first copy of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed at Waitangi. Several subsequent copies were signed at various places around the North and South Islands. On 21 May Hobson issued two proclamations of British sovereignty over New Zealand, one for the North Island by Treaty, and the other for the South Island by discovery (the South Island was declared "Terra nullius" or devoid of people.) A further declaration on 23 May decried the "illegal assumption of authority" by the New Zealand Company settlements in Port Nicholson (Wellington and Britannia, later Petone) establishing their own 12-member governing council. Hobson sought to prevent the establishment of what he saw as a 'republic', that is, an independent state outside of his jurisdiction. In August 1840, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Government Act of 1840, allowing the establishment of a colonial administration in New Zealand separated from New South Wales. Following this enactment, the Royal Charter of 1840 was declared. The Charter allowed for the establishment of the Legislative Council and Provincial Councils; Hobson was then declared Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand and divided the colony into two provinces (North Island—New Ulster, South Island—New Munster), named after the Northern and Southern Irish provinces. On 3 May 1841, New Zealand was established as a Crown colony in its own right, with Hobson declared Governor. Self-government The Imperial Parliament (Westminster) passed the first New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 empowering the government in New Zealand in 1846. The Act was to be fully implemented in 1848, but was never put in place because the governor-in-chief at the time, Sir George Grey, declined to apply it for a number of reasons. Instead, the Act was suspended for five years. Grey ruled with the powers of a dictator for the next five years; appointing Provincial councils at his pleasure. Following the suspension of the 1846 Act, the Imperial Parliament moved again to grant New Zealand self-government with the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which repealed the earlier Constitution Act. This Act was based almost entirely on a draft by Sir George Grey, the main difference being the appointment of the Governor by the Secretary of the Colonies, and not by the (New Zealand) House of Representatives. The new Act did not take effect in New Zealand until 1853. The Act provided: That New Zealand is divided into six provinces. Each province