The township of Russell was the first European settlement in New Zealand, developing from the Maori settlement of Kororareka. In the 1830s the area attracted whalers, sealers, merchants and timber-getters and became known as the "Hell Hole of the Pacific" with no European laws and Maori law seldom enforced within the town's area. Things settled down when the "Colony of New Zealand" was proclaimed in 1841.