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Formation of classic iwi.
Expansion and Migration of Maori groups and formation of classic iwi (many still existing). Today the iwi society is the largest everyday social units in Maori populations. The word itself means "people" or "folk" however, in some context it implies "tribes" or "clans" of the Maori decent. -
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New Zealand
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Discovery
Abel Janszoon Tasman, Dutch explorer, discovers part of the western littoral of New Zealand and names his discovery "Staten Landt". -
First Recorded European sighting of New Zealand
Towards noon the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted 'a large land, uplifted high'. What he saw was most likely the Southern Alps, perhaps the peaks of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. Tasman sailed from Batavia (today's Jakarta) on Java in the Dutch East Indies in August 1642. His expedition had two aims: to establish whether there was a southern sea route to Chile which could be used to prey on Spanish ships; and to exploit the untapped resources of the 'great southern continent' which many firm -
First contact between Maori and Europeans
On the evening of 18 December Abel Tasman and his men had the first known European encounter with Maori. Although this initial meeting was peaceful, the misunderstanding and fear aroused by two such different worlds coming together soon led to violence. -
Young Nick signs land.
Captain James Cook decided that he would name the 'south west point of Poverty Bay' as 'Young Nicks Head' after the boy who first saw this land. Little is known about nicholas Young. He was about 12 and was the servant of the ship's surgeoun. He accompanied Cook on more expeditions, including one to Iceland, but no more is known of his later life. -
Captain Cook observes transit of Mercury
Captain Cook and astronomer Charles Green observed the transit of Mercury at Te Whanganui-a-hei (Mercury Bay) on the Coromandel Peninsula. The inner planets, Mercury and Venus, occasionally pass across the Sun and can be observed as small black dots. Timing these 'transits' from different locations on Earth was the first accurate method of determining our distance from the Sun. -
British flag files for first time in New Zealand
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Cook circumnavigation of NZ
Endeavour arrived at Cape Turnagain and cornfirmed that the North Island was indeed an island. It also confirmed that the North Island was not part of the continent, Terra Australis Incognita. Cook brought the Endeavour to anchor at Ship Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound, at the top of the South Island, on 15 January 1770. From a high point on Arapawa Island he gained his first view of the narrow strait that now bears his name. He sailed through -
Cook seeings Banks Island
Cook decided the land he sighted was an island and named it after the expedition's botanist, Joseph Banks. Captain Chace of the Pegasus realised the mistake in 1809 when he tried to sail between Banks ‘Island’ and the mainland. -
Ten crew of Cook's ship Adventure killed and eaten
Furneaux, Cook's navigator ordered 10 men to go ashore to collect wild greens for the crew. They sailed on a cutter with the master's mate, Jack Rowe, in charge. Orders were to return by mid-afternoon, but by nightfall there was still no sign of them. The next morning other went in search but found a graphic scene implicating a violent attack. There is no known reason for the attack and premeditation was not likely. -
De Surville first sights NZ near Hokianga
As James Cook rounded the northern tip of the North Island, the French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville was in the same waters. A storm prevented an historic meeting with Cook. -
British assert sovereignty as French head for Akaroa
HMS Britomart arrived at Akaroa, on Banks Peninsula, a week before a shipload of French colonists landed. The ship's captain raised the Union Jack (flag) to confirm British sovereignty over the area. -
The Acheron arrives to begin survey of NZ waters
Captained by John Lort Stokes, the paddle steamer Acheron spent four years charting the New Zealand coastline. -
New Zealand's First Frozen Meat Export
The first shipment of frozen meat to was to Britian. This accomplishment greatily alleviated the hard impacts that had resulted from a harsh economic depression in the 1880's.
