Auckland Province

the current local government region of Auckland

The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.

The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both by area and population. The southern boundary was mostly along the 39th latitude, which was an arbitrary line, as the country's interior was little known by Europeans. It was not subdivided during its existence; was the only other that remained unchanged during its existence.

The six original provinces were established in 1853. At that time, about 30,000 Europeans were living in New Zealand, a third of them in the Auckland Province. An estimated 70% of the Māori population was within the Auckland Province. Although the population of Otago Province (triggered by the Central Otago Gold Rush) and then also the Canterbury Province surpassed Auckland's, the northernmost area of the country became most populous again by 1901. No. from to Superintendent 1 12 July 1853 5 January 1855 Robert Wynyard 2 15 March 1855 Nov 1855 William Brown 3 15 November 1855 17 September 1856 John Logan Campbell 4 11 November 1856 Dec 1862 John Williamson 5 11 December 1862 22 September 1865 Robert Graham 6 25 October 1865 2 March 1867 Frederick Whitaker (4) 18 April 1867 Dec 1869 John Williamson (2nd time) 7 2 December 1869 Nov 1873 Thomas Gillies (4) 20 November 1873 16 February 1875 John Williamson (3rd time) 8 Feb 1875 Mar 1875 Maurice O'Rorke 9 24 March 1875 1 January 1877 George Grey