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Provinces Of New Zealand




Provinces in New Zealand were used from 1841 until the Abolition Of The Provinces Act came into force on November 1 , 1876 .

Following abolition, the provinces became known as provincial districts. Their only visible function today is their use to determine, with the exception of the Chatham Islands , Northland , and South Canterbury , the geographical boundaries for anniversary day public holidays.


1841 TO 1853



1853 TO 1876


The provinces were formed by an Act of the British Parliament called the 'Act
to Grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand' on 30 June 1852. This act established the first six provinces of Auckland , New Plymouth , Wellington ,
Nelson , Canterbury and Otago . Each province had its own legislature known as a Provincial Council that elected its own Speaker and Superintendent .

Elections were open to males 21 years or older who owned freehold property worth £50 a year. Elections were to be held every four years. Amendments in 1856 provided for the appointment of a Deputy Superintendent.

The act also created a national General Assembly consisting of the Legislative Council appointed by the Governor and the directly-elected House Of Representatives . These provinces came into effect on 17 January 1853 and the regulations defining the boundaries of the provinces were gazetted on 28 February.














ProvinceIndependent countyFormedRenamedDissolution
Date''Broke from''Date''New name''Date''Reason''
Auckland   1853     1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
New Plymouth   1853   1 January 1859 Taranaki 1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Hawke's Bay   1 November 1858 Wellington    1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Wellington   1853     1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Nelson   1853     1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Marlborough   1 November 1859 Nelson    1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Westland 1 January 1868 1 December 1873 Canterbury    1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Canterbury   1853     1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Otago   1853     1 November 1876 Provinces abolished
Southland   25 March 1861 Otago    5 October 1870 Reunited with Otago




MODERN USES OF THE OLD NAMES


It is important to note that the provincial districts have ''different'' boundaries from the present day Regions , for example, the Manawatu-Wanganui region is in the Wellington provincial district. They are also not to be confused with the use of the term in Rugby 's National Provincial Championship (NPC).

Some of the names persist in other contexts as well, eg health administration districts.

Some of the names of former provinces and current regions have a tendency to be preceded by "the", as, for example, in this extract from a recent Court of Appeal judgment: "At trial, there was evidence of a sticker ostensibly from the Manawatu on the courier bag."


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