Colony of New Zealand
1841–1907
Top: Flag of New Zealand (since 1902) Bottom: Flag of the United Kingdom (until 1902) Royal coat of arms
Anthem: "God Save the Queen/King"
Colony of New Zealand in 1907
Status	British colony
Capital	Okiato (1841) Auckland (1841–1865) Wellington (since 1865)
Common languages	English Māori
Demonym	New Zealander
Government	Crown colony (1841–1852) Self-governing colony (1852–1907)
British monarch
• 1841–1901	Victoria
• 1901–1907	Edward VII
Governor
• 1841–1842	William Hobson (first)
• 1904–1907	William Plunket (last of colony)
Premier
• 1856	Henry Sewell (first)
• 1906–1907	Joseph Ward (last of colony)
Legislature	General Assembly1
• Upper chamber	Legislative Council
• Lower chamber	House of Representatives
History
• Separation from theColony of New South Wales[1]	3 May 1841
• New Zealand Constitution Act 1846	28 August 1846
• New Zealand Constitution Act 1852	30 June 1852
• Declared as Dominion	26 September 1907
Population
• 1901 census	772,719
Currency	New Zealand pound
Preceded by Succeeded by Colony of New South Wales United Tribes of New Zealand Dominion of New Zealand
1. The General Assembly first sat in 1854, under the provisions of theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

TheColony of New Zealand was acolony of theUnited Kingdom from 1841 to 1907. British authority was vested in agovernor. The colony hadthree successive capitals:Okiato (or Old Russell) in 1841;Auckland from 1841 to 1865; andWellington from 1865. Following theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852, the colony became aCrown colony with its first elected parliament in 1853. Responsible self-government was established in 1856 with the governor required to act on the advice of hisministers. In 1907, the colony became theDominion of New Zealand.

Following the extension of the boundaries of New South Wales in January 1840 by Governor Gipps to include New Zealand,William Hobson left Sydney for New Zealand.^[2]

TheTreaty of Waitangi—between Māori chiefs and British representatives ofQueen Victoria—was subsequently signed on6 February 1840. Hobson declared British sovereignty over the islands of New Zealand on 21 May 1840 in two separate declarations. In the first declaration, Hobson declared sovereignty over theNorth Island on the basis of cession following the Treaty of Waitangi. In the English version of the treaty, Māori ceded sovereignty and received the rights, privileges and protections of beingBritish subjects. The Māori version of the treaty refers tokāwanatanga which is often translated today as governance or government. This point of difference has been a subject of much controversy and political debate.^[3][4] In the second declaration, Hobson declared British sovereignty over theSouth Island andStewart Island on the basis of discovery in 1769 byJames Cook.

The relationship between New Zealand and theColony of New South Wales was formalised after a new definition of NSW's boundaries, that included New Zealand, arrived from London on 15 June 1839. It stated that the NSW colony would include "any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty ... within that group of Islands in the Pacific Ocean, commonly called New Zealand."^[5] This made Lieutenant-Governor Hobson answerable to his superior, thegovernor of New South Wales. Byletters patent, the British government issued theCharter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840.^[1] The Charter stated that the Colony of New Zealand would be established as ade jureCrown colony separate from New South Wales on 3 May 1841.^[1]

In its early years, British effective control over the whole colony was limited. Connecting control with sovereignty, the historianJames Belich, says sovereignty fell into two categories: nominal (meaning the de jure status of sovereignty, but without the power to govern in practice) and substantive (in which sovereignty can be both legally recognised and widely enforced without competition). He wrote: "Certainly, for many years after 1840, 'nominal sovereignty' was much closer to the reality. This ambiguity was a source of friction. The British imagined that they were entitled to govern the Maoris in fact as well as name, although [William Hobson andRobert FitzRoy] were sufficiently realistic to grasp that substantive sovereignty could not be applied comprehensively overnight."^[6][7]

With the establishment of the Crown colony, Hobson became governor of New Zealand. The first organs of theNew Zealand Government were also established to assist the governor: anExecutive Council and a(General) Legislative Council.^[8]

The Executive Council consisted of theattorney-general,colonial secretary, andcolonial treasurer. The Legislative Council consisted of the governor, Executive Council, and threejustices of the peace appointed by the governor.^[8] The Legislative Council had the power to issue laws calledOrdinances.^[9]

The colony was initially divided into threeprovinces:New Ulster Province (the North Island),New Munster Province (the South Island), andNew Leinster Province (Stewart Island).

