✨ Provincial Council Memorial
NEW PLYMOUTH.
NEW ZEALAND
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.
Published by Authority.
VOL. VI.] NEW PLYMOUTH, THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1858. [No. 9
Provincial Secretary's Office,
New Plymouth, 29th May, 1858.
THE following Memorial of the Provincial Council of New Plymouth to His Excellency the Governor, the Legislative Council, and the House of Representatives, is published for general information.
I. N. WATT,
Provincial Secretary.
To the Honorable the House of Representatives of New Zealand in Parliament assembled.
The Memorial of the Provincial Council of the Province of New Plymouth,
Sheweth,
That the settlement of New Plymouth was founded in the beginning of the year 1841 under the most favorable auspices; that it received by direct emigration from England more than 1000 settlers during the two first years of its existence; that during the last fifteen years it has continued to receive accessions of population from the parent country; and yet that the present inhabitants of the Province of European birth and descent are fewer than 2500, exclusive of the garrison.
That the Province contains by estimation 2,176,000 acres of land, 300,000 of which form a belt of the richest arable soil in the colony, extending along a coast line of 115 miles; and that the remainder, which is covered with a dense forest, is equally fertile and contains but a small proportion of unavailable land.
That of this comparatively large extent of valuable country, the European inhabitants occupy only 11,000 acres of open land and 32,000 acres of forest, while a district of 20,000 acres of surveyed forest land remains unsold in the hands of the Provincial Government, on account of the outlay required to bring it into cultivation, the superiority of the unoccupied open land in its vicinity, and the insecure state of the Province.
That the native population of the province in the year 1856 appears, by a census taken by the Assistant Native Secretary, to have been only 1,782; and that this number has not since been increased.
That the lands held by these 1,782 natives are estimated to comprise more than two millions of acres, one seventh of which are immediately available for the plough, and the remainder are quite equal in value and position to the forest lands held by the settlers.
That the Natives, even when at peace with each other, are unable to occupy more than a very inconsiderable portion of the extensive country they inhabit. That they have no flocks of sheep, and their horses and cattle bear no proportion to the extent of country over which they range.
That the possession of these waste lands
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Taranaki Provincial Gazette 1858, No 9
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏘️ Publication of a Memorial from the Provincial Council of New Plymouth
🏘️ Provincial & Local Government29 May 1858
Memorial, Provincial Council, New Plymouth, Land settlement, Native population
- I. N. Watt, Provincial Secretary
🏘️ Memorial of the Provincial Council of New Plymouth regarding land and population
🏘️ Provincial & Local GovernmentMemorial, New Plymouth, Land statistics, European settlers, Native population, Land availability