After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840 the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, had the task of choosing a capital for the colony. At the time, the main European settlements were in the Bay of Islands and on the Otago Harbour in the South Island. However, the Bay of Islands' geographical position made it very remote, inaccessible and off-centre from the rest of the New Zealand archipelago and Hobson knew little about the South Island and its populations. Auckland was officially declared New Zealand's capital in 1841, and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842.