Māori on 5 December. Those Moriori that are not killed are enslaved. 1837 Captain William Hobson sent by New South Wales Governor to report on New Zealand. He suggested a treaty with the Māori and imposition of British Law. New Zealand Association formed in London, becoming the New Zealand Colonisation Society in 1838 and the New Zealand Company in 1839, under the inspiration of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. 1838 Bishop Pompallier founds Roman Catholic Mission at Hokianga. 1839 William Hobson instructed to establish British rule in New Zealand, as a dependency of New South Wales. Colonel William Wakefield of the New Zealand Company arrives on the Tory to purchase land for a settlement. Colony and self-government (1840 to 1946) 1840s 1840 22 January: New Zealand Company settlers arrive aboard the Aurora at Te Whanganui a Tara which becomes Port Nicholson, site of Wellington. 29 January: William Hobson arrives in the Bay of Islands and reads out the proclamation of sovereignty. 6 February: Hone Heke is the first to sign the Treaty of Waitangi at Bay of Islands. 21 May: Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over New Zealand. The North Island by treaty and the South Island by discovery. May: First capital established at Okiato, which was renamed Russell. St Peter's School, the first Catholic school in New Zealand, opened in Kororareka. 18 August: French colony established in Akaroa. Hobson becomes first governor and sets up executive and legislative councils. Rawiri Taiwhanga in Bay of Islands is running the first dairy farm in New Zealand, near Kaikohe. 1841 European settlements established at New Plymouth and Wanganui. February: Capital shifted from Russell (Okiato) to Auckland. 3 May: New Zealand proclaimed a colony independent of New South Wales. 27 September 1841: Foundation of a Catholic school for boys, Auckland's first school of any sort. 1842 Main body of settlers arrive at Nelson. 10 September: Governor Hobson dies in Auckland. 1843 Twenty-two European settlers and four Māori killed in the Wairau Affray at Tuamarina, near the Wairau River, in Marlborough, marking the start of the New Zealand Wars. Robert FitzRoy succeeds Hobson as governor. 1844 Hone Heke begins the Flagstaff War. New Zealand Company suspends its colonising operations due to financial difficulties. 1845 George Grey becomes governor. 1846 Flagstaff War with the capture of Ruapekapeka. First Constitution Act passed. Charles Heaphy, William Fox, and Thomas Brunner begin exploring the West Coast. First steam vessel, HMS Driver,