Aspects of the Career of Doctor Featherston

Abstract

When the colonists landed at Port Nicholson in 1840 there were hard though exciting years ahead. Issues arose in the first decade which allowed the settlement to find its leaders. For example,those previously purchasing land in London, felt on arriving that they had been misled by the New Zealand Company, and began a protracted struggle for compensation. More important still were the settlers' efforts to secure Representative Institutions. Once the Constitution Act of 1852 established a system of Central and Provincial Government, there were fresh tasks and responsibilities for those in charge. The Superintendents had to nurse their Governments through a difficult experimental stage and decide on a policy of colonising. At Wellington there was an interesting political crisis between 1857 and 1860 involving constitutional, economic, and political factors. Conflicting beliefs fought for power in the House of Representatives - one fundamental cleavage being solved only after the abolition of the provinces in 1876. Then the period of the Maori wars brought with it complex problems of policy and defence. An original interest in these particular topics led to the discovery that Doctor Featherston's biography could well tell much of their story. The aspects of Featherston's career, here selected, teach something of New Zealand history during the 1840 to 1876 period. They also recognize the efforts of the man, who, as Superintendent of Wellington and member of the House of Representatives, played a dominant political roll for eighteen consecutive years.