New Zealand becomes a separate colony
- When
- 3 May 1841
- Reach
- Nationwide
New Zealand was detached from New South Wales and given its own Governor, Legislative Council and courts.
Until this point the country had been administered as a dependency of Sydney. Separation gave Hobson a functioning colonial government, and gave settlers something to argue with. It also created the machinery — Crown pre-emption, land claims commissions, a Supreme Court — through which land would change hands over the next twenty years.
Regions affected
Sources
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Related
New Zealand Constitution Act
Representative government arrived, divided into six provinces — and the property franchise excluded almost all Māori, who held land communally.
The first Parliament meets
Thirty-seven members assembled in a temporary building in Auckland and immediately began demanding control of the executive.
AucklandResponsible government begins
Henry Sewell formed the first ministry answerable to Parliament rather than to the Governor — though Māori affairs stayed in the Governor’s hands.
The capital moves to Wellington
Australian commissioners were asked to pick a more central capital, and chose Wellington. Auckland was furious and briefly talked of separation.
Wellington