1840: Lavaud and Hobson Make a Deal

July 23, 2022

By AHNZ

This morning in New Zealand history, 23 July, 1840, William Hobson quietly sent HMS Britomart to Wellington. But it was a ruse.

While Commodore Lavaud and his battleship lingered with Hobson at the Bay of Islands the English ship was really going to Banks Peninsula to secure Akaroa. French settlers, the ones Lavaud was in New Zealand to look after, were as a result, first met by the British rather than French navy within days of their arrival.

If only we knew what the two naval officers, Hobson and Lavaud, were up to. Caving up New Zealand? The Commodore did not set out for Akaroa until the 27th of July. Why?

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Image ref. Napoleon and Pitt, 1805; Wiki

Ref. also 1772: France Australe, AHNZ

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