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The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. The New Zealand Company later established settlements at Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui and Dunedin and also became involved in the settling of New Plymouth and Christchurch. It reached the peak of efficiency about 1841, encountered financial problems from 1843 from which it never recovered, and wound up in 1858. The company became notable for elaborate and grandiose advertising and for its vigorous attacks on those it perceived as its opponents – the British Colonial Office, successive governors of New Zealand, prominent missionary the Rev. Henry Williams and the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand and London. It stridently opposed the Treaty of Waitangi and was in turn frequently criticised by the Colonial Office and New Zealand Governors for its "trickery" and lies. The company also saw itself as a prospective quasi-government of New Zealand and in 1845 and 1846 proposed splitting the colony in two, along a line from Mokau in the west to Cape Kidnappers in the east – with the north reserved for Maori and missionaries, while the south would become a self-governing province, known as "New Victoria" and managed by the company for that purpose. Britain's Colonial Secretary rejected the proposal.〔 == Early attempts at colonisation == The earliest organised attempt to colonise New Zealand came in 1825, when an organisation under the name the New Zealand Company was formed in London, headed by John George Lambton, MP. The association unsuccessfully petitioned the British Government for a 31-year term of exclusive trade as well as command over a military force, anticipating that large profits could be made from New Zealand flax, kauri timber, whaling and sealing. The following year it dispatched two ships under the command of Captain James Herd to explore trade prospects and potential settlement sites in New Zealand. In September or October 1826 the ships, the ''Lambton'' and the ''Isabella'' (or ''Rosanna''), sailed into Te Whanganui-a-Tara, (present-day Wellington Harbour), which Herd named Lambton Harbour. Herd explored the area and identified land at the south-west of the harbour as the best place for a European settlement. The ships then sailed north to explore prospects for trade, purchasing tracts of land – later claims put them at one million acres (4000 km²) – from local Māori in Hokianga, Manukau and Paeroa on the way. The company opted against pursuing any trade or settlement ventures and ceased activity, having spent ₤20,000 on the venture.〔 The vessels arrived in the Bay of Islands in November 1826. Henry Williams recorded that Captain Herd relinquished the idea of landing settlers as the Māori they encountered were hostile. Henry noted in his journal that “They have charged the Missionaries with prejudicing the natives against them, forgetting that those natives were at war with our people; consequently out of our reach, even if we been that way disposed . . . Captain Herd appears very desirous to cast considerable blame on Mr Marsden.”〔 Henry Williams Journal, 4 November 1826〕 At the time of this first encounter with the association Williams does not appear to have formed a view as to the consequences of extensive colonisation of New Zealand; however by 1838, having read the pamphlet explaining the plans of the New Zealand Company, he was actively opposing the activities of the New Zealand Company. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「New Zealand Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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