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| 1843 |
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| A confrontation between New Zealand Company settlers and Maori over land took place at Wairau, and 20 settlers were killed in the fighting. An inquiry in 1844 blamed the incident on the settlers. | 1 |
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| 1843–44 |
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| The sheep farming industry was established in the South Island, operating on grazing licenses issued by the government. | 2 |
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| 1844 |
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| Hone Heke, the first Maori signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi, cut down the flagpole at Kororareka to protest violations of the treaty and sacked Kororareka settlement. Heke's action was a symbolic attack on British sovereignty over New Zealand. | 3 |
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| 1845 |
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| War broke out between the British and the Maori in the north (the FIRST NEW ZEALAND WAR). Initially, the British were severely defeated because of the Maori superiority in defensive engineering. Later minor successes allowed the British to claim victory, although in military terms the outcome of the war was equivocal. There was also fighting in the south of the North Island. The war was over by 1847. | 4 |
| George Grey became governor (his first term lasted until 1854). Grey was a forceful and talented person and dominated Pakeha (European) politics in New Zealand for much of the 19th century. He was also noted for his scholarship on Maori culture. | 5 |
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| 1848–50 |
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| Establishment of settlements at Otago and Canterbury in the South Island. | 6 |
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| 1852 |
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| THE CONSTITUTION ACT established New Zealand as a self-governing colony of Britain. In addition to the House of Representatives elected by land-owning males, there was an appointed Legislative Council. The act divided the country into six provinces, each with its own council. Power lay more with the provincial councils than with the central government, and New Zealand was essentially disunited until 1875. The relationship between the elected government and the governor appointed by Britain was unclear. The Constitution Act also added to ambiguities about the question of Maori sovereignty. | 7 |
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| 1854 |
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| Meeting of tribes in Taranaki was directed at halting further sales of land to Europeans. This was the first of a series of intertribal political actions in response to growing European dominance. | 8 |
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| 1858 |
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| The European population surpassed that of the Maori. | 9 |
| Through the action of the brilliant Maori leader Wiremu Tamihana, the elderly Waikato chief Te Wherowhero was elected Maori king. The king's election was the culmination of a movement for tribal cooperation to maintain sovereignty, although not all tribes accepted his authority. The alliance over which the king presided was uncertain, but the movement was united in its opposition to land sales. In the same year the government introduced legislation to increase legal control over Maori areas and to change tribal landholdings to individual title. | 10 |
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| 1859 |
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| The government attempted to force a land sale in the Waitara area of Taranaki that was opposed by the majority of the local tribe under the chief Wiremu Kingi. This substantially increased tensions between the Maori and the government. | 11 |
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| 1860 |
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| War broke out over the Waitara dispute (the beginning of the SECOND NEW ZEALAND WAR). | 12 |
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| 1861 |
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| Gold was discovered in Otago, resulting in a great influx of miners; the population of the South Island more than doubled, and it became the most prosperous part of the country. Gold and wool exports formed the basis of the economy over the next decade. George Grey was appointed governor for a second term (until 1867). A temporary peace in the Taranaki area was negotiated by Wiremu Tamihana. | 13 |
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| 1862 |
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| Te Ua Haumene founded the Pai Marire millennial movement, which was dedicated to the preservation of Maori identity and sovereignty. | 14 |
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