convenience of the public offices and the personal accommodation of your Excellency, feeling assured, as we do, that sooner or later this must necessarily become the seat of Government for these Islands.

Should that prove the case, your Excellency may rest assured that you will be welcomed here by the largest body of Her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand, unanimous in their loyalty, and desirous of promoting by every means in their power the, comfort of your private life and the dignity of your public administration.

We have, &c.,