http://hdl.handle.net/10092/832 2013-05-19T10:50:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7720 Title: The first New Zealand land commissions, 1840-1845 Authors: Tonk, Rosemarie V. Abstract: In early 1840 New Zealand was annexed to the Australian colony of New South Wales and William Hobson became Lieutenant-Governor of the new dependency. One of Hobson's first priorities was to sort out who owned what land in New Zealand. Thus a Commission was set up to investigate the land claims. The first New Zealand Land Commission was established under the New South Wales Act, 4 Victoria No. 7 (August 1840) and three Commissioners were appointed. They began examining claims early in the following year. Part One of this thesis deals with the origins of the Commission, the legislation which governed its activities and the work of the Commissioners - notably the difficulties which they encountered and what they actually achieved. A separate Commission was set up in Britain to deal with the claims of the New Zealand Company which held that it had bought some 20,000,000 acres of land centring on the Cook Strait in 1839 and to which it had already sent hundreds of settlers by the end of 1840. William Spain, appointed the Commissioner to investigate the Company's claims, began work early in 1842. The second part of this thesis is concerned with how his work progressed - particularly in the face of determined opposition from the Company's local officials - and how the Company gained a title to much of the land it claimed under an agreement made with the British Government in November 1840, in spite of Spain's finding that the company's 1839 purchases were hardly purchases at all. The epilogue summarises the Commissions' achievements and outlines what was done in the following years to finally settle the Land Question. 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7686 Title: The effect of the abolition of the provinces on political parties in the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1876-7 Authors: Gardner, W. J. Abstract: This work aims to describe the disappearance of an election issue during the life of the Parliament which has been elected in that issue. The members of the House of Representatives in the sixth Parliament of New Zealand were elected to vote “Aye” or “No” on the question “Shall the Act for the abolition of the Provinces remain on the Stature Book?” The Elections of 1875-6 were fought between the two recognized parties of Abolitionists and Provincialists. The Ministry of Sir Julius Vogel which has been responsible for the policy of Abolition took its stand against the attacks of the Provincialists led by Sir George Grey who demanded the repeal of the Abolition Act of 1875. Candidates who gave themselves out as Abolitionists pledged themselves to support the Abolition policy of the Vogel Ministry, while the Provincialists were pledged to repeal the Abolition Act. The simplicity of the issue was a great advantage to the Vogel Government, but, as the narrative of events shows, the Abolition question was really settled at the elections. 1936-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7676 Title: Ngā puhi ki Ngāpahui: a study of Waiata from the war in the North Authors: Tana, Junior Joseph Abstract: Mōteatea have always been an important part of Māori society;; they are often used as a vehicle to express feelings or emotions about a certain topic and or serve as record of one or more significant events. Traditional mōteatea contain symbolism, imagery, metaphors and underlying themes which uniquely express the world views of Māori society. They are an invaluable resource for Te Reo Māori and contribute immensely to the preservation and revitalisation of Māori culture. Mōteatea enable knowledge of customs and values to be passed down through the generations and provide a personal insight into the thoughts and existence of those who have passed on. Importantly, collections of mōteatea have contributed to the continuation of Māori oral tradition. This study contains transcriptions, translations and annotations of twenty mōteatea collected from Ngāpuhi by an interpreter, Mr. Duncan during the years of the northern wars of the 1840s between sections of Ngāpuhi. These are preserved as Māori Manuscript 62 in the Sir George Grey collection of Māori manuscripts held by the Auckland City Library. The study includes, where possible, annotations that discuss the political and historical context of the early colonial period. 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7667 Title: Public opinion in Canterbury on the abolition of the provinces, 1873-6 Authors: Muirhead, P. A. Abstract: “The degree to which public opinion will actually approximate rational and critical social judgment upon vital issues will depend upon such general conditions in the social population as homogeneity, social equality, education and literacy, objective research for facts and expert guidance, freedom of expression, possibly of publicity, and freedom in inter-communication.” The aim of this work is to describe the attitude of the Canterbury public towards the question or the abolition of the provinces. For purposes of clarity and continuity I have dealt with the subject in three parts - the position up till 1874, the abolition proposals and their reception in Canterbury, and the final stages of provincialism with some notice of its political successor, the county system. The Introduction is somewhat lengthy and detailed, but this is necessary for the understanding of the situation in 1873. The authorities I have used in preparing this study are listed in the bibliography on Page 126. Although a number of chapters centre on the sessions of the Canterbury, Provincial Council and the General Assembly, at all times I have discussed only legislation which affected the attitude ultimately adopted by the people of the Province towards the provincial system. For the reaction of the public towards the measures carried through in the Provincial Council and in the General Assembly public meetings, and the addressee of representatives to their constituents, I have relied mainly on the newspapers “The Lyttelton Times”, and “The Press.” The Provincial council did not publish a report of its debates, but only minutes or its proceedings. The attitude or the municipalities, the outlying districts, the runholders and the newspapers has been discussed in some detail. From the inauguration of the provincial system there were in Canterbury, and in New Zealand as a whole, two parties, provincialist and centralist; and the events and conditions, economic, social and political, of the years 1873-6 were really the culminating factors in the struggle between these two parties, and the ultimate success of the centralists. 1936-01-01T00:00:00Z