1876 - 1888 (12 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1853 | - 17 Jan 1853—1 Jan 1877: NZ Provinces
On 17 January 1853, New Zealand was divided into six Provinces (Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago), though there were soon secessions (Hawkes Bay 1858, Marlborough 1859, Southland 1864-1870, Westland 1868). Each province kept the revenue earned from the sale of their Crown land, and were responsible for encouraging immigration to their area. The provinces formally ceased to exist on the 1 January 1877 and local government was then
vested in elected borough and county councils.
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| 2 | 1873 | - 1873—1876: Vogel Immigration and Public Works
The Vogel Era - New Zealand adopted in the 1870s an assisted immigration and public works scheme inaugurated by Colonial Treasurer then Premier Julius Vogel to develop the country and to relieve the slump of the late 1860s; to be financed by borrowing overseas. His "Great Public Works Policy" resulted in a large increase in migrants and provision of many new railways, roads and telegraph lines. The population rose from 248,000 in 1870 to 399,000 in 1876.
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| 3 | 1879 | - 19 Dec 1879: NZ Universal Male Suffrage
Universal Male Suffrage was introduced to New Zealand with the Qualification of Electors Act. The Act extended the right to vote (or electoral franchise) to all European men aged over 21, regardless of whether they owned or rented property. This reform, known as universal male suffrage – or, at the time, as 'manhood suffrage' – helped transform New Zealand’s politics in the late 19th century. Maori men had been granted universal suffrage in 1867, to vote in four special Maori seats.
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| 4 | 1881 | - 29 Apr 1881: Tararua shipwreck
On a voyage from Port Chalmers to Melbourne, the Tararua struck a reef off Waipapa Point, Southland, at 5 a.m. on 29 April. A passenger swam ashore to raise the alarm, but the rough sea made it too dangerous to take people off. The ship began to break up, and the passengers climbed the rigging. They hung on until 2.35 a.m. the next morning, when those on the beach heard piercing shrieks. By daybreak the ship had sunk, and bodies were floating ashore. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, 131 were lost in the worst civilian shipwreck in New Zealand waters.
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| 5 | 1882 | - 15 Feb 1882: 1st Frozen Meat Export
The first frozen meat shipment was exported from New Zealand on 15 February 1882 aboard the Dunedin. The ship had been fitted with a coal-powered Bell Coleman freezing plant, which cooled the entire hold to 22 degrees celsius below the outside temperature. About 5000 carcasses were on board the Dunedin when it sailed from Port Chalmers to London. The new technology ultimately enabled the owner-operated (family) farm to become the standard economic unit in rural New Zealand for the next century.
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| 6 | 1886 | - 10 Jun 1886: Tarawera eruption
On 10 June 1886 the volcanic Mt Tarawera, south-east of Rotorua, erupted spectacularly, killing perhaps 120 people and burying the famed Pink and White Terraces on Lake Rotomahana.
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Chris Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project
