Hawkes Bay Provincial Government

In April 1858 the settlers in the Hawke’s Bay district petitioned the House of Representatives for separation from Wellington Province. The petition was well received by Parliament and on 1 November 1858 the province was the first to be established under the New Provinces Act of 1858. The new province was responsible for matters like education, public works, immigration and police within its own area. In 1875 the government passed an act to disband the provinces in the North Island. This was expanded to cover the whole country and the provincial governments were abolished on 31 October 1876. A system of 63 County Councils were set up in place of the provinces, in the case of Hawkes Bay only part of Waipawa County falls within the current boundaries of the Horizons Region. All archives of the Provincial Government are held with Archives NZ.