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Events on Monday 3 May 1841 1
1841New Zealand becomes a separate Crown colonySplit from New South Wales administrationOn 3 May 1841, New Zealand was proclaimed a Crown colony in its own right, ending its administration as a dependency of New South Wales. William Hobson, who had negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi the previous year, became the colony's first governor. The change formalized direct British rule over the islands.