Provincial Government

You could call it a miniature Parliament!

British colonisation of New Zealand occurred as a series of planned settlements. The Canterbury Association, a group with strong connections to the Anglican Church, brought their first group of migrants out in 1850. There were already five settler communities in other parts of the country but they were very scattered and, of course, the means of communication and transport at that time were very slow. It was decided that each district, or province, would be largely self-governing. In effect, six miniature Parliaments were set up to govern a country of fewer than 50,000 settlers.

The Provincial Councils took themselves very seriously, modelling themselves on the British ‘Mother of Parliaments’ at Westminster.

Three years after it was established, Christchurch was still a straggling village but in 1853 elections were held for the position of Superintendent and, later, for the twelve-seat Council. The only people who could vote were men over the age of 21 who owned property. (It was a good 40 years before New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the vote.). There were no secret ballots and no restrictions on treating the voters, so elections were very festive occasions!

The Provincial Council first met in temporary accommodation but plans for a permanent building were begun almost immediately. On the 6th of January 1858 the foundation stone was laid. The day was declared a public holiday, there was a procession through the town, a nine-gun salute, and the band played Rule Britannia. The buildings were first used by the Council in September 1859.