As new European settlements were founded in the colony, demands for self-government became louder. TheNew Zealand Company settlement of Port Nicholson (Wellington) had its own elected council, which was forcibly dissolved by Lieutenant-GovernorWilliam Hobson in 1840.^[10] Later, Wellington became the centre of agitation by settlers for a representative government led bySamuel Revans, who founded theWellington Settlers' Constitutional Association in 1848.^[11]

The first constitution act was theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1846, though GovernorGeorge Grey was opposed to provisions that would divide the country into European andMāori districts. As a result, almost all of the act was suspended for six years pending a newNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852, with the only operative part of the 1846 act being the creation of New Zealand's first provinces. In the meantime, Grey drafted his own act which established both provincial and central representative assemblies, and allowed for Māori districts and an elected governor.^[12] The latter proposal was rejected by the Parliament of the United Kingdom when it adopted Grey's constitution.

TheNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852 became the central constitutional document of the colony. It created theGeneral Assembly, which consisted of the Legislative Council and an electedHouse of Representatives.^[13] Thefirst general election for the House of Representatives was held from 14 July 1853 until early October.^[14]

The1st New Zealand Parliament was opened on 24 May 1854.^[15] The Administrator of Government,Robert Wynyard, was quickly confronted by the demands of the new parliament thatresponsible government be granted to the colony immediately; on 2 June theHouse of Representatives passed a resolution, sponsored byEdward Gibbon Wakefield, to that effect. Wynyard refused, stating that the Colonial Office made no mention of responsible government in its dispatches. The Executive Council advised Wynyard against implementing responsible government, and in the meantime, he sent a dispatch to London requesting clarification. Wynyard then offered to add some elected members of parliament to the Executive Council, and appointedJames FitzGerald,Henry Sewell andFrederick Weld to the council. The compromise worked for a few weeks but on 1 August parliament demanded complete power to appoint ministers. Wynyard refused, and all three MPs resigned from the council. In response, Wynyardprorogued parliament for two weeks. On 31 August, he appointedThomas Forsaith,Jerningham Wakefield andJames Macandrew to the Executive Council, but when parliament met again, it moved a motion of no confidence in the members.^{[citation needed]}

Parliament met on 8 August 1855, by which time Wynyard had received instructions from the Colonial Office to introduce responsible government. The new governor, SirThomas Gore Browne, arrived on 6 September 1855 and relieved Wynyard of his duties.^[16] On 28 January 1858, Wynyard was appointed to the Legislative Council.^[17]

Governor Thomas Gore Browne subsequently announced that self-government would begin with the2nd New Zealand Parliament, elected in 1855.^[18] Henry Sewell was asked by the governor to form a government, now known as theSewell Ministry. He became colonial secretary—effectively the first Premier of New Zealand—on 7 May.^[19] Sewell's government was short-lived, however. The leader of the provincialist (pro-provinces) faction,William Fox, defeated Sewell's government on 20 May 1856.^[20] Fox himself, however, did not retain office for long, being defeated byEdward Stafford, a moderate.^{[citation needed]}

The Colony of New Zealand continued until 26 September 1907, when, as a result of a decision by the1907 Imperial Conference and by request of the New Zealand Government, KingEdward VII declared New Zealand to be aDominion. On the same day, the King issued another Royal Proclamation granting theColony of Newfoundland the status ofDominion of Newfoundland. The 1907 change from Colony to Dominion was largely symbolic, and New Zealand did not become independent until theGeneral Assembly of New Zealand enacted theStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947, which applied theStatute of Westminster 1931 to the Dominion of New Zealand (although the United Kingdom retained the right to legislate for New Zealand at its request); certain colonial enactments survived for sometime after—the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was finally replaced by theConstitution Act 1986.^[21]

ARoyal Proclamation granting New Zealand Dominion status was issued on 26 September 1907.

