James Busby

MAN O WAR, WITHOUT GUNS“If there was one European who held a

ring-side seat as New Zealand took its first steps towards being a nation under the Treaty of Waitangi, that person was James Busby”

Busby was New Zealand's first public servant.

BIOHe was born in Edinburgh in 1802 to a

civil engineer, John Busby and his wife, Sarah. Trained in France as a viticulturist, or wine-grower, Busby sailed with his family for Australia where his father had been employed to construct the water supply for Sydney and to survey its coal resources.

HIS JOBReturning to England he impressed the

Colonial Office with his knowledge on colonial matters. This won him a job as British Resident in New Zealand. On a visit to Sydney, Busby married Agnes Dow, with whom he was to have six children. The couple settled at Waitangi in 1834.

ROLEBusby's duties were to direct Maori towards 'a

settled form of government' and protect 'well disposed settlers and traders' . However, he had no means of enforcing his authority - neither troops, nor powers of arrest status as a magistrate. He also had to cope with the unrelenting stinginess of his government. Known to the Maori as 'the man-o-war without guns', all he could do was to operate as a kind of conciliator.

CONTBusby was determined in his work to commit his

'whole strength' to his duties. He called a meeting of chiefs in 1834. This succeeded in winning support from both Maori and the British Admiralty for a national flag, a red St George's Cross on a white background with four eight-pointer stars. The meeting also achieved the right to register locally built ships. This was a significant breakaway step for New Zealand from New South Wales, enabling customs to be cleared in foreign ports.

DECKYWhen Frenchman, Baron de Thierry's

plans to create a sovereign state in the Hokianga became known, Busby was concerned. He called his second meeting of chiefs in 1835 at which thirty four of them signed the Deed of Independence of New Zealand asking the Crown for protection.

A further eighteen chiefs later added their names to the document, and all pledged to meet regularly at Waitangi to frame laws.

Important!Although nothing came of the annual

congress, this Declaration of Independence, acknowledged by the British government, served as both a first step towards what would become the 1840 Treaty and a first line in the sand for Maori national identity.

contHis achievement was to create an

environment in which Maori accepted the possibility of further British intrusion. It was he, who after initial efforts by others, drew up the draft of the Treaty, adding the clause offering Maori 'all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.'

lateronHe considered himself the architect of

the country's founding document, and in his latter years, with an ear trumpet to combat his deafness, frequently and spiritedly entered public debates. He died in 1871.