New Munster Province

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New Munster Province
New Munster seal.png
(1842) MAP OF THE COLONY NEW ZEALAND.jpg
Country New Zealand
Island South Island
Established1846 [1]
Abolished1853 [1]
Named for Munster

New Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born.

Contents

Province

The New Munster Book of Statistics 1851 Government Blue Book New Zealand Table of Contents 1851.jpg
The New Munster Book of Statistics 1851

When New Zealand was separated from the Colony of New South Wales in 1841 and established as a colony in its own right, the Royal Charter of 1840 effecting this provided that "the principal Islands, heretofore known as, or commonly called, the 'Northern Island', the 'Middle Island', and 'Stewart's Island', shall henceforward be designated and known respectively as 'New Ulster', 'New Munster', and 'New Leinster'". These divisions were at first of geographical significance only, not used as a basis for the government of the colony, which was centralised in Auckland. New Munster referred solely to the South Island. [2]

The situation was altered in 1846 when the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 [3] divided the colony into two provinces: New Ulster and New Munster. New Munster included the South Island and Stewart Island, plus the southern portion of the North Island up to the mouth of the Patea River. New Ulster consisted of the remainder of the North Island. These boundaries incorporated the Cook Strait settlements of Wellington and Nelson into one province, despite being on different islands. Each province had a Governor and Legislative and Executive Council, in addition to the Governor-in-Chief and Legislative and Executive Council for the whole colony. Early in 1848 Edward John Eyre was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster.

The Provincial Council of New Munster had only one legislative session, in 1849, before it succumbed to the virulent attacks of the Wellington settlers. Governor George Grey, sensible to the pressures, inspired an ordinance of the General Legislative Council under which new Legislative Councils would be established in each province with two-thirds of their members elected on a generous franchise in 1851. [4] Grey implemented the ordinance with such deliberation that neither Council met before advice was received that the United Kingdom Parliament had passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

This act dissolved these provinces in 1853, after only seven years' existence, and New Munster was divided into the provinces of Wellington, Canterbury, Nelson, and Otago.

Government appointments

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The first New Zealand Legislative Council, also known as the General Legislative Council, was established in 1841 when New Zealand was created as a Crown colony separate from New South Wales. The Legislative Council consisted of the governor, the colonial secretary, the colonial treasurer, and senior justices of the peace; all members were appointed. From 1848, there were additional provincial Legislative Councils for New Ulster and New Munster. The general Legislative Council had twelve sessions, and the first ten were held in Auckland while the last two were held in Wellington. In May 1852, an act provided for two thirds of the membership of the provincial Legislative Councils to be elected. Elections for the New Ulster Province had already been held when news was received that the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 had been passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. No meeting of the elected members was ever called. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 disestablished the Legislative Council when writs for the first election of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives were returned. The original Legislative Councils ceased to exist in September 1853.

References

  1. 1 2 "The crown colony, 1840 to 1852". teara.govt.nz. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  2. "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand - New Leinster, New Munster, and New Ulster". 1966. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. Text of the 1846 Constitution from The London Gazette
  4. Early Constitutions
  5. Bell, Sir Francis Dillon
  6. Domett, Alfred
  7. Eyre, Edward John
  8. Fox, Sir William
  9. Gisborne, William
  10. Ormond, Hon. John Davies
  11. Richmond, Mathew, C.B.

43°59′S170°27′E / 43.983°S 170.450°E / -43.983; 170.450