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Taranaki Porowini o Taranaki
Provinces of New Zealand
Formerly New Plymouth
Taranaki Province within New Zealand post 1853
Country	New Zealand
Island	North Island
Established	1853
Abolished	1876
Named for	Mount Taranaki
Seat	New Plymouth

The Taranaki Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, the province was renamed on 1 January 1859 as the Taranaki Province.

Area

With an area of some 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km), New Plymouth Province was the smallest of the initial six provinces, and it was also the least populous. European settlement started in New Plymouth in 1841, which was the province's capital. For the first 30 years, European settlement did not extend many miles beyond New Plymouth.

History

At the beginning of the 19th century, a coastal fringe some 2 to 4 miles (3.2 to 6.4 km) deep was densely populated with Māori. Iwi from the Waikato region threatened these Ngāti Awa, and during the 1820s, many of the inhabitants left Taranaki. In 1832, Waikato iwi launched an assault with firearms, resulting in the remaining Ngāti Awa being killed or going into slavery apart from the Otaku pā in New Plymouth. When English emigrants arrived in 1841, they found deserted land.

The settlement of the province was organised by the Plymouth Company, a subsidiary of the New Zealand Company which was later absorbed into its parent company. Taranaki was chosen for the settlement by the surveyor Frederic Carrington, and New Plymouth was the only town founded in the country founded through organised settlement that lacked a natural harbour. Carrington argued that fertile land and natural harbours don't come together in New Zealand, and that the land is more important for the settlement, and an artificial harbour will later be affordable. He was present when the breakwater was built 40 years after New Plymouth had been founded.

Anniversary Day

New Zealand law provides an anniversary day for each province. Taranaki Anniversary Day is celebrated annually on the second Monday in March.

Superintendents

The Taranaki Province had four Superintendents:

Legislation

No surviving legislation.

References

1. ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (22 April 2009) . "Province and Provincial Districts". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
2. "Provinces 1848-77". Rulers.org. Retrieved 15 June 2010.

External links

• Map of the North Island provinces
• The Seal of New Plymouth - on reverse of coin

39°18′S 174°8′E / 39.300°S 174.133°E / -39.300; 174.133

• History of Taranaki
• Provinces of New Zealand
• States and territories established in 1853
• 1876 disestablishments in New Zealand
• 1853 establishments in New Zealand