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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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New Zealand
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Member of the *Commonwealth, having previously had *dominion status from 1907. The islands were first discovered by the great Dutch explorer Abel *Tasman in 1642, but they received no further attention from Europe until Captain *Cook charted the coast in 1769–70 and published (in 1777) an enthusiastic account of the territory and its Maori inhabitants. In the following decades New Zealand was increasingly visited by whalers, traders, escaped convicts from Australia and then missionaries – who provided alarming reports of the interaction between these unscrupulous settlers and the Maoris.
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In 1837 a private British venture, the New Zealand Association, began rapidly acquiring land, and the government decided to intervene in a potentially unruly situation. A naval officer, William Hobson, was sent out. He made a treaty with the Maoris for North Island and claimed South Island by right of discovery. In 1841 New Zealand was declared a British colony, with Hobson as governor. It became independent in 1907.
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