New Zealand Government - Bits of History

The first official representative of the British Government in New Zealand was james Busby, who was appointed British Resident in 1832. His appointment reflected the cautious nature of British intervention in New Zealand at this stage, for his only backing was to be the dignity of his vice counsul's unifrom. Because of this insubstantial authority Busby became known as the 'Man o' War without guns'.

New Zealand became a separately administered Crown Colony under the British Crown, instead of a dependency of New South Wales, on 3 May 1841.

The first representative institutions in New Zealand were introduced as a result of 'An Act to Grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand', which was passed by the British Paliament in 1852. This Act also divided the country into six provinces, each with its own elected council, and established a General Assembly, of which the General Assemby is the direct descendant.

The system of provincial government was finally abolished by H Atkinson in 1876, after a long struggle.

Arthur Beauchamp, a member of the Marlborough Provincial Council in the days when New Zealand was divided into 6 self-governing provinces, won the reputation for being a most longwinded speechmaker when he spoke for almost 11 hours in a debate in 1865 on whether Picton would remain the Provincial capital of New Zealand. His opponents called it "a vomiting forth of ten hours and a half of nonsense, ribaldry and billinsgate". After ten and a half hours of ad-libbing, Beauchamp (who was Katherine Mansfield's grand-father), said: "after these few preliminary remarks, I will now proceed to speak on the subject under discussion," but his voice failed him and he collapsed after nearly 11 hours........

New Zealand Fishing

The largest salmon ever caught in New Zealand was an alleged 29.5 kg quinnat caught at Maryburn Stream in the McKenzie Country in the 1920's. On 22 January 1978 a 19.5kg quinnat was recorded as being caught by Mr RCG Lighfoot at the Ashburton river mouth in Canterbury.

In the 1980's it was reported that more rainbow trout in the 2 to 3kg category were caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together...

New Zealand's first fisherman must surely have been Maui, half-man, half-god, a legendary figure endowed with magical powers. Maui's brothers did not like him to accompany them on fishing trips, but he hid himself in the bottom of their boat. Once they were well out to sea, Maui emerged, encouraging them to go out further. His brothers caught many fish, but would not share the bait with Maui, who used instead his own blood to bait his magic hook. His catch was known as Te Ika a Maui - the fish of Maui - now known as the North Island of New Zealand. His hook is said to have become the cape at the south of Hawke's Bay...