Canterbury (Province)

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Canterbury Province 1853-1868
Canterbury Province 1868-1876

Canterbury Province was one of six provinces established in 1853 as an independent administrative unit in the former British colony of New Zealand on the basis of the Second New Zealand Constitution Act .

geography

Canterbury Province was in the middle third of the South Island of New Zealand. The northern boundary was determined with the Hurunui River , starting from its confluence in the Pacific Ocean to its source in the Crawford Range , then on, where the Kotu-urakaoka ( Arnold River ) emerges as an outflow of Lake Brunner and about 20 km further flows north-northwest into the Gray River and then following to its mouth in the Tasman Sea . The southern border of the province was defined by the two rivers Awarua River in the west and Waitangi River in the east, the latter now known as the Waitaki River , and a straight line was drawn between the two sources of the rivers as the boundary. The western border was formed by the coastline to the Tasman Sea and the eastern border by the coastline to the Pacific Ocean.

history

On June 30, 1952, the British Parliament the law " Act to grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand " passed that in New Zealand under New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 is known. The law regulates the administrative redistribution of the New Zealand colony into six provinces. The boundaries of the districts should be determined by proclamation by the governor of New Zealand. The law also stipulated that each province should have a provincial council with at least nine members and a superintendent (head, head).

The then governor George Edward Gray proclaimed the legal changes on January 17, 1853 and with the public announcement of February 28, 1853 the provinces of Auckland , New Plymouth and Wellington in the North Island and Nelson , Canterbury and Otago in the South Island, with the dated Governor proclaimed limits legal force. On March 5, 1853, the first elections to the Provincial Council were held and repeated every four years from then on. The colonialist and politician James Edward Fitzgerald was appointed the first superintendent of the province of Canterbury . He held the position until 1857.

The southern border of the province of Canterbury has long been a matter of dispute between the province of Otago and Canterbury , as the upper course of the Waitangi River ( Waitaki River ) was unknown at the time of the proclamation by Governor Gray . After three years of negotiations, the border was finally determined along the Ohau River to Lake Ohau and from there to Mount Aspiring . In 1868, after three difficult years of working together, the western part of the County of Westland was split off from the province of Canterbury . The mountain ridge of the New Zealand Alps formed the border between the two administrative units . From January 1, 1868, the county became completely independent and became Westland Province .

On October 12, 1875, the British Parliament passed the Abolition of Provinces Act to end the administration of New Zealand over provinces. On November 1, 1876, the law became law. The provincial system was replaced by an administrative system based on boroughs and counties .

See also

literature

  • Canterbury Province and Provincial District . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed August 16, 2016]).
  • New Zealand's Nine Provinces (1853-76) . In: Friends of the Hocken Collection (Ed.): Welcome to the Hocken (Bulletin) . Bulletin number 31 . Dunedin March 2000 (English, online PDF 22 kB [accessed on August 16, 2016]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Proclamation of Boundaries of Provinces . In: Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle . Issue 583 . Nelson May 7, 1853 ( online [accessed August 16, 2016]).
  2. ^ WA Taylor : Lore and History of the South Island Maori . Bascands Ltd , Christchurch 1952, p.  179 (English, online [accessed August 16, 2016]).
  3. ^ Robert Stokes : The New Zealand Constitution Act (1852): Together with Correspondence between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor-in-chief of New Zealand in Explanation thereof . Ed .: New Zealand Government . Wellington 1853, An Act to grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand. , S.  179 (English, online [accessed August 16, 2016]).
  4. ↑ Friends of the Hocken Collection (ed.): New Zealand's Nine Provinces (1853-76) . 2000, p.  1 (English).
  5. ↑ Provinces 1848-77 . In: Rulers . B. Schemmel , accessed August 16, 2016 .
  6. ↑ McLintock (Ed.): Canterbury Province and Provincial District . 1966 (English).
  7. ^ The County of Westland, NZ . In: Victoria University of Wellington (Ed.): The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout . Wellington , S.  2 (English, online [accessed August 20, 2016]).