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 ( , '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. 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
The Taranaki Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, the province was renamed on 1 January 1859 as the Taranaki Pro ...
(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 population was within the Auckland Province. Although the population of
Otago Province (triggered by the
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 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
and
Hawke's Bay 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
The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...
from 1854 until 1864 during the time that Auckland was the
capital of New Zealand
Wellington has been the capital of New Zealand since 1865. New Zealand's first capital city was Old Russell (Okiato) in 1840–41. Auckland was the second capital from 1841 until 1865, when Parliament was permanently moved to Wellington after a ...
. 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
This is a list of suburbs in the Auckland metropolitan area, New Zealand, surrounding the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. They are broadly grouped into their local board areas, and only include suburbs within the metropolitan urban limits ...
, 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,
Joseph Dargaville
Joseph McMullen Dargaville (1837 – 27 October 1896) was a 19th-century New Zealand Member of parliament, Member of Parliament and founder of the town of Dargaville.
Early life
Joseph McMullen Dargaville was born in Cork (city), Cork, Ireland, ...
, Philip Aaron Philips
*
Auckland West: James Thomas Boylan,
Patrick Dignan,
David Goldie,
Frederick Prime,
William Swanson
*
Bay of Islands:
Hugh Carleton
*
Coromandel:
Alfred Cadman
*
Eden: Andrew Beveridge,
William Buckland
William Buckland Doctor of Divinity, DD, Royal Society, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian, geologist and paleontology, palaeontologist.
His work in the early 1820s proved that Kirkdale Cave in North Yorkshire h ...
* Hokianga:
John Sheehan
*
Kaipara: Henry Lloyd
* Mangonui: William Thomas Ball
*
Newton:
Rev. Thomas Cheeseman, Thomas Macready
*
Onehunga:
John Lundon,
Maurice O'Rorke
* Opotiki:
William Kelly
* Otamatea: Murdoch McLeod
*
Pakuranga:
Ponsonby John Raleigh Peacocke
*
Papakura: William Hay
*
Parnell:
Benjamin Tonks,
Reader Wood
*
Raglan: Thomas Wilson
* Ramarama: Joseph Crispe
* Takapuna:
George McCullagh Reed
* Tamaki: Robert Nair Ryburn
*
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
:
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 th ...
:
Lemuel Bagnall, John Brown, William Carpenter,
William Turnbull Swan, William Davies
* Turanganui: James Woodbine Johnson
*
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 ...
:
William Australia Graham
*
Waipa: Henry Byron, Hungerford Roche
* Wairoa and Mangapai: William Ormiston
*
Waitemata:
Allan Kerr Taylor
* Waiuku:
Ebenezer Hamlin
* Warkworth:
William Pollock Moat
*
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