The issue of the ceding of sovereignty is pivotal to any discussion of the Treaty of Waitangi. Was sovereignty ceded by Maori in the Treaty? What is the meaning of kawanatanga and rangatiratanga?
There is, however, one aspect to the sovereignty issue that has been largely overlooked, either unwittingly or perhaps by design. Maybe it does not sit comfortably in the accepted narrative about sovereignty and the Treaty.
In summary, just after the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi on 6 February 1840, and while the Treaty was being conveyed around New Zealand to obtain the signatures of more chiefs, Captain Hobson asserted by formal proclamation the British Crown's sovereignty over New Zealand as part of the colony of New South Wales.
This post sets out the timetable of events. A subsequent post sets out the legal significance of the assertion of sovereignty.
Hobson's assertion of sovereignty of 21 May 1840
The Waitangi Tribunal's 2022 report on Stage 2 of the Te Raki claim recounts the events following the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi on 6 February 1840, and the assertion of sovereignty just a few months later. I quote extensively from the report because it is based on the investigations of the Tribunal and includes important details and a timeline relating to the signing of the Treaty and the assertion of sovereignty.
15
June 1839: Letters patent were signed by Queen Victoria extending the boundaries
of New South Wales to include ‘any territory which is or may be acquired in
sovereignty by her Majesty . . . within that group of Islands in the Pacific
Ocean, commonly called New Zealand’.
30 July 1839: A
Commission under the Royal Signet and Sign Manual appointed Hobson
Lieutenant-Governor ‘in and over that part of Our Territory . . . which is or
may be acquired in Sovereignty by Us . . . within that group of Islands commonly
called New Zealand’.
13 August 1839: A
Commission under the Great Seal appointed Hobson as Consul for the purpose of
negotiating the recognition of the Crown’s sovereignty by the chiefs of New
Zealand.
14 January 1840: Governor Gipps of New South Wales issued three proclamations (published several days later) : the first declared that the boundaries of New South Wales were expanded to include any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty in New Zealand ; the second declared that Gipps had sworn Hobson in as Lieutenant-Governor to act in that capacity over any such territory so acquired ; and the third stated that the Crown would recognise no private purchases of land made from Māori after 14 January 1840, and would not accept the validity of any purchases made before that date until an investigation had taken place.
6 February 1840 : The Treaty of Waitangi is signed by some 40 Ngāpuhi chiefs and by Hobson, the Crown’s representative; also at Waimate on 10 February by some six chiefs and at Māngungu (Hokianga) on 12 February.
18 February 1840: Hobson drew up a proclamation announcing the Queen’s sovereignty as far as 36 degrees south, but he decided against issuing it on the grounds that it might jeopardise his negotiations further south.
1 March 1840: Hobson suffered a stroke and had to return to the Bay of Islands, where he recuperated quite quickly. In the meantime, Willoughby Shortland, the police magistrate, made arrangements for other signings further south, sending copies of te Tiriti to mission stations or by ship.
Late April 1840: Hobson deputed Major Thomas Bunbury, who had recently arrived from Sydney, to carry the treaty in HMS Herald to the Bay of Plenty, Port Nicholson, the South Island, and Stewart Island. Over a period of six months, nine copies of te Tiriti were signed at about 50 meetings around the coasts of both islands. But before the copies were returned to Hobson, news was received that the New Zealand Company settlers recently arrived in Port Nicholson had established their own ‘government’, which they claimed derived its legality from authority granted by the local chiefs.
21 May 1840: At this point, Hobson moved with remarkable speed. News from Port Nicholson reached him at 8 pm on the evening of 21 May (that the settlers had raised the flag of the United Tribes of an independent New Zealand above Port Nicholson). Before the night was out, he had issued two proclamations.
The first proclaimed Her Majesty’s sovereignty over the North Island by cession, via a treaty, of ‘all rights and powers of sovereignty ... absolutely and without reservation’ by both the ‘Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes’ and the ‘separate and independent Chiefs of New-Zealand’ who were not members of the Confederation; ratified also ‘by the adherence of the Principal Chiefs’ of the North Island. Hobson, as Lieutenant-Governor, declared that ‘from and after the date of the above-mentioned treaty’ (wrongly given as 5 February), the sovereignty of the North Island ‘vests in Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors for ever’.
The second proclamation, bearing the same date, recited the Queen’s command to assert her sovereignty over the southern islands (that is the ‘Middle Island’ and Stewart Island) as well as the northern island, which had been ceded, and declared ‘the full Sovereignty of the Islands of New Zealand’ to vest in the Queen.
