Auckland Anniversary Day is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

observed in the northern half of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

of New Zealand, being the area's provincial anniversary day. It is observed throughout the historic

Auckland Province 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 of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, bo ...

, even though the

provinces of New Zealand The provinces of the Colony of New Zealand existed as a form of administrative division, sub-national government. Initially established in 1846 when New Zealand was a Crown colony without responsible government, two provinces (New Ulster and New ...

were abolished in 1876. The modern area of observation consists of all of the Northland (where it is known as Northland Day),

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

and Gisborne regions, as well as some parts of the Manawatū-Whanganui and Hawke's Bay regions north of the 39th parallel. The holiday falls on the Monday closest to 29 January, the anniversary of the arrival of William Hobson, later the first Governor of New Zealand, in the country in 1840.

History

Auckland Anniversary Day was established by Governor Hobson's direction, over Willoughby Shortland's signature, in 1842. '' The New Zealand Government Gazette'' of 26 January 1842 (Volume 2, 4th edition) carried a notice stating, The choice of 29 January appeared strange, as Hobson stated that it was on the following day that he proclaimed British Sovereignty in New Zealand. 30 January 1840 was the day that the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

was flown on the masthead of the HMS ''Herald'', the ship that brought Hobson to the Bay of Islands, and saluted by guns. By all accounts, 30 January should have been chosen for the anniversary day. In 1841, there was no capacity for arranging anniversary celebrations, as the national capital was in the process of being shifted from Okiato to

. In 1842, 30 January fell on a Sunday so the anniversary day was "Saturdayised."

Daniel Pollen Daniel Pollen (2 June 181318 May 1896) was an Irish-New Zealand politician who became the ninth premier of New Zealand, serving from 6 July 1875 to 15 February 1876. Early life The son of Hugh Pollen, a dock master, Pollen was born in Ringsen ...

, who was

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

in 1875–1876 and a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, was determined to have this inaccuracy rectified. Upon his request, a joint committee of the Legislative Council and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

was tasked to prepare a report. On 11 September 1894, the committee's report recommended for the anniversary date to be shifted to 30 January, and that it apply as an anniversary of all of New Zealand, as it was the founding of the nation. The Liberal Government, however, saw no need to change any of the existing arrangements. The Waitangi Day Act 1960 allowed any area of the country to substitute a Waitangi Day holiday for its provincial anniversary day. This was done for Northland in 1963 through the Waitangi Day Amendment Act passed by the second National Government.

Events

The Auckland Anniversary Regatta, the largest single-day regatta in the world, takes place on this holiday. Since 2011, Auckland Anniversary Day has been the first day that state and state integrated schools outside of the former Auckland Province can open for the year (the last day being 7 February). However, as schools are not permitted to open on public holidays, schools in the former Auckland Province cannot open until the day after.

References

{{reflist Anniversaries Public holidays in New Zealand January observances February observances Auckland Region 1842 establishments in New Zealand Summer in New Zealand