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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1845 | - 1845—1872: New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand from 1845 to 1872 between the Colonial government and allied Maori on one side and Maori and Maori-allied settlers on the other. At the peak of hostilities in the 1860s, 18,000 British troops, supported by artillery, cavalry and local militia, battled about 4,000 Maori warriors. Over the course of the Taranaki and Waikato campaigns, the lives of about 1,800 Maori and 800 Europeans were lost, and total Maori losses over the course of all the wars may have exceeded 2,100.
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| 2 | 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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| 3 | 1868 | - 10 Nov 1868: Matawhero Massacre
The Matawhero Massacre was Te Kooti’s utu (revenge) for his exile to the Chatham Islands and subsequent events. In the middle of the night, around 100 men, 60 on horseback, forded the Waipaoa River and moved quietly towards Matawhero. By dawn, they had killed about 60 people of all ages in the Pakeha settlement and adjacent kainga (Maori settlements). Some were shot, but most were bayoneted, tomahawked or clubbed to avoid alerting their neighbours.
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| 4 | 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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| 5 | 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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Chris Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project