It did not give any grounds for Hobson’s assertion, and on 16 June Hobson reissued it, specifying that sovereignty over the southern islands was asserted ‘on the grounds of Discovery’.
In his despatch to London enclosing the May proclamations, Hobson cited the ‘universal adherence’ of the chiefs of the North Island (despite the fact that he was still waiting for confirmation of a number of signings of te Tiriti; at the time he held only the sheets signed in the north, and the copy of the Treaty – in English – at Waikato Heads and Manukau Harbour).
2 October 1840: The Colonial Office published Hobson’s proclamations officially in the London Gazette. New Zealand became part of the colony of New South Wales.
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An important issue
Was sovereignty asserted by Captain Hobson before the Treaty was signed? That depends on when the Treaty was officially and legally signed, either on 6 February 1840 in Waitangi with 52 signatures, or when 500 signatures had been obtained in October 1840.
When was sovereignty asserted by Hobson, when the proclamations were issued on 21 May 1840, or when the proclamations were gazetted on 2 October 1840?
The nub of the issue is that if sovereignty was asserted before the Treaty was "signed" then there was no sovereignty to assert in the Treaty.
This issue and how it was resolved are discussed in the post: Legal effects of the assertion of sovereignty.____________________________________
ASSERTION OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE NORTH ISLAND
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PROCLAMATION. IN the Name of Her Majesty VICTORIA, Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland. By Wi l l i
am H o b s o n, Esquire, a Captain in the Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor in New-Z
e a l a n d. W
H E R E A S , by a Treaty bearing Date the Fifth day of February,
in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand
Eight Hundred
and Forty, made and executed by me WILLIAM HOBSON,
a Captain in the Royal Navy, Consul, and Lieutenant-Governor
in New-Zealand, vested for this purpose with
full Powers by Her Britannic Majesty, of the one part, and
the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of
New-Zealand, and the Separate and Independent Chiefs of
New-Zealand, not Members of the Confederation, of the other;
and further ratified and confirmed by the adherence of the
Principal Chiefs of this Island of New-Zealand, commonly called “The Northern
Island”; all Rights and Powers of Sovereignty
over the said Northern Island were ceded to Her Majesty the Queen of Great
Britain and Ireland, absolutely and without reservation. Now, therefore, I, WILLIAM HOBSON, Lieutenant-Governor of New-Zealand, in the Name and on the Behalf of Her Majesty, do hereby Proclaim and Declare, to all Men, that from and after the Date of the above-mentioned Treaty, the full Sovereignty of the Northern Island of New Zealand, vests in Her Majesty Queen V I C T O R I A , Her Heirs and Successors for ever. Given
under my Hand at Government-House, R U S S E L L , Bay
of Islands, this Twenty-first day of May, in the Year of Our
Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. (Signed,)
WILLIAM HOBSON, LIEUTENANT – GOVERNOR. By
His Excellency’s Command, (Signed,)
WILLOUGHBY S H O R T L A N D , Colonial Secretary
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The second proclamation asserting sovereignty over the North and the South Islands and "Stewart's Island", and signed on the same day, stated:
Proclamation.
In the name of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: By William Hobson, Esquire, a Captain of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand.
Whereas I have it in command from Her Majesty Queen Victoria, through her Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, to assert the sovereign rights of Her Majesty over the Southern Islands of New Zealand, commonly called “The Middle Island” and “Stewart's Island,” and also the island commonly called “The Northern Island,” the same having been ceded in sovereignty to Her Majesty:
Now, therefore, I, William Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, do hereby proclaim and declare to all men that, from and after the date of these presents, the full sovereignty of the Islands of New Zealand, extending from 34 degrees 30 minutes North to 47 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, and between 166 degrees 5 minutes to 179 degrees of East longitude, vests in Her Majesty Queen Victoria, her heirs and successors, for ever.
Given under my hand at Government House, Russell, Bay of Islands, this 21st day of May, in the Year of our Lord 1840.
Lieutenant-Governor.
By His Excellency's command
Colonial Secretary.
Note the failure in the second declaration to state that sovereignty was asserted over the South Island "on the grounds of discovery". This omission appears to have been remedied by subsequent proclamations in situ in the South Island and Stewart Island.
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Below are copies of Captain Hobson's two proclamations in The London Gazette of 2 October 1840. 
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