This watercolour, by Theodore Mesnard, is of Kororareka in the latter part of 1838. Mesnard was an artist on board the Venus - this voyage caused a stir in British circles around the world, as it was rumoured that it intended to claim New Zealand as a colony. Image sourced from the Timeframes website.This group of vigilantes started up on 23 May 1838 and was disbanded in 1840 when New Zealand offically became a colony. The funds still in the Association when it was wound up went toward building a hospital.
The first scan here lays out the the resolutions of the Association (source: The Early History of New Zealand by R. A. A. Sherrin and J. H. Wallace, 1890).The second reports on an eyewitness account of a tarring and feathering incident carried out by the Association (Source: The story of New Zealand by Arthur S. Thomson, 1859). An original letter to a to the Southern Cross Newspaper in 1855, written by Benjamin Turner - a founder of the Association - can be read here.
