New Zealand, Auckland, Chapman's Gazetteer, 1867

Chapman’s Gazetteer of the Province of Auckland, New Zealand, was originally published in 1867. It provides detailed information about places located in the province of Auckland, many of which no long exist. You can expect to find details of areas your ancestors may have lived as well as the area covered by the province of Auckland.

The provinces of New Zealand themselves existed from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. Following the abolition, which was a political act dissolving the provinces, they became known as provincial districts. Their only visible function today is their use to determine, with the exception of the Chatham Islands, Northland, and South Canterbury, the geographical boundaries for anniversary day public holidays.

Auckland Province itself is located on the North Island of New Zealand. The area was valued for its rich and fertile land. Had your ancestor lived here they would probably have been involved in agriculture. In the early 1860s it also became a base against the Maori King Movement, which was organized in an attempt to create a monarch with the status of Queen Victoria and unify the Maori tribes. The members of the movement hoped that such a monarch could bargain on behalf of the Maori over land distribution and the influx of British colonists. Today the Auckland metropolitan area is one of the most populated areas in New Zealand and has one of the largest concentrations of Polynesians in the world.