1837 Britain to establish colony

From its experience in other parts of the world, the British Government had found that colonies involved great expense and difficulty. As a result it had initially tried to avoid assuming responsibility in New Zealand. Instead it had tried to influence the interaction of Māori and British settlers through the missionaries and by sending Busby to try to work with the rangatira (chiefs) in the north. Busby reported pessimistically on his efforts and on the increasing number of land transactions that British settlers and New South Wales speculators were making with local chiefs. British settlers at Kororareka (now called Russell) petitioned King William IV in March 1837 for protection and expressed their disapproval of Busby's proceedings. Officials at the Colonial Office agreed that 'the state of New Zealand is shewn (sic) to be lamentably bad, and Mr Busby has long been regarded as unfit for office'. In December 1837, understanding that colonisation 'to no small extent' was already happening in New Zealand, the British Government, led by Lord Melbourne and Lord Glenelg, decided that it had to intervene to ensure that colonisation was regulated and that land transactions that defrauded Māori were stopped. By mid-1839, the British Government had decided to annex at least part of New Zealand to New South Wales.