CHAPTER III
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CHAPTER III.
AUCKLAND---SEPARATION OF THE COLONY FROM NEW SOUTH WALES----CAPTAIN HOBSON APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF THE COLONY OF NEW ZEALAND ---COUNCILS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICERS---FIRST SESSION OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL----SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR----ORDINANCES---BUILDING OF AUCKLAND---ERECTION OF A METROPOLITAN CHURCH---ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH---NEWSPAPER AND BANK.
From October, 1840, the town of Auckland received accession of numbers continually by arrivals from other parts of the islands, as well as from the adjacent colonies.
In January, 1841, the Lieutenant-Governor, with the whole of the Government establishment, took up his permanent residence at Auckland, and every exertion was then made to prepare the town allotments for the sale advertised to take place in March.
During this period the Colony was under the Government of New South Wales, and every question and proceeding, whether judicial, commercial, or statistical, was obliged to be referred to the Governor and Council at Sydney for approval or rejection. Distant as New Zealand is from New South Wales, exclusive of the great difference between the circumstances of the two Colonies, this dependence of the former on the latter for all laws and regulations,
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SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.
must not only have continually embarrassed the Lieutenant-Governor, but have militated very much against the rise and progress of the infant Colony of New Zealand. It may easily therefore be conceived how much the best interests of New Zealand had been considered and promoted by its separation from, and independence of, New South Wales.
In the early part of the year 1841, intelligence from England hinted at the separation of the Colony, but it was not until the month of April that the Lieut.-Governor received despatches direct from the Home Government, announcing that Her Majesty had been pleased to create New Zealand a Colony separate and independent from New South Wales.
The sale of the town allotments, originally advertised for the 12th of March, had been postponed to Wednesday, the 12th of April, and this intelligence tended very much to enhance the anticipated value of property in the town of Auckland. The first Government sale of Crown lands in New Zealand took place on the day mentioned, the particulars of which will be found under another chapter.
On the 3rd of May, 1841, the inhabitants of Auckland and its vicinity were assembled, with the troops and all the public functionaries, when Her Majesty's Proclamation was publicly read, establishing the Islands of New Zealand, a distinct and independent Colony of Great Britain, and expressing Her Majesty's royal will and pleasure that the three Islands forming the Colony shall henceforth be designated, ---New Ulster instead of the North Island,---
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GOVERNMENT OFFICERS.
New Munster for the Middle Island,---and New Leinster for Stewart's or the Southern Island, (see Appendix E.)
At the same time was read Her Majesty's Commission, appointing Captain W. Hobson, R.N. to be Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, when he took the oaths in public, before the Magistrates and Government officers present.
The Proclamation announced the form of Local Government by Executive and Legislative Councils, in conjunction with His Excellency the Governor, and the following public officers were immediately appointed and sworn in by His Excellency.
Executive Council.
His Excellency the Governor.
The Colonial Secretary.
The Attorney General.
The Colonial Treasurer.
Legislative Council.
His Excellency the Governor.
The Colonial Secretary.
The Attorney General.
The Colonial Treasurer.
Three Senior Justices of the Peace
Commissioners of Land Claims.
Edward Lee Godfrey, Esq.
Matthew Richmond, Esq.
Government Officers.
Colonial Secretary . . Willoughby Shortland, Esq.
Attorney General . . Francis Fisher, Esq.
Colonial Treasurer and Collector of Customs . . George Cooper, Esq.
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FIRST SESSION OF THE COUNCIL.
Surveyor General . . . Felton Mathew, Esq.
Sheriff and Clerk to the Councils . . . James Coates, Esq.
Protector of Aborigines . . . George Clarke, Esq.
Colonial Storekeeper . . . Henry Tucker, Esq.
Superintendent of Works . . .William Mason, Esq.
Colonial Surgeon . . . John Johnson, Esq. M.D.
Harbour Master . . . David Rough, Esq.
Postmaster General . . . Thomas Paton, Esq.
Registrar of Supreme Court . . . R. A. Fitzgerald, Esq.
Coroners. ---Auckland . . J. Johnson, Esq. M.D.
---------------Bay of Islands . . . W. Davies, Esq. M.D.
----------------Port Nicholson . . . J. Fitzgerald, Esq. M.D.
The first Session of the Legislative Council of New Zealand was opened on the 24th May, 1841, It is an assembly open to the public without regard to persons. As the speech of His Excellency, on that occasion, illustrates the exact position of the Colony, and declares the line of policy intended to be pursued, it may be considered as an important state document worthy of record. The following is His Excellency's Speech.
"Gentlemen,--- I have availed myself of this early period to assemble the members of the Legislative Council for the purpose of bringing under consideration certain measures which the altered circumstances of the Colony seem to me urgently to require.
"At this, our first meeting, I deem it proper to draw your attention, not only to the Royal Charter, but to the highly important instructions under the royal signet and sign manual which accompany it. The Charter, as you are already aware, erects the
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THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.
Islands of New Zealand into a separate Colony under the superintendence of a Governor and Commander-in-chief; it constitutes a Legislative Council who are empowered to enact laws and ordinances for the local Government of the Colony; it authorises the establishment of Courts of Justice and the issue of Commissions of the Peace, and in fact, brings into complete operation British laws, throughout the whole Colony of New Zealand. The instructions, under the royal signet and sign manual, more particularly define the functions of the Governor and Council, and in a clear and perspicuous manner point out the duties of each.
