The 1851 colony of New Zealand census was the first national population census held in the

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. The day used for the census was Saturday 1 November 1851. The enumeration was left to the governments of

New Ulster New Ulster was a province of the Colony of New Zealand that existed between 1841 and 1853. It was named after the Irish province of Ulster. Creation Between 1841 and 1846, the province included all the North Island. With the passing of the New ...

and New Munster, the two provinces into which the country was then divided and was ordered by the ''Census

Ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

of 1851''. The census, which only surveyed

European New Zealanders European New Zealanders, also known by the Māori-language loanword Pākehā, are New Zealanders of European descent. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ...

, revealed a population of 26,707.

Summary

General Census of 1851 *December 1851. (Reports appeared in Auckland Provincial

Government Gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establi ...

s, 1853 and 1854.)

Data availability

The ''Blue Books'' were statistical information from New Zealand's early Colonial period (1840–1855). They have information about population, revenue, military, trade, shipping, public works, legislation, civil servants, foreign consuls, land transactions, churches, schools, and prisons.

Population and dwellings

Population counts for the New Zealand districts. The original six were Auckland,

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, though in 1858 New Plymouth was renamed

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

Birthplace

Religion

Members of Christian denominations formed 93.35 per cent. of those who made answer to the inquiry at the census; non-Christian sects were 0.24 per cent.; whilst "other" religions constituted 6.41 per cent.

Numbers of livestock

Showing the numbers of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

in the possession of Europeans in the several settlements in 1851.

References

{{New Zealand census Censuses in New Zealand 1851 in New Zealand November 1851 events