New Leinster was a name given to

Stewart Island Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...

in the

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

of November 1840, which stated the division of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

into three parts. The division only held a geographic significance. In the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846, the area known as New Leinster was incorporated into the previously established

New Munster Province New Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born. Province When New Zealand was se ...

. It was named after

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

, one of the

provinces of Ireland There are four provinces of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Irish language, Irish word for this territorial division, , meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Kingdom of Meath, Meath has be ...

History

Following the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

, signed on 6 February 1840,

became a colony of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, initially administrated as part of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. In the

of November 1840, New Zealand was divided into three divisions: New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster. These divisions held geographic but not administrative significance. The names of the regions were created by governor William Hobson, who named them after the corresponding

, with New Leinster being named after the province of

. The

Colony of New Zealand The Colony of New Zealand was a colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom from 1841 to 1907. British authority was vested in a List of governors-general of New Zealand, governor. The colony had Capital of New Zea ...

became a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

of the British Empire on 3 May 1841. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 divided New Zealand into two

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

, New Ulster, and New Munster, and the area known as New Leinster was then incorporated into the province of New Munster.

References

{{Coord, 47.00, S, 167.84, E , display=title Former subdivisions of New Zealand Stewart Island States and territories established in 1840 1840 establishments in New Zealand States and territories disestablished in 1846 History of the Southland Region 1846 disestablishments in New Zealand