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Royal Honours were awarded in New Zealand from the very beginning of settlement. Governor , George Edward Grey received the first honour granted to a New Zealand resident, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order Of The Bath , in 1848. For more than a hundred years the unadulterated British honours system was used for New Zealand. In 1975, after a review of the system, two uniquely New Zealand honours were integrated into it: the Queen's Service Order, and its affiliated Medal. In 1987, the Order of New Zealand was instituted as the supreme New Zealand honour. Finally, in 1995 – 1996, a further review of the system resulted in the termination of awards of almost all British honours and the creation of a multi-tiered New Zealand Order of Merit to replace them. Locally awarded Knighthoods and Damehoods were initially retained in the upper tiers, but later discontinued after )— theoretically making knighthoods still possible in the New Zealand Honours System although future awards are unlikely. The appellations "The Right Honourable " and "The Honourable " strictly are not honours but distinctions made to certain people due to King or Queen's trust in them (e g the saluation in official correspondence as the "right trusty and well – beloved cousin ''A''.''B''."). ORDERS The Order of New Zealand is the highest locally awarded civilian honour in New Zealand; in Heraldic terms, it is a first-level honour. Below it is the New Zealand Order Of Merit , its position in the heraldic hierarchy is unclear. Below that lie the Queen's Service Order (a fourth-level honour) and the Queen's Service Medal (a sixth-level honour). Both of the latter are awarded either "for Community Service" or "for Public Service". The Orders ranked by Precedence , are as follows:
:NB: The Queen's Service Order also has an affiliated Medal In the reorganisation of the New Zealand honours system in 1996, the honours of the Order Of The Bath , Order Of St Michael And St George , Order Of The British Empire , Order Of The Companions Of Honour and Knight Bachelor were replaced as follows: #Knight Grand Companion and Principal Companion in the New Zealand Order of Merit, and the Order of New Zealand:
#Knight Companion and Distinguished Companion in the Order of New Zealand:
#Companion of the Order of New Zealand:
#Queen's Service Order and Officer of the Order of New Zealand:
#Member of the Order of New Zealand:
:Source: Press release of 2 May 1996 at the ''New Zealand Executive Government News Release Archive'' (govt.nz). Accessed 28 February 2006. Knights in the New Zealand Order of Merit were and remain entitled to use 'Sir' or 'Dame' as appropriate, and the wife of such a knight who uses her husband's surname is entitled to the courtesy title 'Lady'. Now that the knightly grades of the Order have been re-organised, no locally awarded honour now carries a title; those who hold honours from previous systems remain entitled to use their titles. OTHER HONOURS AND APPOINTMENTS
See: '''' REFERENCES
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