Otago Provincial Gazette

Also known as Otago Provincial Government Gazette

Historical Background

Otago Province was one of the six original provinces established under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, proclaimed into force on 17 January 1853. It was formed from the southern portion of the former New Munster province, covering all of mainland New Zealand south of the Waitaki River, along with Stewart Island.

The province had a distinctly Scottish character, founded on the basis of an organised Free Church of Scotland settlement. The first settlers arrived at Otago Harbour in 1848, and Dunedin — often called the Edinburgh of the South — became the provincial capital. Captain William Cargill, a veteran of the Peninsular War who had been the secular leader of the original settlement, was elected the province's first Superintendent.

The discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully near Lawrence in 1861 transformed Otago. The ensuing gold rush drew large numbers of settlers from Australia, Europe, North America and China, and by 1870 around a quarter of New Zealand's population lived in the province. Dunedin became the country's wealthiest city, and New Zealand's first university — the University of Otago — was founded there in 1869.

Southland Province was separated from Otago in 1861, but accumulated significant debt and was reabsorbed into Otago in 1870.

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

Issue numbers

  • Issues are numbered continuously between years and do not restart
  • Page numbers are continuous within a year and restart in January

Missing Issues

Year Issue No Notes Page numbers
1875 954-1000 April-December 129-?
1874 885-888 (no missing page numbers?)
1873 844-845 mid April 131-142
1871 708 January 23-26
1871 722 March 127-132
1871 768 mid December 483-490
1869-70 642 Dec-Jan (unclear)
1869 615 June 125-138
1869 636 mid November 217-220
1866 432 mid August 155-156
1865 342-344 early January 1-4
1865 359 mid April 77-80
1865 382 early August 141-192
1865 399-400 late December (unclear)
1861 133, 136, 151 Not in NatLib bound volume
1860 126 Not in NatLib bound volume

Map of provincial boundaries, 1873

1873 Province boundaries (from Wikipedia)

Further reading

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

The Otago Provincial Council sat in a number of buildings, including the Dunedin Stock Exchange (depicted) in Princes St

Source



Otago Provincial Gazette Statistics

22

Years Covered

980

Issues Processed

7,126

Pages Transcribed

62,830

Names Identified

25,914

Unique Names

26,157

Named Officials

3,993

Unique Officials