:''(For the current top-level subdivision of Nelson in New Zealand, see

Marlborough region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a distric ...

)'' The Marlborough Province operated as a province of New Zealand from 1 November 1859, when it split away from

Nelson Province Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, and Tasman districts, along with Nelson Ci ...

, until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.

History

Marlborough split away from the

because the majority of the income of the Provincial Council came from land sales in the Marlborough region, but the funds were mostly used in the Nelson region. Land sales in Nelson and Marlborough netted the Nelson Provincial Council £33,000 and £160,000, respectively. Of that, £200 were expended benefiting the Marlborough region. Marlborough settlers successfully petitioned for a split from Nelson. Another reason was that large landholders feared the growing influence of smaller farmers and urban residents. By splitting the Marlborough Province off with its large farms, it was easier for these landholders to control the provincial council. When the province was formed, Sir

Thomas Gore Browne Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne, (3 July 1807 – 17 April 1887) was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda. Early life Browne was born o ...

, the Governor of New Zealand, named it after

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

. The settlement of Blenheim was subsequently named after the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (german: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt, link=no; french: Bataille de Höchstädt, link=no; nl, Slag bij Blenheim, link=no) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied v ...

(1704), where troops led by the Duke defeated a combined French and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n force at the village of Blenheim (

Blindheim Blindheim (), traditionally known in English as Blenheim ( ), is a village and a municipality in the Bavarian district of Dillingen in southern Germany. It is north of Augsburg, on the left bank of the Danube River. The municipality consists ...

) in Germany.

Area

The Marlborough Province was notable for its intense personal rivalries among its politicians. This led to a farcical change of capital from at first Blenheim, then Picton from 1861, and back again to Blenheim from July 1865. In a symbolic way, government buildings in both Blenheim and Picton burned down some months after the abolition of the provincial system. Marlborough was not systematically settled like other regions, but capital-rich settlers from the Nelson area spilled over who wanted to invest in large land holdings.

Frederick Weld Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld (9 May 1823 – 20 July 1891), was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasman ...

was the first in 1847 to land sheep at

Port Underwood Te Whanganui / Port Underwood is a sheltered harbour which forms the north-east extension of Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, on the east coast of the Marlborough Sounds.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edi ...

, a sheltered harbour which forms the north-east extension of

Cloudy Bay Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds and north of Clifford Bay. In August 2014, the name Cloudy Bay, given by Captain Cook in 1770, was officially altered ...

in the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori m ...

. Because of its early start in sheep farming, other

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

areas were stocked from here.

Anniversary Day

New Zealand law provides an anniversary day for each former province. Marlborough celebrates its founding on a Monday near 1 November each year.

Superintendents

The Marlborough Province had five Superintendents:

Legislation

* Picton Institute Act 1864

References

External links

Map
of provincial boundaries {{coord, -41.514, 173.960, region:NZ, display=inline,title Provinces of New Zealand States and territories established in 1859 1876 disestablishments in New Zealand 1859 establishments in New Zealand