Editing Akaroa (section)

===French settlement===
[[File:Charles François Lavaud (1798-1878).jpg|thumb|Charles François Lavaud (1798–1878)]]
[[File:AkaroaFRNames.JPG|thumb|An Akaroa street sign showing French-language street names]]
In the 1830s, France developed extensive plans for colonial expansion, including into the Pacific where at that time it had no colonies. This included the South Island of New Zealand. The tiny settlement established at Akaroa can be viewed in the context of that failed, wider project.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=15}} In 1838, a whaler, Captain [[Jean François Langlois]], wrote up a questionable deed of purchase for "the greater Banks Peninsula" to which twelve [[Ngāi Tahu|Kāi Tahu]] chiefs each added their [[tā moko|moko]] or cross.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=16-17}} The price was 1,000 francs (£40), with a deposit of 150 francs (£6) paid in goods{{efn|name=fn1|According to the Deed of Purchase, the goods equivalent to the 150 francs deposit were one woollen overcoat, six pairs of cloth trousers, 12 oilskin hats, two pairs of shoes, a pistol, two pairs of red woollen shirts and one oilskin coat.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=26}}}} and the remainder to be paid upon Langlois' return from France with settlers.<ref>{{cite web|title=French colonists in Akaroa, South Island |url= http://history-nz.org/colonisation4.html |website=New Zealand in History|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=MB>{{cite web |last1=Andersen |first1=Johannes C. |title=The Mission of the ''Britomart'' at Akaroa, in August, 1840 |url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Publications/Akaroa/MissionoftheBritomart/MissionoftheBritomart.pdf |publisher=The New Zealand Institute |access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref>{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=26}} When the settlers later did arrive, the British authorities – who had in the meantime taken possession of the whole of New Zealand – decided a valid sale had not taken place in 1838, relying for their decision on English law and Māori oral evidence.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=268}}

While back in France, Langlois had raised capital from wealthy businessmen to fund the planned whaling and colonising venture. The [[Nanto-Bordelaise Company]] was set up, with the major shareholder being [[Adolphe Balguerie]]. Langlois ceded his supposed Banks Peninsula title to the company, took a minor shareholding and was entrusted with the whaling side of the venture.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|pp=55-57}}

The company is comparable to the British "New Zealand Association" (later a company) but unlike the British, who arranged for all land sold by the indigenous Māori to go through its government representative, the French government planned to have Māori land sales arranged through the company. The model treaties for land acquisition sent out from France can be compared with the Treaty of Waitangi, used by the British as their way of acquiring Māori land. {{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=16}} The French government became involved and in order to send out the settlers it supplied the warship, ''Mahé'', fitted out as a whaler and renamed [[Comte de Paris (ship)|''Comte de Paris'']].{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=268}} On 9 March 1840, 63 emigrants left [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]]. They were accompanied by the ''Aube'', a 28-gun corvette under Commodore {{ill|Charles-François Lavaud|fr}}, whose role was also to oversea French whaling interests around New Zealand.

The ships arrived in the [[Bay of Islands]] in the North Island on 11 July 1840, where they learned that during their voyage [[William Hobson]] had proclaimed British sovereignty over all New Zealand on 21 May, and that the main South Island Māori chiefs had signed the [[Treaty of Waitangi]]. Hobson, who was now [[lieutenant-governor]], wanted there to be no doubt that British sovereignty extended over all New Zealand and so to counter any potential threat to that situation, he dispatched the [[brig-sloop]], [[HMS Britomart (1820)|HMS Britomart]], to call first at [[Wellington|Port Nicholson]] where the [[New Zealand Company]] settlers had recently arrived and established their own fledgling government, and thence to Akaroa. Once there, Britomart and fluttering [[Union Jack|Union Jacks]] would provide a less than subtle welcome for the soon to arrive French settlers and squash any sovereignty pretentions Lavaud might have had.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moon |first1=Paul |title=The Newest Country in the World - A History of New Zealand in the Decade of the Treaty |date=2007 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780143006701 |pages=47–49 |chapter=}}</ref> Back in the Bay of Islands, while discussions on land rights took place, the French colonisation continued. On 18 August 1840, the settlement at Akaroa began, with 57 settlers including 12 Germans. (Some had died en route.){{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=158}}<ref name="King 2003 170–1">{{Cite book|last=King|first=Michael|title=The Penguin History of New Zealand|publisher=Penguin|year=2003|location=New Zealand|pages=170–1}}</ref>{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|pp=13-19}} The settlers' land was around German Bay ([[Takamatua]]),{{efn|name=fn2|It was renamed during the First World War as a mark of anti-German sentiment{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|}}}} French Town (Akaroa) and the hill behind.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|pp=259-275}} For the first six years, the settlers were outnumbered by a large contingent of French sailors and naval officers. They were all part of a sizeable infrastructure that included Catholic missionaries, churches, and priests taking classes. In addition, there was a French mayor, French doctors in a French hospital and a French store. There were also French by-laws and a French court of justice.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|pp=18-19}} [[Jean-Baptiste Pompallier|Bishop Pompallier]] established his first European station in Akaroa in 1840 as the French immigrants were all nominally Catholic. However, he closed the station in disgust, due to the religious apathy of the French immigrants.<ref name="King 2003 170–1"/> The area still shows a French influence, prominent in many local place names.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/SettlementatAkaroa.htm |title= SettlementatAkaroa }}</ref> It is the oldest town in Canterbury and one of the most historic places in New Zealand.{{sfn|Ogilvie|2010|p=20}}

Meanwhile, the British dismissed the Nanto-Bordelaise Company's claim as it was not based on British law, but only after extensive and complex negotiations had taken place with Māori and the French, represented by Commadore Lavaud and the company's urbane agent, [[Pierre-Joseph de Belligny]]. Land ownership discussions dragged on until 1849, and by then both governments back in Europe had become involved. Given that the French colonists had set out for New Zealand on the assumption that they owned the land, [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Lord Stanley]], of the Colonial Office, instructed the New Zealand authorities in 1845 to grant 30,000 acres to the Nanto-Bordelaise Company. This grant never actually happened at that time and the 30,000 acres were never clearly defined, but all concerned acted as if the company now owned that land. The company by then was in a dire financial position{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=279}} and was keen to raise funds by selling that land, which it did before becoming insolvent in 1849. Some land was sold to individual settlers but most was bought by the [[New Zealand Company]], which had still not decided on a place in the area to establish its own settlement. To the indignation of Langlois, the Nanto-Bordelaise Company had sold all its remaining land on the peninsula for £4,500.<ref name=MB/>{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|pp=279-293}} So by 1849, the French settlers were on their own in a British colony.{{sfn|Tremewan|2010|p=279}}

Before 1840, the area of the current Akaroa town was also known as Wangaloa. The French at first called their settlement ''Port Louis-Philippe'' in honour  of [[Louis Philippe I]], who reigned as [[King of the French]] from 1830 to 1848.<ref>{{cite book
 |last= Reed
 |first= A. W.
 |title= Place Names of New Zealand
 |year= 2010
 |publisher=Raupo
 |location= Rosedale, North Shore
 |isbn= 9780143204107
 |page = 19
 |editor= Peter Dowling
}}
</ref>