The Kingdom of Rarotonga, named after the island of Rarotonga

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...

, was an independent kingdom established in the present-day Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 in 1858. In 1888 it became a protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 by its own request, and in 1893 the name was changed to the Cook Islands Federation.

Establishment

After the early conversion

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 of a number of important ariki

Ariki

An Ariki , ‘Ariki , Aliki , Ali‘i , Ari'i or ‘Eiki is or was a member of a hereditary chiefly or noble rank in Polynesia.-Aotearoa Ariki:Political leadership or governance in Māori society has traditionally come from two...

 (high chiefs) support for Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 increased rapidly throughout the Southern Group. Working through the ariki the missionaries drew up draft legal codes which together with the abolition of violence as a means of dispute settlement, led to unprecedented political stability. In 1881 the British Colonial Office decided that New Zealand interests in the area needed some form of protection against foreign powers and the British Government granted a petition by local European traders and planters for the appointment of an unpaid British Consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 for the Hervey Islands, as the Southern Group was then known.

British Protectorate

In October 1885 the Colonial Office accepted an offer by New Zealand, which was then a self-governing British colony, for New Zealand to pay for a British Consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 for Rarotonga on condition that he be nominated by New Zealand and act as the country's official agent. This "Resident" was also to act as adviser to the ariki in drafting and administering laws and he would sign all acts of the local legislature in the name of the Governor of New Zealand. He would also have the right to reject proposed legislation. In 1888 Queen Makea Takau formally petitioned the British to set up a Protectorate to head off what she believed to be imminent invasion by the French. The British Government agreed to permit its then vice-consul in Rarotonga to declare a Protectorate over the Southern Group islands to protect pro-British islanders and New Zealand trade. The Colonial Office also decided that certain other Northern Group islands should be annexed for possible future use as trans-Pacific cable stations.

Federation

In 1890 the newly appointed British Resident, Frederick Moss

Frederick Moss

Frederick Joseph Moss was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Auckland, New Zealand.-Early life:He was born in Longwood, Saint Helena in 1827 or 1828, and moved to South Africa. He returned to Saint Helena in 1847. There, he married Emily Ann Carew in 1853 or 1854...

, persuaded the ariki of Rarotonga to form a provisional Rarotongan legislature or General Council

General council

General council may refer to:In education:* General Council , an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland...

, the first government for the entire island. The following year representatives of the ariki from Rarotonga and the Southern Group islands agreed to form the first federal legislature in the islands. However the path through the last decade of the 19th century was far from smooth and the numerous changes that took place were not well accepted by some ariki and members of the nobility.

Annexation

The British were reluctant administrators and continued pressure was applied to them from New Zealand and from European residents of the islands to pass the Cook Islands over to New Zealand. Ill feeling between the islanders and New Zealand reached a point where two ariki told the New Zealand premier, Richard Seddon

Richard Seddon

Richard John Seddon , sometimes known as King Dick, is to date the longest serving Prime Minister of New Zealand. He is regarded by some, including historian Keith Sinclair, as one of New Zealand's greatest political leaders....

, that the traditional leaders wanted the Cook Islands to stay annexed to Great Britain. On 27 September 1900, the New Zealand Parliament approved the annexation of the islands to New Zealand and the following month the New Zealand Governor, Lord Ranfurly, landed in Rarotonga. Without any discussion on its implications, the five ariki's and seven lesser chiefs signed a deed of cession and the Cook Islands were annexed by New Zealand on October 7 1900 without any debate or examination of its ramifications or implications.

On June 11, 1901 the boundaries of New Zealand were extended to include the Cook Islands, and the power of the ariki was removed.