Auckland Provincial Gazette

Also known as Auckland Provincial Government Gazette

Historical Background

Auckland Province was one of the six original provinces established under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, proclaimed into force on 17 January 1853. It succeeded the earlier colonial entity of New Ulster, which had covered much of the North Island under the short-lived 1846 constitutional arrangement.

The province covered roughly the northern half of the North Island, with its southern boundary running mostly along the 39th parallel — an arbitrary line drawn at a time when the interior was little known to European settlers. It was the largest of the original six provinces both in area and population: around a third of New Zealand's European population lived there in 1853, along with an estimated 70% of the Māori population. Auckland was not subdivided during its existence, making it one of only two provinces (along with Taranaki) to retain its original boundaries throughout the provincial era.

Although the Otago gold rush and Canterbury's growth saw those provinces temporarily surpass Auckland in population, Auckland had regained its position as the most populous part of the country by 1901.

The Auckland Provincial Council met in the General Assembly House from its second session onwards, sharing the building with the New Zealand Parliament during the years 1854–1864 when Auckland served as the colony's capital.

Provincial government was abolished under the Abolition of Provinces Act, which took full effect on 1 November 1876.

Missing Issues

Year Issue No Notes Page numbers
1869 96 mid December 1737-1770
1868 60 late November 539-542
1863 29 (none missing)
1863 32 early November 177-182
1863 34 late November 193-194
1863 35 early December 195-196
1862 16 early September 101-102
1861 7 early March 27-34
1861 13 June 65-70
1861 17 August-September 95-100
1861 20 late October 113-118
1861 24 ?? December 131-??
1859 19 September duplicated page numbers in No.'s 20-22
1858 1-9 dead links on Victoria University Library Gazette Archive
1858 17 mid June 77-78
1858 28 October 131-134
1856 12 May 95-96
1856 18 early July 127-128
1855 8 mid April 51-56

Map of provincial boundaries, 1873

1873 Province boundaries (from Wikipedia)

Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_New_Zealand

https://teara.govt.nz/en/colonial-and-provincial-government/page-2

Browse by Year

1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859
1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876

After Parliament moved to Wellington in 1865, the Auckland Provincial Council sat in General Assembly House (depicted). It was nicknamed the 'Shedifice' as it was large and drafty, with a leaking roof. First premier Henry Sewell described it as 'a great wooden barnshaped affair, which might serve for a Hospital, a Jail, or a Barrack'.

Source



Auckland Provincial Gazette Statistics

24

Years Covered

942

Issues Processed

8,576

Pages Transcribed

156,746

Names Identified

58,903

Unique Names

15,971

Named Officials

2,168

Unique Officials