The Auckland Province was a
province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.
Area
The province covered roughly half of the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both by area and population. The southern boundary was mostly along the
39th latitude, which was an arbitrary line, as the country's interior was little known by Europeans.
It was not subdivided during its existence;
the
Taranaki Province ''For the current top-level subdivision of Taranaki in New Zealand, see Taranaki region''
The Taranaki Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, ...
(originally named New Plymouth Province)
was the only other that remained unchanged during its existence.
History
The six original provinces were established in 1853. At that time, about 30,000 Europeans were living in New Zealand, a third of them in the Auckland Province. An estimated 70% of the
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
population was within the Auckland Province. Although the population of
Otago Province (triggered by the
Central Otago Gold Rush) and then also the
Canterbury Province surpassed Auckland's, the northernmost area of the country became most populous again by 1901.
The provincial system was abolished in 1876. Auckland Province was from then used as an administrative district by the
Department of Lands and Survey, but the area was later subdivided into the North Auckland, South Auckland, and
Gisborne land districts. The 39th latitude was subsequently replaced by boundaries that took landforms into account, and as a consequence, parts of the former Auckland Province are now in the
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
and
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...
land districts, and part of the former
Wellington Province is in the South Auckland Land District.
Anniversary Day
New Zealand law provides a public holiday for each province's
anniversary day.
Auckland Anniversary Day generally occurs in late January, on the Monday closest to 29 January, and is still observed throughout the historic province.
Auckland Provincial Council
Auckland Provincial Council was the elected body of Auckland Province. From its second session onwards, the council used the
General Assembly House for its meetings. It shared the use of this building with the
New Zealand Parliament from 1854 until 1864 during the time that Auckland was the
capital of New Zealand. From 1858, the province owned the building, but continued to make it available to parliament.
Superintendents
The Auckland Province had nine
Superintendents:
Speakers
The Provincial Council had three Speakers:
Members
In 1853 the province had
6 electorates, with 24 members:
*
City of Auckland, 6 members
*
Suburbs of Auckland, 4 members
*
Pensioner Settlements, 4 members
*
Northern Division, 4 members
*
Southern Division, 4 members
*
Bay of Islands, 2 members
For its last session of 1873–76, it had 43 members:
* Albertland: John Shepherd
*
Auckland East:
William John Hurst
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
,
Joseph Dargaville
Joseph McMullen Dargaville (1837 – 27 October 1896) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Auckland, New Zealand.
Early life
Joseph McMullen Dargaville was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Anderson Dargaville, a physician, and his wif ...
, Philip Aaron Philips
*
Auckland West: James Thomas Boylan,
Patrick Dignan,
David Goldie,
Frederick Prime Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederic ...
,
William Swanson
*
Bay of Islands:
Hugh Carleton
*
Coromandel:
Alfred Cadman
Sir Alfred Jerome Cadman (17 June 1847 – 23 March 1905) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. He was the Minister of Railways from 1895 to 1899 in the Liberal Government.
Early life
Cadman was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1847 ...
*
Eden: Andrew Beveridge,
William Buckland
William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist.
Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...
* Hokianga:
John Sheehan
*
Kaipara: Henry Lloyd
* Mangonui: William Thomas Ball
*
Newton:
Rev. Thomas Cheeseman, Thomas Macready
*
Onehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill.
Onehunga is a ...
:
John Lundon
John Lundon (1828 – 7 February 1899) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Northland, New Zealand.
Born in County Limerick, Ireland, he arrived in Auckland in 1843. He represented Raglan and Onehunga on the Auckland Provincial Cou ...
,
Maurice O'Rorke
* Opotiki:
William Kelly
* Otamatea: Murdoch McLeod
*
Pakuranga:
Ponsonby John Raleigh Peacocke
*
Papakura
Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council.
Papakura is a M ...
: William Hay
*
Parnell:
Benjamin Tonks
Benjamin Tonks (1832 – 27 June 1884) was a 19th-century mayor and Member of Parliament in Auckland, New Zealand.
Tonks was elected to the Parnell electorate of the Auckland Provincial Council in 1871. He represented Parnell in the 6th and ...
,
Reader Wood
Reader Gillson Wood (1821 – 20 August 1895) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. An architect by trade, he designed the 1854 General Assembly House built as New Zealand's first meeting house for the House of Representatives.
Early life ...
*
Raglan: Thomas Wilson
* Ramarama: Joseph Crispe
* Takapuna:
George McCullagh Reed
George McCullagh Reed (1831 – 13 November 1898) was a New Zealand presbyterian minister, journalist and newspaper proprietor.
Reed was born in County Monaghan, Ireland in about 1831. He received his education from Queen's College, Belfast ...
* Tamaki: Robert Nair Ryburn
*
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
:
George Morris
*
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
:
Lemuel Bagnall
Lemuel John Bagnall (1844 – 30 April 1917), was a New Zealand businessman and politician who was Mayor of Auckland City from 1910 to 1911.
Biography Early life and career
Bagnall was born in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Along wi ...
, John Brown, William Carpenter,
William Turnbull Swan, William Davies
* Turanganui: James Woodbine Johnson
*
Waikato
Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...
:
William Australia Graham
*
Waipa Waipa may refer to:
New Zealand
* Waipa (New Zealand electorate), a former electorate
* Waipa District, a territorial local authority
* Waipā River, a waterway
Elsewhere
* World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies
The World Associati ...
: Henry Byron, Hungerford Roche
* Wairoa and Mangapai: William Ormiston
*
Waitemata:
Allan Kerr Taylor
* Waiuku:
Ebenezer Hamlin
Ebenezer Hamlin (1844 – 4 June 1900) was a member of parliament in New Zealand, and an independent conservative.
Early life and family
Hamlin was born in Orua on the Manukau Harbour to the Rev James Hamlin, a missionary who had arrived in Ne ...
* Warkworth:
William Pollock Moat
William Pollock Moat (1827–1895) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Auckland, New Zealand.
Pollock represented the Warkworth electorate in the Auckland Provincial Council
The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand fr ...
*
Whangarei:
Robert Douglas
Legislation
Auckland Provincial Ordinances 1854–1875*
Public Buildings Act 1875
Footnotes
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Map of the old provincial boundariesResults of 1861 election
an
Superintendent electionResults of 1862 Superintendent election
{{Authority control
Provinces of New Zealand
States and territories established in 1853
1876 disestablishments in New Zealand
History of the Auckland Region
1853 establishments in New Zealand
Former subdivisions of the Auckland Region