Auckland Province

{{For|the current local government region of Auckland|Auckland Region}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox settlement |name=Auckland Province |official_name= |native_name= |native_name_lang= mi |settlement_type = [[Provinces of New Zealand|Former province]] |coordinates = {{coord|35|54|S|174|20|E|region:NZ_type:adm1st|display=title}} |total_type= Province |motto= |image_map=Auckland in New Zealand (1873).svg |map_caption= Auckland Province within New Zealand |subdivision_type= Country |subdivision_name= New Zealand |subdivision_type1= Island |subdivision_name1= [[North Island]] |seat= [[Auckland]] |parts_type= |leader_title= |leader_name= |established_title= Established |established_date= 1853 |extinct_title=Abolished |extinct_date=1876 |named_for=[[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Baron Auckland]] |area_total_km2= |population_as_of= |population_total= }}

The '''Auckland Province''' was a [[Provinces of New Zealand|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, both by area and population. The southern boundary was mostly along the [[39th parallel south|39th latitude]], which was an arbitrary line, as the country's interior was little known by Europeans.<ref name="Te Ara Akld Province">{{cite book |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |orig-year=First published in 1966 |publisher=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage|Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga]] |chapter-url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/auckland-province-and-provincial-districts | editor-first=A.H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |access-date= 1 December 2013 |chapter=Auckland Province and Provincial Districts |date= 22 April 2009}}</ref> It was not subdivided during its existence;<ref name="Te Ara Akld Province" /> the [[Taranaki Province]] (originally named New Plymouth Province)<ref name="Te Ara Taranaki Province">{{cite book |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |orig-year=First published in 1966 |publisher=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage|Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga]] |chapter-url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/taranaki | editor-first=A.H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |access-date= 1 December 2013 |chapter=Taranaki: Province and Provincial Districts |date= 22 April 2009}}</ref> 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 people|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.<ref name="Te Ara Akld Province" />

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 region|Gisborne]] [[Land Districts of New Zealand|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 Region|Wellington]] and [[Hawke's Bay Region|Hawke's Bay]] land districts, and part of the former [[Wellington Province]] is in the South Auckland Land District.<ref name="Te Ara Akld Province" />

==Anniversary Day== New Zealand law provides a public holiday for each province's [[Public holidays in New Zealand#Provincial anniversary days|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]] from 1854 until 1864 during the time that Auckland was the [[capital of New Zealand]]. From 1858, the province owned the building, but continued to make it available to parliament.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=314}}

===Superintendents=== The Auckland Province had nine [[Superintendent (New Zealand)|Superintendents]]:{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=179}}<ref name="Rulers.org">{{cite web |title=Provinces 1848–77 |url= http://rulers.org/newzprov.html |publisher=Rulers.org |access-date=16 September 2010}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" ! No. ! from ! to ! Superintendent |- | 1 | 12 July 1853 | 5 January 1855 | [[Robert Wynyard]] |- | 2 | 15 March 1855 | Nov 1855 | [[William Brown (New Zealand politician)|William Brown]] |- | 3 | 15 November 1855 | 17 September 1856 | [[John Logan Campbell]] |- | 4 | 11 November 1856 | Dec 1862 | [[John Williamson (New Zealand politician)|John Williamson]] |- | 5 | 11 December 1862 | 22 September 1865 | [[Robert Graham (New Zealand politician)|Robert Graham]] |- | 6 | 25 October 1865 | 2 March 1867 | [[Frederick Whitaker]] |- | (4) | 18 April 1867 | Dec 1869 | John Williamson (2nd time) |- | 7 | 2 December 1869 | Nov 1873 | [[Thomas Gillies]] |- | (4) | 20 November 1873 | 16 February 1875 | John Williamson (3rd time) |- | 8 | Feb 1875 | Mar 1875 | [[Maurice O'Rorke]] |- | 9 | 24 March 1875 | 1 January 1877 | [[George Grey]] |}

===Speakers=== The Provincial Council had three Speakers:{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=180}} {| class="wikitable" ! No. ! from ! to ! Speaker |- | 1 | 1853 | 1857 | [[Thomas Bartley (politician)|Thomas Bartley]] |- | 2 | 1857 | 1865 | [[William Powditch]] |- | 3 | 1865 | 1876 | [[Maurice O'Rorke]] |}

=== Members === In 1853 the province had [[1853 New Zealand provincial elections#Auckland|6 electorates, with 24 members]]:<ref>{{Cite news |title=Proclamation |work=[[Daily Southern Cross]] |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18530405.2.11 |access-date=23 May 2021 | volume=X |issue=602 |date=5 April 1853 |page=3}}</ref>

