Old Land Claims

Apr 24

Written By Adam H

The first claims heard after the Treaty of Waitangi were the “Old Land Claims” by missionaries, early settlers, and the New Zealand Company that they had bought land before Aotearoa came under British jurisdiction. Some claims to the mission stations were made in the name of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Other claims were made by missionaries like Henry Williams who had bought larger areas to support their children.

Old Land Claims (Waitangi Tribunal Research Unit)

Henry Williams and Land

Tracing of Old Land Claim by Henry Williams and the Church Mission Society (CMS) at Pahia. Archives New Zealand OLC Box 34/

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Henry Williams

The majority of Maori signatories signed Te Tiriti, written in Te Reo Maori by Henry Williams, an Anglican missionary of the Church Missionary Society.

Old Land Claims

The first claims heard after the Treaty of Waitangi were the “Old Land Claims” by missionaries, early settlers, and the New Zealand Company that they had bought land before Aotearoa came under British jurisdiction. Some claims were made in the name of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Other claims were made by missionaries like Henry Williams who had bought larger areas to support their children.

Tauranga Apology

In 2018 the Anglican Church made a formal apology to the iwi of Tauranga Moana for yielding to pressure from the Crown to sell the Te Papa block (stretching from the modern Tauranga central business district to Gate Pa), which the Church Missionary Society held in trust for Ngati Tapu and Ngai Tamarawaho.

Adam H