Hawke's Bay Provincial Gazette

Also known as

  • The Government Gazette, Province of Hawke's Bay
  • The Hawke's Bay Government Gazette

Historical Background

Hawke's Bay Province was not one of the six original provinces established in 1853, but was created later under the New Provinces Act 1858. It was formed by separation from Wellington Province, taking effect on 1 November 1858 — a date still commemorated as Hawke's Bay Anniversary Day, observed on the Friday before Labour Day.

When the provincial system was established in 1853, the Hawke's Bay area became part of Wellington Province. The region had originally been within the New Ulster province under the earlier 1846 constitutional arrangement. Settlers in the sparsely populated district felt neglected by Wellington, which absorbed the bulk of customs and land sale revenues and directed spending southward. A campaign for separation — partly driven by the newly founded Hawke's Bay Herald — culminated in a public meeting in Napier in February 1858, and formal separation followed later that year. At the time of its establishment, the European population of the new province was only around 1,185.

The provincial capital was Napier, where the elected Provincial Council sat. The council was notably dominated by pastoral farmers and was characterised by factional rivalry throughout its existence, with conflicts often arising from competition over the purchase of Māori land rather than differences over policy.

Provincial government was abolished under the Abolition of Provinces Act, which took full effect on 1 November 1876. The region was subsequently divided into county councils.

Missing Issues

Year Issue No Notes Page numbers
1876 18 early July 56-60
1876 24 August (unclear)
1876 27 August-September 92-93
1876 29 early September 98-99
1868 1-23 Jan-Oct 1-87
1868 25 October 90-91
1868 27 December (?) ??
1867 11 early June 51-52
1867 14-15 July 67-72
1866 1-2 January (unclear)
1866 4 late January (unclear)
1866 6-7 February 25-30
1866 28-37 September-October 125-166
1866 39-40 November-December (unclear)
1862 15-17 July-August 59-68
1861 All issues Jan-Dec
1860 All issues Jan-Dec
1859 All issues Jan-Dec

Skipped Issue Numbers

It appears some issue numbers were skipped or omitted

Year Issue No Notes
1875 58 no missing page numbers
1865 28-31 "Apparently not used" - handwritten note on scan of No. 32

Map of provincial boundaries, 1873

1873 Province boundaries (from Wikipedia)

Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawke%27s_Bay_Province

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

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

Browse by Year

1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876

The Hawke's Bay Provincial Council Chambers (depicted) were completed in 1861 on Shakespeare Road, Napier

Source



Hawke's Bay Provincial Gazette Statistics

15

Years Covered

414

Issues Processed

1,630

Pages Transcribed

7,322

Names Identified

3,246

Unique Names

2,113

Named Officials

301

Unique Officials