The Canterbury Province was a
province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
.
History
Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. ...
of influential Englishmen associated with the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. (An attempt was initially made to restrict residence in the province to members of the church but this was abandoned.) The ''
Charlotte Jane
''Charlotte Jane'' was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury in New Zealand.
Maiden voyage
The ''Charlotte Jane'' departed from England in 1848, bound for Sy ...
'' and the ''
Randolph''—the first two of the
First Four Ships
The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand. The colonists or s ...
—arrived in the area on 16 December 1850, later celebrated as the province's
Anniversary Day.
In 1852, the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
passed the
New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such Act, the previous 1846 Act not having been fully i ...
, which amongst other things established
provincial councils
A province is a geographic region within Gaelic games, consisting of several County (Gaelic games), counties of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the historic four provinces of Ireland as they were set in 1610.
Provin ...
. The Constitution contained specific provisions for the Canterbury Association; the first being that the new General Assembly (
New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...
) could not amend the legislation establishing the Canterbury Association, the second being that the Canterbury Association could hand its powers to a newly-established provincial government (the Canterbury Province).
Elections were held in 1853 for
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
and, later that year, for the 12-member council. These elections predated any elected national assembly. The franchise was extended to men over the age of 21 who owned property in the province. As a result, affairs of the Canterbury Association were wound up in 1855 and outstanding settlement lands handed over to the Canterbury Province. The first meeting place was the former office of the ''Guardian and Advertiser'', Canterbury's second newspaper, on Chester Street near the
Avon River. In 1866, the council moved to
Guise Brittan
William Guise Brittan (3 December 1809 – 18 July 1876), mostly known as Guise Brittan and commonly referred to as W. G. Brittan, was the first Commissioner of Crown Lands for Canterbury in New Zealand.
Biography
Brittan was born in Gloucester, ...
's house, which later became part of the
Clarendon Hotel. One session in 1858 was held in the town hall on what is now High Street; the town hall was in the section north of Lichfield Street. On 28 September 1859, the council first met in what became known as the Timber Chamber of the
Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
The Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings were the buildings of the Canterbury Provincial Council that administered the Canterbury Province from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The buildings are the only purpose-built ...
. The Stone Chamber of the Provincial Council Buildings was used from November 1865.
Following the
West Coast Gold Rush
The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867.
Description
The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River i ...
, the portion of the province west of the
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...
was split off as
Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to:
Places
*Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya
* Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme
*Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...
in 1867. Upon the establishment of the
University of New Zealand
The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...
in 1870, its Christchurch campus housed the system's headquarters.
Geography
On the east coast the province was bounded by the
Hurunui River in the north and the
Waitaki River
The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the ...
in the south. The boundary on the west coast was largely undefined before the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
became its own province.
In 1868 the West Coast was separated from the Province with the formation of the
County of Westland on the West Coast with the boundary line defined as the crest of the
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...
. In 1873 the County formed its own Province, the short-lived
Westland Province
The Westland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1873 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital was Hokitika.
Area and history
The area was part of Canterbury Province when the provinces were created in 1853. By ...
.
In the south the course of the Waitaki River was not known and disputes arose with the
Province of Otago over pastoral leases in the inland high country.
In the 1860s South Canterbury made two bids to become separate province but this was rejected by the national government. Instead in 1867 the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
created the
Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
which received a proportion of the Canterbury provincial land revenues and was authorised to maintain and build the Timaru harbour and local roads and bridges.
When the province was abolished, the area was distributed across eight
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
.
Railways
The
Ferrymead Railway
The Ferrymead Railway is a New Zealand heritage railway built upon the track formation of New Zealand's first public railway, from Ferrymead to Christchurch, which opened on 1 December 1863. On the opening of the line to Lyttelton on 9 December 1 ...
was the first railway to be opened (1863) and closed (1868) in New Zealand. It was made obsolete by the opening of a new
line through a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
giving Christchurch access to the better port of
Lyttelton. The mainlines of the
Canterbury Provincial Railways
The Canterbury Provincial Railways was an early part of the railways of New Zealand. Built by the Canterbury Provincial government mainly to the broad gauge of , the railway reached most of the Canterbury region by the time the province was abol ...
were
Irish gauge () with some branch lines in
Colonial gauge (). These lines were all eventually absorbed into the
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...
in 1876.
Superintendents
Charles Simeon
Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric.
Life and career
He was born at Reading, Berkshire, in 1759 and baptised at St Laurence's parish church on 24 October of that year. He was the ...
was the returning officer for the first election of a Superintendent. The nomination meeting was held at the Christchurch Land Office (the site now occupied by
Our City), and there were three polling stations: in Christchurch at the Resident Magistrate's Court, in
Lyttelton at the Resident Magistrate's Court, and in
Akaroa.
Canterbury had four Superintendents:
Executive Council
The Executive Council is comparable to a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
. The following 26 Executive Councils existed:
Anniversary Day
Each
New Zealand province celebrates an anniversary day. Canterbury Province's was originally 16 December, the day of the 1850 arrival of the ''
Charlotte Jane
''Charlotte Jane'' was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury in New Zealand.
Maiden voyage
The ''Charlotte Jane'' departed from England in 1848, bound for Sy ...
'' and the ''
Randolph''.
[ Since 1862, an A&P (Agricultural and Pastoral) show has been held annually. Its Friday Show Day was set for many years on the People's Day and, sometime in the late 1950s, the ]Christchurch City Council
The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...
moved the province's Anniversary Day to coincide with the show and encourage greater crowds. The holiday is presently defined as the "second Friday after the first Tuesday in November", ensuring that it will follow the Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
Racing Carnival. This adjustment is observed in northern and middle Canterbury; southern Canterbury instead observes its Anniversary Day on Dominion Day (the 4th Monday in September).
Legislation
Canterbury Ordinances 1853 – 1875
The full text of the legislation enacted by the Canterbury Provincial Council between its inception in 1853 and its demise in 1875.
* Church Property Trust Ordinance 1854
* Christ's College Ordinance 1855
* Municipal Councils Reserves Ordinance 1862
* Municipal Corporation Reserves Ordinance 1868
* Reserve No 424 Ordinance 1873
* Educational Reserves Leasing Ordinance (No 2) 1875
* Reserve No 168 Ordinance 1875
* Reserve No 62 Ordinance 1875
See also
*Edward Jollie
Edward Jollie (1 September 1825 – 7 August 1894) was a pioneer land surveyor in New Zealand, initially as a cadet surveyor with the New Zealand Company. The Christchurch Central City is laid out to his survey.
Biography
Jollie was born in ...
*Arthur Dudley Dobson
Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson (9 September 1841 – 5 March 1934) was a New Zealand surveyor, engineer and explorer. Born in London, he came to Lyttelton, New Zealand, in 1850 on one of the First Four Ships. He is best known for taking the first part ...
* 1853 New Zealand provincial elections
Notes
References
* .
*
*
*
External links
Map of the old provincial boundaries
{{coord, -43.529454, 172.633895, display=title
History of Canterbury, New Zealand
Provinces of New Zealand
States and territories established in 1853
1876 disestablishments in New Zealand
1853 establishments in New Zealand