Westland County

{{use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Split|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Westland County |official_name = |native_name = |native_name_lang = mi |settlement_type = [[Provinces of New Zealand]] |total_type = County |motto = |image_map = Westland in New Zealand (1873).svg |map_caption = Westland County within New Zealand between 1868 and 1873 |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = New Zealand |subdivision_type1 = Island |subdivision_name1 = [[South Island]] |seat = [[Hokitika]] |parts_type = |leader_title = Chairman |leader_name = |established_title1 = Established |established_date1 = 1 January 1868 |established_title2 = Abolished |established_date2 = 30 November 1873 |established_title3 = Re-established |established_date3 = 1 November 1876 |extinct_title = Abolished |extinct_date = 31 October 1989 |named_for = |area_total_km2 = |population_as_of = |population_total = }} '''Westland County''', also known as '''County of Westland''', was a local government area on the West Coast of New Zealand's [[South Island]]. It existed from 1868 to 1873, and then from 1876 until 1989. In its first incarnation, it constituted the government for the area that was split from the [[Canterbury Province]], with the [[West Coast gold rush]] having given the impetus for that split. It had the same administrative powers as a provincial council, but the legislative power rested with [[New Zealand Parliament|Parliament]] in [[Wellington]]. The first Westland County was the predecessor to [[Westland Province]].

Following the abolition of the provinces in 1876, Westland County was re-established, but was smaller than previously, with the area north of the [[Taramakau River]] being included as part of the new [[Grey County, New Zealand|Grey County]]. [[Hokitika Borough]] was separate from Westland County, although the county seat was in [[Hokitika]]. The county was abolished for a second time in the [[1989 local government reforms]], when Westland County and Hokitika Borough were amalgamated to form [[Westland District]].

==Background== The Canterbury Province, founded in 1853, initially extended from the West Coast to the East Coast of the South Island. Few people initially lived on the West Coast; most of them were [[Māori people|Māori]].{{sfn|McLintock|1966}} Communication between the coastal areas was difficult, as the [[Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana]] created a strong barrier. In practice, most of the communication was by ship; overland journeys were seldom undertaken.

All this changed when in late 1863 [[West Coast gold rush|gold was found]] on the West Coast. Over the next three years, some 30,000 people moved to the West Coast. Some of the richest gold deposits were in an area inland from [[Greymouth]] that was bisected by the boundaries set in 1853; part of the gold reserves were located in the [[Nelson Province]]. The [[Canterbury Provincial Council]] reacted to the situation by installing [[George Sale (academic)|George Sale]] as goldfields commissioner with wide-ranging powers. Sale was responsible to the Executive Council of the Canterbury Provincial Council only. He set up his administration in [[Hokitika]], which thus became a sub-capital{{sfn|McLintock|1966}}

In parallel, the Canterbury Provincial Council commissioned the provincial engineer, [[Edward Dobson]], with finding a suitable route to be found for a road link. Dobson settled on the route that had previously been discovered by his son [[Arthur Dudley Dobson|Arthur]], and construction of this route over [[Arthur's Pass (mountain pass)|Arthur's Pass]] started shortly thereafter.<ref name="Arthur's Pass discovery">{{cite web |title=Arthur's Pass 'discovered' |url= https://nzhistory.govt.nz/timeline/12/03|publisher=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref> The road was to be paid from income raised on the goldfields, but West Coasters objected to this, as they saw much more need for public works on the West Coast itself. Out of this, a separation movement formed on the West Coast. In parallel, people in Greymouth petitioned the [[New Zealand House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] for their region to be annexed to Nelson Province. The Hokitika petition was granted, and Westland County was established.{{sfn|McLintock|1966}}

==History==

===First incarnation, 1868–1873=== Parliament passed the County of Westland Act in 1867, and the county came into force on 1 January 1868. The tenure of the five members of the West Coast on the Canterbury Provincial Council finished on 31 December 1867:{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}} [[Edmund Barff]] and Conrad Hoos for the Westland electorate, [[James Bonar (politician)|James Bonar]] and Michael Albert Cassius for the Hokitika electorate, and John Arthur Whall for the Greymouth electorate.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|pp=192–197}} The legislation gave the [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor]] the power to install a chairman, and Sir [[George Grey]] appointed [[John Hall (New Zealand politician)|John Hall]]. The other eight members were to be elected: four from Westland District, and two each from Hokitika and Greymouth.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}}

The first council recommended changes to the legislation, and a new act was passed: the County of Westland Act, 1868, which came into force on 1 November 1868. This act also provided for a membership of nine: two each from Hokitika and Greymouth, and one from each of the five road districts (Paroa, Arahura, Kaniere, Totara, and Ōkārito). This council would elect its chairman from within its membership.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}}