It read – "Edward R. & I. Whereas We have on the Petition of the Members of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of Our Colony of New Zealand determined that the title of Dominion of New Zealand shall be substituted for that of the Colony of New Zealand as the designation of the said Colony, We have therefore by and with the advice of Our Privy Council thought fit to issue this Our Royal Proclamation and We do ordain, declare and command that on and after the twenty-sixth day of September, one thousand nine hundred and seven, the said Colony of New Zealand and the territory belonging thereto shall be called and known by the title of the Dominion of New Zealand. And We hereby give Our Commands to all Public Departments accordingly. Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this ninth day of September, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, and in the seventh year of Our Reign.God save theKing."^[22]

Māori were counted separately and not as part of the official census. The total population of the Colony of New Zealand was 772,719 people with the number of "full-blooded" Māori being counted at 43,143 people. The number of "half-castes" living as members of Māori tribes, and others living with and counted asEuropeans in the census were counted at 5,540 people.

District / Settlement	Males	Females	Total	Percent
Auckland	92,944	82,994	175,938	22.77%
Taranaki	20,569	17,286	37,855	4.9%
Hawke's Bay	18,859	16,565	35,424	4.6%
Wellington	74,234	67,120	141,334	18.29%
Marlborough	7,151	6,175	13,326	1.72%
Nelson	20,607	17,308	37,915	4.91%
Westland	8,106	6,400	14,506	1.88%
Canterbury	72,871	70,170	143,041	18.51%
Otago	90,534	82,611	173,145	22.41%
Chatham Islands	112	95	207	0.03%
Kermadec Islands	5	3	8	0.001%
Colony of New Zealand	405,992	366,727	772,719	100.0%
Source: 1901 New Zealand Census[23]

Religion	Total	Percent
Christianity	748,490	96.97%
Church of England andProtestants (not defined)	315,263	40.84%
Presbyterians	176,503	22.87%
Methodists	83,802	10.86%
Baptists	16,035	2.08%
Congregationalists	6,699	0.87%
Lutherans	4,833	0.63%
Salvation Army	7,999	1.04%
Society of Friends	313	0.04%
Unitarians	468	0.06%
Other Protestants	16,877	2.19%
Roman Catholics and Catholics (undefined)	109,822	14.23%
Greek Church	189	0.02%
Other denominations	1,347	0.17%
No denomination	8,240	1.07%
Hebrews (Jews)	1,611	0.21%
Buddhists, Confucians	2,432	0.30%
No religion	1,109	0.14%
Unspecified	882	Nil
Object to state	18,295	2.38%
Colony of New Zealand	772,719	100.0%

The first flag used by the Colony of New Zealand was the BritishUnion Flag. This began to change with theColonial Naval Defence Act 1865, which required all ships owned by colonial governments to fly the defacedRoyal Navyblue ensign with a colonial badge. New Zealand did not have a colonial badge, or indeed acoat of arms of its own at this stage, and so the letters "NZ" were added to the blue ensign.^[24] The Colony New Zealand used the sameroyal coat of arms as the United Kingdom.

In 1869,Albert Hastings Markham, a first lieutenant on the Royal Navy vesselHMSBlanche, submitted a national ensign design to SirGeorge Bowen, the Governor of New Zealand.^[25] It was initially used only on government ships, but was adopted as thede factonational flag in a surge of patriotism arising from theSecond Boer War in 1902. To end confusion between the various designs of the flag, theLiberal Government passed the Ensign and Code Signals Bill, which was approved byKing Edward VII on 24 March 1902,^[26] declaring the flag as New Zealand's national flag.

• History of New Zealand
• Political history of New Zealand
• List of governors of New Zealand

41°17′20″S174°46′38″E / 41.2889°S 174.7772°E /-41.2889; 174.7772

• Colony of New Zealand
• Former British colonies and protectorates in Oceania
• 1841 establishments in New Zealand
• 1907 disestablishments in Oceania
• 1907 disestablishments in New Zealand

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