Despite being less hands-on than his predecessor George Gawler, his fiscally responsible measures ensured the colony was in good shape by the time he departed for New Zealand in 1845.

He developed a cordial relationship with the powerful rangatira Pōtatau Te Wherowhero of Tainui, in order to deter Ngāpuhi from invading Auckland.

He struggled to reuse his skills in negotiation to maintain peace with Māori, and his relationship with Te Wherowhero's successor Tāwhiao deeply soured.

[3] Turning on his former allies, Grey began an aggressive crackdown on Tainui and launched the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863, with 14,000 Imperial and colonial troops attacking 4,000 Māori and their families.

[8] By political philosophy a Gladstonian liberal and Georgist,[9] Grey eschewed the class system to be part of Auckland's new governance he helped to establish.

[2] His mother, Elizabeth Anne née Vignoles,[11] on the balcony of her hotel in Lisbon, overheard two officers speak of her husband's death and this brought on the premature birth of the child.

It was believed possible at that time that one of the world's largest rivers might drain into the Indian Ocean in North-West Australia; if that were found to be the case, the region it flowed through might be suitable for colonisation.

On 5 July 1837, they sailed from Plymouth in command of a party of five, the others being Lushington; Dr William Walker, a surgeon and naturalist; and Corporals John Coles and Richard Auger of the Royal Sappers and Miners.

Grey, obstinate in his domestic affairs as in his first expedition, accused his wife unjustly of flirting with Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Keppel on the voyage to Cape Town taken in 1860, and sent her away.

[11][26] After their separation, Grey began the habitual abuse of opium, and struggled to regain his tenacity in maintaining peace between indigenous people and British colonisers.

Gawler was also held responsible for the illegal retribution exacted by Major Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran on an Aboriginal tribe, some of whose members had murdered all 25 survivors of the Maria shipwreck.

[36] It was only in 1846 that the war leader Te Rauparaha was arrested and imprisoned by Governor Grey without charge, which remained controversial amongst the Ngāti Toa people.

Backed by financial support, far more troops, armed with 32-pounder cannons that had been denied to FitzRoy, Grey ordered the attack on Kawiti's fortress at Ruapekapeka on 31 December 1845.

Heke's confidence waned after he was wounded in battle with Tāmati Wāka Nene and his warriors, and by the realisation that the British had far more resources than he could muster; his enemies included some Pākehā Māori supporting colonial forces.

[citation needed] The company saw itself as a prospective government of New Zealand and in 1845 and 1846 proposed splitting the colony in two, along a line from Mokau in the west to Cape Kidnappers in the east – with the north reserved for Māori and missionaries.

[35] The company was known for its vigorous attacks on those it perceived as its opponents – the British Colonial Office, successive governors of New Zealand, and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) that was led by the Reverend Henry Williams.

Governor Grey moved troops into the area and by February had assembled nearly a thousand men together with some Māori allies from the Te Āti Awa hapu to begin the Hutt Valley campaign.

[46] On 27 February the British and their Te Ati Awa allies burnt the Māori Pā at Maraenuku in the Hutt Valley, which had been built on land that the settlers claimed to own.

[citation needed] In January 1846 fifteen chiefs of the area, including Te Rauparaha, had sent a combined letter to the newly arrived Governor Grey, pledging their loyalty to the British Crown.

[51] Auckland was made the new capital in March 1841[52] and by the time Grey was appointed governor in 1845, it had become a commercial centre as well as including the administrative institutions such as the Supreme Court.

Cowards and knaves in the full sense of the terms, they have pursued their traitorous schemes, afraid to risk their own persons, yet artfully sacrificing others for their own aggrandizement, while, probably at the same time, they were most hypocritically professing most zealous loyalty.

When he left the Cape in 1861 he presented the National Library of South Africa with a remarkable personal collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and rare books.

But undoubtedly Sir George Grey's political ability, charm and force of personality – aided by the parliamentary leadership of liberal-minded Attorney-General, William Porter – contributed to this result.

"[92] On more than one occasion, Grey acted as arbitrator between the government of the Orange Free State and the natives, eventually drawing the conclusion that a federated South Africa would be a good thing for everyone.

[5] He had, however, scarcely reached England before a change of government led to the offer of another term, on the understanding that he abandon schemes for the federation of South Africa and, in future obey his instructions.

The leaders of the King movement or Kīngitanga had written a letter to Governor Browne stating that the Waikato tribes had never signed the Treaty of Waitangi and that they were a separate nation.

[103] He also amassed a celebrated collection of rare books and manuscripts, many purchased from the Auckland bibliophile Henry Shaw, artworks and curiosities, plus artefacts from Māori.

[27] Grey died at his residence at the Norfolk Hotel, Harrington Road, South Kensington, London, on 19 September 1898, aged 86 years, and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

[135] A Statue of George Grey created by William Calder Marshall was unveiled at the Company's Garden in Cape Town, South Africa in 1863.

[137] The Governor, an historical drama miniseries based on Grey's life, was made by TVNZ and the National Film Unit in 1977, featuring Corin Redgrave in the title role.