The Treaty of Waitangi proper began on February 5, 1840 when a public meeting was held on the grounds in front of James Busby's residence. Lieutenant Governor Hobson read a proposed document to the 300 or so European and Māori who were in attendance and then provided the Māori chiefs an opportunity to speak. Initially, a large number of chiefs (including Te Kemara, Rewa and Moka Te Kainga-mataa) spoke against accepting the Crown's proposition to rule over Aotearoa. Later in the proceedings a few chiefs began to entertain the idea; amongst the more notable chiefs to support the Crown were Te Wharerahi, Pumuka, and the two Hokianga chiefs, Tāmati Wāka Nene and his brother Eruera Maihi Patuone.