The estimated population of New Zealand at the end of 1844 is 73,900 Māori and 12,447 non-Māori.
Regal and viceregal
Head of State — Queen Victoria
Governor — Captain Robert Fitzroy
Government and law
Chief Justice — William Martin
26 January: Governor Robert FitzRoy arrives in Wellington to investigate the Wairau Affray.
February: The Bay of Islands Advocate ceases publishing. It began in 1843.
25 September: The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator prints its final issue. 369 issues were produced.
12 October: The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian begins publishing in Wellington. It publishes weekly until its demise in 1865.
(in Ireland): James Colvin, politician.
John Sheehan, politician.
10 October: Tuhawaiki, tribal leader
Te Pareihe, tribal leader
