53

(No. 58.)
Downing-street,
13th August, 1850.

Sir,

With reference to my Despatch, No. 48 of the 5th instant, I herewith transmit to you Additional Instructions, which the Queen has been pleased to issue under Her Royal Sign Manual and Signet, for the purpose of exempting from the operation of the regulations relative to sales by auction all the Lands comprised in the settlements of the New Zealand Company.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) GREY.

VICTORIA R.

(L. S.)

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS to Our Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand, or to the Officer exercising the said Office of Governor-in-Chief for the time being: To Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Province of New Ulster, or to the Officer exercising the said Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief for the time being: To Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Province of New Munster, or to the Officer exercising the said Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief for the time being: or to Our Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Ulster, or to the Officer exercising the said Office of Lieutenant-Governor for the time being: or to Our Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Munster, or to the Officer exercising the said Office of Lieutenant-Governor for the time being. Given at Our Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, this Twelfth day of August, 1850, in the Fourteenth of Our Reign.

WHEREAS, by Our Instructions under Our Signet and Sign Manual, accompanying Our Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom, bearing date the twenty-third day of December, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, We did, among other things, make certain Rules and Regulations respecting the settlement of the Waste Lands of the Crown, which are comprised in the thirteenth chapter of the said Instructions:

And whereas, by an Act of Parliament passed in the Eleventh year Our Reign, entitled “An Act to promote Colonization in New Zealand, and to authorise a Loan to the New Zealand Company,” it was amongst other things enacted, “that the several provisions, relating to the settlement of the Waste Lands of the Crown contained in the thirteenth chapter of the said Instructions, under Her Majesty’s Sign Manual and Signet, except such as relate to the Registration of Titles to Land, the means of ascertaining the Demesne Lands of the Crown, the claims of the Aboriginal Inhabitants to Land, and the restrictions on the Conveyance of Lands belonging to any of the Aboriginal Natives, unless to Her Majesty, Her Heirs, and Successors, shall be suspended, and of no force and effect within the Province of New Munster, in the said Colony of New Zealand, until the fifth day of July, in the Year one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and during such further time as shall be directed by Parliament:”

And whereas Parliament has made no such further direction as aforesaid, and the said recited Instructions are therefore now in force in the Province of New Munster:

And whereas it is by the said Act further provided “That if the Directors of the said Company shall give notice to one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State within three calendar months next after the said fifth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, by any Instrument under the Seal of the Company, that they are ready to surrender the Charters of the said Company to Her Majesty, and all claim and title to the Lands granted or awarded to them in the said Colony, all the powers and privileges of the said Company, except such as shall be necessary for enabling the Directors to receive the several sums of money hereinafter mentioned, and to distribute the same among the shareholders and other persons entitled thereunto, and for enabling the Directors to adjust and close the affairs of the Company, shall cease and determine, and all the lands, tenements, and hereditaments, of the said Company, in the said Colony, shall thereupon revert to, and become vested in Her Majesty as part of the Demesne Lands of the Crown in New Zealand, subject, nevertheless, to any contracts which shall be then subsisting in regard to any of the said Lands:”

And whereas the Directors of the New Zealand Company did on the fifth day of July last past, give to the Right Honorable Earl Grey, Our Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, such notice as aforesaid, in pursuance of the above recited provisions:

And whereas on the giving of such notice as aforesaid all the Lands, tenements, and hereditaments, of the said Company in