{{Short description|Former province of New Zealand (1853–1876)}} {{For|the current top-level local government area|Otago}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Otago Province |official_name = |native_name = |native_name_lang = |settlement_type = [[Provinces of New Zealand]] |total_type = Region |motto = |image_map = File:Otago in New Zealand (1861).svg |map_caption = Otago Province within New Zealand |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = [[New Zealand]] |subdivision_type1 = Island |subdivision_name1 = [[South Island]] |seat = [[Dunedin]] |established_title = Established |established_date = 1853 |extinct_title = Abolished |extinct_date = 1876 |named_for = {{langx|mi|[[Ōtākou]]}} |coordinates = |area_total_km2 = |population_as_of = |population_total = }}
The '''Otago Province''' was a [[Provinces of New Zealand|province of New Zealand]] until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was [[Dunedin]]. [[Southland Province]] split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870.
==Area and history== Otago Province was one of the six original provinces established in New Zealand in 1853. It covered the lower third of the [[South Island]]. Its northern neighbour was the [[Canterbury Province]], and the boundary was the [[Waitaki River]] from the [[Pacific Ocean]] to its source in the [[Southern Alps]], and from there a straight line to Awarua Bay (now known as [[Big Bay (Southland)|Big Bay]]) on the west coast.<ref name="Te Ara Otago 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/otago-province-or-provincial-district | editor-first=A. H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |access-date=5 December 2013 |chapter=Otago Province or Provincial District |date= 23 April 2009}}</ref> The inland area of the Waitaki catchment was unexplored in 1853 and dispute later arose over which branch of the Waitaki should form the boundary. The boundary was delineated in 1861 as following the [[Ōhau River (Canterbury)|Ōhau River]] to Lake Ōhau and from there a straight line to Mount Aspiring and Awarua Bay.<ref name="Te Ara Otago Province" />
Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870.<ref name="Te Ara Otago Province" /> All the New Zealand provinces were abolished at the end of 1876.
==Anniversary Day==
New Zealand law provides an anniversary day for each province. Otago Anniversary Day is a public holiday each year on the Monday nearest to 23 March.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://publicholidays.co.nz/otago-anniversary-day/ | title=Otago Anniversary Day 2023, 2024 and 2025 }}</ref>
==Superintendents==
The Otago Province had five [[Superintendent (politics)|Superintendents]]:<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" width=45% ! No. ! from ! to ! Superintendent |- | 1 | 26 Dec 1853 | Dec 1859 | [[William Cargill (New Zealand politician)|William Cargill]] |- | 2 | 3 Jan 1860 | 6 Mar 1861 | [[James Macandrew]] |- | 3 | 17 May 1861 | 15 Apr 1863 | [[John Richardson (New Zealand politician)|John Richardson]] |- | 4 | 16 Apr 1863 | 23 Jun 1865 | [[John Hyde Harris]] |- | 5 | 4 Aug 1865<ref>{{cite news|title=The Superintendency |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW18650805.2.41 |access-date=23 May 2012|work=[[Otago Witness]]|date=5 August 1865|issue=714|page=11}}</ref> | 26 Feb 1867 | [[Thomas Dick (politician)|Thomas Dick]] |- | | 27 Feb 1867 | 1 Jan 1877 | James Macandrew (2nd time) |}
==Railways==
The Province built the [[Port Chalmers Branch]] under the auspices of the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited, and was built to the recently adopted national [[track gauge]] of 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches), and it was the first line in the country with that gauge to open, on 1 January 1873. The first locomotive to run on the line was the [[NZR E class (1872)|E class]] ''Josephine'', a double [[Fairlie locomotive|Fairlie]] [[steam locomotive]], whose local popularity ensured she was retained beyond her retirement from service on the railways in 1917 and is preserved today in the [[Otago Settlers Museum]] in Dunedin.
When the Southland province amalgamated with Otago in 1870, the latter acquired the former province's railways - which were built to the standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 feet 8.5 inches).
==Legislation==
* [[Otago Harbour Trust Leasing Ordinance 1862]] * [[Education Reserves Ordinance 1864]] * [[Education Reserves Ordinance 1865]] * [[Harbour Reclaimed Lands Sale and Leasing Ordinance 1868]] * [[University of Otago Ordinance 1869]] * [[Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute Ordinance 1870]], establishing the [[Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute]] * [[Oamaru Racecourse Reserve Management Ordinance 1870]] * [[University of Otago Endowment Ordinance 1870]] * [[Blueskin Market Reserve Ordinance 1871]] * [[Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1871]] * [[Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Reserve Management Ordinance 1871]] * [[Lawrence Athenaeum and Mining Institute Ordinance 1872]] * [[Lawrence Athenaeum and Mining Institute Reserves Management Ordinance 1872]] * [[Oamaru Town Reserves Management Ordinance 1872]] * [[Cromwell Athenaeum Ordinance 1873]] * [[Dempsey Trust Ordinance 1873]] * [[Invercargill Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1873]] * [[Riverton Athenaeum Ordinance 1873]] * [[Winton Racecourse Reserve Management Ordinance 1873]] * [[Caledonian Society of Otago Incorporation Ordinance 1874]] * [[Roslyn Institute Ordinance 1874]] * [[Arrowtown Athenaeum Ordinance 1875]] * [[Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1875]] * [[Riverton Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1875]] * [[University of Otago Lands Trust Ordinance 1875]]
==See also== *[[Otago gold rush]] *[[Vincent Pyke]] *[[1853 New Zealand provincial elections#Otago|1853 New Zealand provincial elections]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * A page containing a map of the {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20011111221846/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/gallery/brit-nz/whereto.htm old provincial boundaries]}} is available. * [http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=National_Arms_of_New_Zealand#19th_century_provincial_arms_and_seals The Seal of Otago]
{{Provinces of New Zealand}} {{Authority control}} {{coord|-45.46412|169.86977|type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:NZ|display=title}}
[[Category:Provinces of New Zealand]] [[Category:History of Otago]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1853]] [[Category:1876 disestablishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:1853 establishments in New Zealand]]