William Cornwallis Symonds - Definition and Overview

Capt William Cornwallis Symonds (1810–41) was an officer of the 96th Regiment of Foot of the British Army. He came to New Zealand in the early 1830s as agent of the Waitemata and Manukau Land Company and was instrumental in the founding of Auckland and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. He was one of Governor William Hobson's closest and most effective officials and was one of the first six Police Magistrates in New Zealand. He was Chief Magistrate of Auckland and Deputy Surveyor of New Zealand.

During 1841 Symonds accompanied the naturalist Dieffenbach [1] (http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1D13) in his survey of the North Island. Symonds died on 23 November 1841 in a boating accident.

References

• Symonds and the Treaty: http://www.treatyofwaitangi.net.nz/TreatyDocuments9.html and

http://www.treatyofwaitangi.net.nz/Signatures.html (Accessed Jan 18, 2005)

• Symonds and Hobson: Michael King (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand. Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-3018671.