April 1849 Te Wherowhero signed an agreement with Governor George Grey to provide Auckland with military protection on the same basis as the fencibles. 121 Ngati Mahuta -originally from Tamahere, now on the southern outskirts of Hamilton, had British officers but supplied their own weapons. The land they were given by Grey was 80 one acre lots and 80 five acre lots at Māngere. Other chiefs who made the agreement were Kati, Nopora, Kahawai, Ponku, Te Tauke, Rewaite, Hankapanga, Te Katea and Rameka Kiaki (sic). They could be called upon for defence should it become necessary after the violent uprising of Māori under Hōne Heke and Kawiti. Grey had learnt the importance of having the support of kūpapa, Māori who sided with the Crown, during that campaign to restore law and order and assert government authority. During the 1851 attack on Auckland by about 350-450 Ngati Paoa a British regiment, the Onehunga fencibles and HMS Fry defended Auckland at Mechanics Bay with Ngati Mahuta playing no part. Although he never ceded sovereignty to the British Crown, he did have good rapport with early New Zealand governors, especially George Grey. As more settlers came to New Zealand, from the early 1850s Te Wherowhero became less friendly to the Pākehā. This was at least partially due to the nature of these arrivals in the Waikato lands, who often encroached on Māori tribal lands with no formal jurisdiction or consensual purchasing or gifting of the land. Māori King In the early 1850s, a movement to establish a Māori King developed. This aimed to unite the Māori people and to act as a counterbalance to Queen Victoria. But above all the King Movement wanted to halt the sale and alienation of Māori land by the Pākehā Government. Mātene Te Whiwhi travelled throughout New Zealand seeking a chief of high standing who was willing to be king. Iwikau Te Heuheu Tūkino III of Ngāti Tūwharetoa suggested that Te Wherowhero should be approached, and his choice was supported by Wiremu Tāmihana of Ngāti Hauā. Pōtatau, then elderly, expressed initial reluctance, but agreed in April 1857 at Rangiriri. He was installed as king at Ngāruawāhia in June 1858. Pōtatau himself wished to continue to work in co-operation with the British Government, but many of his followers adopted a much more independent position. Gradually the two sides polarised and grew apart, culminating five years later in warfare (see