Bay Of Islands

Events In History

14 July 1853

New Zealand's first general election begins

For such a symbolic moment, the events of 14 July offered little drama – the first member of New Zealand’s inaugural Parliament, Hugh Carleton, was elected unopposed at Russell in the Bay of Islands. Read more...
20 November 1841

Mass murder in the Bay of Islands

Maketū Wharetōtara, the 17-year-old son of the Ngāpuhi chief Ruhe, killed five people at Motuarohia in the Bay of Islands. In March 1842 he became the first person to be legally executed in this country. Read more...
6 February 1840

Treaty of Waitangi signed

More than 40 Māori chiefs signed a treaty with the British Crown in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty of Waitangi remains controversial. Read more...
30 December 1835

Charles Darwin leaves New Zealand after nine-day visit

Darwin's visit to the Bay of Islands on HMS Beagle was brief and unspectacular from his point of view. The Beagle's captain, Robert FitzRoy, would later serve as the second governor of New Zealand. Read more...
6 June 1823

Wesleyan mission established

Samuel Leigh and William White established Wesleydale, a Wesleyan (Methodist) mission station at Kaeo. Leigh was friendly with Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society and the two missions worked closely together. Read more...
17 April 1820

General Gates sent to Sydney under guard

The American sealer General Gates – named for a War of Independence general and commanded by Captain Abimileck Riggs – had sailed from Boston in October 1818. Read more...
25 December 1814

First Christian mission established

At Hohi (Oihi) Beach in the Bay of Islands, Samuel Marsden preached in English to a largely Māori gathering, launching New Zealand’s first Christian mission. Read more...
4 May 1772

Marion du Fresne arrives in Bay of Islands

Marion du Fresne’s was the second French expedition to visit New Zealand, following that of Jean François Marie de Surville in 1769. Du Fresne’s acceptance of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s beliefs about ‘noble savages’ was to have unfortunate consequences for him and his crew. Read more...

Biography

Marion du Fresne

The early French explorer's visit to New Zealand ended in his death, and the bloodshed of hundreds more in retribution.

Articles

Musket Wars

Thousands of Māori died in the intertribal Musket Wars of the 1810s, 1820s and 1830s. Muskets changed the face of intertribal warfare, decimating some tribes and drastically altering the territorial boundaries of others.
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Page 3 - Beginnings The Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is usually seen as responsible for beginning the Musket

Missionaries

The Christian missionaries of the pre-1840s have been described as the 'agents of virtue in a world of vice', although they were not immune to moral blemish themselves.
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Page 5 - Wesleyans and CatholicsHow Maori responded to the arrival of Wesleyan and Catholic missionaries in the Bay of