* [[City of Auckland (New Zealand electorate)|City of Auckland]], 6 members * [[Suburbs of Auckland (New Zealand electorate)|Suburbs of Auckland]], 4 members * [[Pensioner Settlements (New Zealand electorate)|Pensioner Settlements]], 4 members * [[Northern Division (New Zealand electorate)|Northern Division]], 4 members * [[Southern Division (New Zealand electorate)|Southern Division]], 4 members * [[Bay of Islands (New Zealand electorate)|Bay of Islands]], 2 members

For its last session of 1873–76, it had 43 members:<ref>{{Cite news |work=[[Auckland Star]] |date=15 December 1873 |page=2 |title=The Provincial Council |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18731215.2.12 |access-date=23 May 2021 | volume=IV |issue=1206 }}</ref>

* Albertland: John Shepherd * [[Auckland East]]: [[William John Hurst]], [[Joseph Dargaville]], Philip Aaron Philips * [[Auckland West]]: James Thomas Boylan, [[Patrick Dignan (politician)|Patrick Dignan]], [[David Goldie (politician)|David Goldie]], [[Frederick Prime]], [[William Swanson (politician)|William Swanson]] * [[Bay of Islands (New Zealand electorate)|Bay of Islands]]: [[Hugh Carleton]] * [[Coromandel (New Zealand electorate)|Coromandel]]: [[Alfred Cadman]] * [[Eden (New Zealand electorate)|Eden]]: Andrew Beveridge, [[William Buckland (politician)|William Buckland]] * Hokianga: [[John Sheehan (New Zealand politician)|John Sheehan]] * [[Kaipara (New Zealand electorate)|Kaipara]]: Henry Lloyd * Mangonui: William Thomas Ball * [[Newton (New Zealand electorate)|Newton]]: [[Thomas Cheeseman#Biography|Rev. Thomas Cheeseman]], Thomas Macready * [[Onehunga (New Zealand electorate)|Onehunga]]: [[John Lundon]], [[Maurice O'Rorke]] * Opotiki: [[William Kelly (New Zealand politician)|William Kelly]] * Otamatea: Murdoch McLeod * [[Pakuranga (New Zealand electorate)|Pakuranga]]: [[Ponsonby Peacocke#Family|Ponsonby John Raleigh Peacocke]] * [[Papakura (New Zealand electorate)|Papakura]]: William Hay * [[Parnell (New Zealand electorate)|Parnell]]: [[Benjamin Tonks]], [[Reader Wood]] * [[Raglan (New Zealand electorate)|Raglan]]: Thomas Wilson * Ramarama: Joseph Crispe * Takapuna: [[George McCullagh Reed]] * Tamaki: Robert Nair Ryburn * [[Tauranga (New Zealand electorate)|Tauranga]]: [[George Morris (New Zealand politician)|George Morris]] * [[Thames (New Zealand electorate)|Thames]]: [[Lemuel Bagnall]], John Brown, William Carpenter, [[William Turnbull Swan]],{{efn|Swan died on 15 March 1875}} William Davies{{efn|Davies replaced Swan in a by-election held on 5 April 1875}} * Turanganui: James Woodbine Johnson * [[Waikato (New Zealand electorate)|Waikato]]: [[William Australia Graham]] * [[Waipa (New Zealand electorate)|Waipa]]: Henry Byron, Hungerford Roche * Wairoa and Mangapai: William Ormiston * [[Waitemata (New Zealand electorate)|Waitemata]]: [[Allan Kerr Taylor]] * Waiuku: [[Ebenezer Hamlin]] * Warkworth: [[William Pollock Moat]] * [[Whangārei (New Zealand electorate)|Whangarei]]: [[Robert Douglas (New Zealand politician)|Robert Douglas]]

===Legislation=== * [http://nzlii.org/nz/legis/auk_ord/ Auckland Provincial Ordinances 1854–1875] *[[Public Buildings Act 1875]]

==Footnotes== {{notelist}}

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== *{{cite book |author-link = Guy Scholefield | last = Scholefield | first= Guy | title = New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 | edition = 3rd | orig-year=First published in 1913 | year = 1950 |publisher = Govt. Printer |location = Wellington}} *{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= Jim | author-link=Jim Wilson (librarian) |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year=First published in 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103}}

==External links== *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060118140712/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/brit-nz/whereto.htm Map of the old provincial boundaries]}} *[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZ18611127.2.7&srpos=279 Results of 1861 election] and [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=DSC18611101.2.15&srpos=264 Superintendent election] *[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=DSC18621212.2.13&srpos=448&e Results of 1862 Superintendent election]

[[Category:Provinces of New Zealand]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1853]] [[Category:1876 disestablishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:History of the Auckland Region]] [[Category:1853 establishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:Former subdivisions of the Auckland Region]]