"In order that you, Gentlemen, may have an opportunity of acquainting yourselves with these particular duties, I have directed the instructions to be laid on the table, and kept open for your perusal in the Council Chamber.
"I regret that I cannot at the present meeting, lay before you the Estimates for the present year, which although in a forward state of preparation, are incomplete, owing to the non-arrival of directions from the Lords of the Treasury, of which I am advised, and which may be daily expected.
"Gentlemen,---I shall lay before you an ordinance for the present re-adoption of all such acts of New South Wales, as were in force previous to our separation, and are now applicable to this Colony. It is not my intention, however, eventually to propose for your adoption, the laws of New South Wales; but it will be my endeavour, during the recess, aided by
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THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.
the advice and assistance of the law officers of the Crown, to prepare for your consideration, such laws as will best provide for the administration of justice and the contingencies of social life in New Zealand; therefore the measures now proposed to you, must be deemed temporary and contingent, as resulting from the present peculiar condition of the Colony.
"By command of Her Majesty, I will bring under your consideration, the repeal of the Land Commission Act, and submit for your adoption, an ordinance for the same general purposes, but granting to the Governor of New Zealand the same powers as those heretofore enjoyed by the Governor of New South Wales. I will, likewise, lay before you, Bills for the regulation and collection of Her Majesty's Customs, for establishing Courts of Quarter Sessions and Requests, and for the prohibition of distillation. These, Gentlemen, are the only subjects for the present, on which I shall require you to deliberate.
"Gentlemen,---We have a solemn and important duty to perform; by our means conflicting interests are to be reconciled, harmony and tranquillity established, and measures are to be adopted for improving and elevating the character of the aboriginal inhabitants. In this salutary work, I confidently look for your cordial assistance and co-operation, and I trust, under Divine Providence, we shall be enabled to accomplish these important objects, and to give effect to Her Majesty's gracious and benign views for the welfare, prosperity, and civilization of this Colony."
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ORDINANCES.
During the first session, the Legislative Council passed the following Ordinances.
1. An Ordinance to declare the laws of New South Wales, so far as they can apply to the condition of Her Majesty's subjects, to be in force in New Zealand, with clause of indemnity for all acts done since the 3rd May, 1841.
2. An Ordinance to repeal the New South Wales Act, empowering the issue of the Land Commission, and to vest similar powers in His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand.
3. An Ordinance of Customs, by which duties were enacted. (See Appendix F.)
4. An Ordinance establishing Courts of Quarter Sessions.
5. An Ordinance establishing Courts of Requests.
6. An Ordinance to prohibit distillation.
The declaration of the independence of the Colony, and the active measures of the Governor and Council for the welfare of the settlers, infused spirit and energy among the inhabitants of Auckland, whose numbers received increase daily, and immediately after the sale of the town allotments, houses and buildings sprung up with astonishing rapidity. The abundance of excellent timber, in the neighbouring ports along the coast, furnished ample materials, and large substantial storehouses, with comfortable dwelling-houses, very soon superseded tents and native huts.
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ERECTION OF A METROPOLITAN CHURCH.
In the month of April, a meeting of the inhabitants of Auckland was held at Government House, at which His Excellency presided, for the purpose of taking steps for the erection of a church. Resolutions were passed and a subscription opened. In the colonies, it is in the power of the Governor and Executive Council to grant from the public treasury, a sum equal to any private subscription not exceeding 1500 pounds, unless under special circumstances, but the amount in the first instance subscribed must exceed 300 pounds.
The subscription at the meeting exceeded the sum required for the assistance of Government, and in July the amount subscribed was nearly 500 pounds, which, with a corresponding amount from Government, enabled the trustees to enter into contracts for its erection. On the 28th July, 1841, the foundation stone of the Metropolitan Church of New Zealand, named Saint Paul's, was laid by his Excellency Governor Hobson with appropriate ceremony, in the presence of the public functionaries, the troops and the inhabitants, as well as numbers of the natives, who were addressed in their own language, by their Protector, Mr. George Clarke, Missionary, explanatory of the ceremony and of the purposes of the building. The church is to be built of bricks in the old English style of architecture, from the design of Mr. William Mason, and will contain six hundred sittings, one third of which will be free.
The subscription of the early settlers was very liberal, considering how few their numbers, but
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NEWSPAPER AND BANK ESTABLISHMENT.
although doubled by the Government, it will not be sufficient to complete the erection as proposed. The high price of materials and labour render the cost far greater than if erected in England, and to complete it will require the sum of 2500 pounds.
However, the Trustees, Willoughby Shortland, George Cooper, Matthew Richmond, Francis Fisher, and Felton Mathew, Esquires, anxious that no delay should take place in such an important public benefit, took upon themselves, most generously, the responsibility of entering into the various contracts for its erection; relying on the subscription of new settlers, and on the aid and assistance from religious societies, and other friends to the established Church in England.
In July, likewise, the Roman Catholic residents in Auckland, entered into subscription, for the building of a place of worship, according to the rites of their religion, and His Excellency the Governor granted them a piece of land in the town, for the erection of a Roman Catholic Church.
About this period was also founded, by a public Company, a Newspaper and Printing Establishment, and on the 10th July appeared the first number of the "New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette;" and very shortly afterwards, the establishment of the "New Zealand Bank" at Auckland, with branches at Port Nicholson and Russell, in the Bay of Islands, very much facilitated the commercial and monetary transactions of the settlers.
