ABSTRACT
When New Zealand became a British colony in February 1840, the new Governor, Captain William Hobson, immediately directed that the Kororareka Association cease its activities, and ordered the disbandment of the militia organized and armed by the New Zealand Company at its settlement of Wellington. During the New Zealand Wars there was a marked tendency for younger single men to join volunteer units and as a result militia units tended to have an older age profile. In the post-New Zealand Wars period, volunteers seem to have been rather older. Government funding to volunteer units in the post-New Zealand Wars period did not cover all the expenses incurred by citizen soldiers. A substantial proportion of corps income came from non-government sources, principally from members through joining fees, annual subscriptions and fines, and from the local community. At the time of Queen Victoria's death, New Zealand possessed a substantial force of citizen soldiers.