This form of government gave the county the administrative powers of a provincial council, but saw the legislative powers remain with [[New Zealand Parliament|Parliament]] in [[Wellington]]. Hall is credited with the idea for this form of government. Members of Parliament were not happy with having to spend their time on local legislation, and in 1873, it was decided to confer full status of a provincial council to Westland through the Province of Westland Act, 1873.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}}{{sfn|McLintock|1966}} The act came into force on 1 December 1873, and with this, Westland County ceased to exist and [[Westland Province]] was created.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}}

There were five chairmen during the first incarnation of Westland County:{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=241}} {| class="wikitable" |- ! ! Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Duration |- | align=center | 1 | [[John Hall (New Zealand politician)|John Hall]] | [[File:John Hall.jpg|60px]] | 20 Jan 1868 || 7 Mar 1868 | {{age in years and days|20 Jan 1868|7 Mar 1868}} |- | align=center | 2 | [[James Bonar (politician)|James Bonar]] | [[File:James Alexander Bonar (cropped).jpg|60px]] | 7 Mar 1868 || 14 Jan 1869 | {{age in years and days|7 Mar 1868|14 Jan 1869}} |- | align=center | 3 | [[Conrad Hoos]]{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=412}} | | 14 Jan 1869 || 12 Jan 1871 | {{age in years and days|14 Jan 1869|12 Jan 1871}} |- | align=center | 4 | [[Henry Lahmann]] | | 12 Jan 1871 || 8 Jan 1873 | {{age in years and days|12 Jan 1871|8 Jan 1873}} |- | align=center | 5 | Henry Lee Robinson<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr Henry Lee Robinson |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=GRA18981115.2.22 |access-date=9 March 2014 |work=Grey River Argus |date=15 November 1898 |volume=LVII |issue=10133 |page=4}}</ref> | | 8 Jan 1873 || 30 Nov 1873 | {{age in years and days|8 Jan 1873|30 Nov 1873}} |}

===Second incarnation, 1876–1989=== Westland Province, along with the other eight extant provinces, were abolished by the Abolition of Provinces Act 1875. Formally, the province ceased to exist on 1 November 1876, with the re-establishment of Westland County under the terms of the Counties Act 1876, although there was a two-month transitional period when the provincial superintendent remained in office while the county council was elected. The new Westland County had as its northern boundary the Taramakau River, with the area to the north that had been part of the earlier Westland County being included in Grey County. As before, the southern boundary was the [[Awarua River (Southland)|Awarua River]], and the eastern boundary was the [[Main Divide]].{{sfn|Cyclopedia of New Zealand|1906|page=491}}

The boroughs of Hokitika, [[Ross, New Zealand|Ross]] (constituted 1878) and [[Kumara, New Zealand|Kumara]] were separate administrative areas, but Hokitika was nevertheless the county seat.{{sfn|Cyclopedia of New Zealand|1906|page=491}} The borough of Kumara merged into Westland County in 1969,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/nzcardindex/images/cardindexes/nzci/d0099/nzci_d0099c00455.jpg |title=Kumara, Westland |website=New Zealand Card Index |publisher=Auckland Libraries |access-date=11 October 2020}}</ref> and Ross followed suit in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://digital-library.canterbury.ac.nz/awweb/awarchive?item=232954&type=meta |title=University of Canterbury Library – Archives collection |access-date=26 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724191442/http://digital-library.canterbury.ac.nz/awweb/awarchive?item=232954&type=meta |archive-date=24 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The local government reforms of 1989 brought about the merger of Hokitika Borough and Westland County, creating Westland District.

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== *{{cite book |title=Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts] |year=1906 |publisher=Cyclopedia Company |location=Christchurch |chapter=Westland County Council |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc05Cycl-t1-body1-d3-d10.html |ref={{harvid|Cyclopedia of New Zealand|1906}}}} *{{cite book |title=[[An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]] |orig-date=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/westland-province-and-provincial-district | editor-first=A. H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |access-date= 28 February 2014 |chapter= Westland Province and Provincial District |date= 23 April 2009 |ref={{harvid|McLintock|1966}}}} *{{cite book | editor-last = Scholefield | editor-first = Guy | editor-link = Guy Scholefield | title = A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L | volume = I | year = 1940 | publisher = [[Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)|Department of Internal Affairs]] | location = Wellington | url = https://nzhistory.govt.nz/sites/default/files/documents/dnzb-1940/scholefield-dnzb-v1.pdf |access-date= 6 October 2013}} *{{cite book |author-link= Guy Scholefield | last = Scholefield | first= Guy | title = New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 | edition = 3rd |orig-date=First published in 1913 | year = 1950 |publisher = Govt. Printer |location = Wellington}}

[[Category:1873 disestablishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:1868 establishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:1989 disestablishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:1876 establishments in New Zealand]] [[Category:Politics of the West Coast Region]]