68-579: The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch . Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Englishmen associated with the Church of England . (An attempt was initially made to restrict residence in the province to members of the church but this
136-407: A by-election to fill the vacancy. The provinces have broken down because of their coming into conflict with the colonial government on many points, and especially on points of finance. Their doom was only a question of time, when it became obvious that they could not raise their own revenue; that they had to look to the general government to supply deficiencies; and that they could not borrow without
204-606: A new maintenance facility began at Waltham in 2020, with the Scenic Journeys Servicing Centre, which provides for carriage washing, refuelling, waste handling, watering and has an inspection pit. The mechanical hub will replace other Christchurch depots and be the main locomotive, carriage and wagon workshop for South Island/Te Waipounamu, covering 9,200 m (99,000 sq ft), with 21 maintenance berths, underfloor wheel lathe , wheelset drop table and locomotive axle weigh systems. The hub
272-493: A provincial council, and elected a superintendent who was not a member of the council. The councils elected their speaker at their first meeting after elections. The Act also created a national General Assembly consisting of the Legislative Council (appointed by the governor ) and the directly elected House of Representatives . These provinces came into effect on 17 January 1853 and the regulations defining
340-592: A schedule of 23 passenger trains and 11 goods trains each way on weekdays. One of the biggest advantages enjoyed by the suburban passenger services on the Lyttelton Line for many years was the lack of competition from the roads due to the absence of a convenient road connection between Lyttelton and Christchurch. This changed with the opening of the Lyttelton road tunnel in 1964, and the passenger rail services were consequently cut as demand declined. Following
408-713: A separate Crown Colony from New South Wales in May 1841. In 1846 the British Parliament passed the first New Zealand Constitution Act , which allowed for the establishment of provinces. Governor George Grey arrived in New Zealand in November 1845, and upon reading the new Constitution Act in May 1847 argued for its suspension in dispatches to the Colonial Office. Before this occurred, Grey proclaimed
476-453: A staple of freight traffic on the line, along with West Coast coal and timber. The railways also formerly handled other bulk traffic for the port such as oil. Sidings to the oil terminals west of the Lyttelton marshalling yard are still in situ, but have long been disused. Though regular ferry services between Wellington and Lyttelton commenced in 1895, and a nightly service from 1905, passengers were required to carry their own luggage between
544-592: Is comparable to a cabinet . The following 26 Executive Councils existed: Each New Zealand province celebrates an anniversary day. Canterbury Province's was originally 16 December, the day of the 1850 arrival of the Charlotte Jane and the Randolph . Since 1862, an A&P (Agricultural and Pastoral) show has been held annually. Its Friday Show Day was set for many years on the People's Day and, sometime in
612-781: The Clarendon Hotel . One session in 1858 was held in the town hall on what is now High Street; the town hall was in the section north of Lichfield Street. On 28 September 1859, the council first met in what became known as the Timber Chamber of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings . The Stone Chamber of the Provincial Council Buildings was used from November 1865. Following the West Coast gold rush ,
680-536: The Colony of New Zealand existed as a form of sub-national government . Initially established in 1846 when New Zealand was a Crown colony without responsible government , two provinces ( New Ulster and New Munster ) were first created. Each province had its own legislative council and governor. With the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 the provinces were recreated around
748-863: The New Zealand Railways Department in 1876. Charles Simeon was the returning officer for the first election of a Superintendent. The nomination meeting was held at the Christchurch Land Office (the site now occupied by Our City ), and there were three polling stations: in Christchurch at the Resident Magistrate's Court, in Lyttelton at the Resident Magistrate's Court, and in Akaroa . Canterbury had four Superintendents: The Executive Council
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#1732779567996816-632: The 1860s South Canterbury made two bids to become separate province but this was rejected by the national government. Instead in 1867 the General Assembly created the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works which received a proportion of the Canterbury provincial land revenues and was authorised to maintain and build the Timaru harbour and local roads and bridges. When the province was abolished,
884-512: The 1880s (e.g. Otago) or 2006 (Tasman). Some of the names persist in other contexts as well, such as health administration districts: Northland , Waitemata , Auckland †, Counties Manukau , Waikato , Bay of Plenty , Lakes (Rotorua/Taupo) , Hawke's Bay †, MidCentral (Manawatu) , Tairawhiti (Gisborne) , Taranaki , Whanganui , Wairarapa , Hutt Valley , Capital and Coast (Wellington) †, Nelson (Marlborough) †, West Coast †, Canterbury †, South Canterbury and Southern (Otago) †. Some of
952-590: The Abolition of Provinces Act 1875, during the Premiership of Harry Atkinson . For the purposes of the Act, the provinces formally ceased to exist on 1 January 1877. Upon the abolition of the provinces, they took the legal status of provincial districts, which had no administrative functions. Local government was vested in elected borough and county councils. The Counties Bill of 1876 created 63 counties out of
1020-634: The Canterbury Association; the first being that the new General Assembly ( New Zealand Parliament ) could not amend the legislation establishing the Canterbury Association, the second being that the Canterbury Association could hand its powers to a newly established provincial government (the Canterbury Province). Elections were held in 1853 for Superintendent and, later that year, for the 12-member council. These elections predated any elected national assembly. The franchise
1088-670: The General Assembly passed the New Provinces Act 1858. This Act allowed any district of between 500 thousand and 3 million acres (2,000–12,000 km ) of land with a European population of no fewer than 1,000 people to petition for separation provided that at least 60% of electors agreed. As a result, Hawke's Bay Province separated from Wellington on 1 November 1858; Marlborough Province from Nelson on 1 November 1859; and Southland Province from Otago on 1 April 1861. New Plymouth also changed its name to Taranaki under
1156-533: The Lyttelton Wharf. Though this began in 1897, it was not until 1909 that passengers were able to travel directly from Invercargill to Lyttelton, as previously an overnight stop in Dunedin was required. The express services from Timaru were taken all the way through to Lyttelton by the same locomotives until the mid-1920s. In 1927 the schedules were revised and passengers were given a choice of boat trains in
1224-406: The Lyttelton tunnel in 1914, this never went ahead. The Lyttelton Line has been host to a gamut of train operations, from suburban and long-haul passenger services to freight trains, as well as steam, electric and diesel motive power. From the opening of the Lyttelton tunnel, passenger services were provided on mixed trains which initially ran six times daily. It was not until 5 November 1872 that
1292-479: The Lyttelton tunnel; and electrification in Dunedin from Port Chalmers to Mosgiel. Following the release of the report, it was decided to proceed only with the electrification of the Christchurch – Lyttelton line. In line with the successful electrification of the Otira Tunnel using the 1500 volt DC system with overhead catenary, the same system was chosen for the Christchurch project. English Electric Co.
1360-533: The Main North Line to Rangiora and the Main South Line to Rakaia in 1874 led to a further increase in the frequency of goods services to six per day. Because of its "isolation", Lyttelton was for many years operated as a railway port. The wharves had tracks running on to them from the Lyttelton yards, and cargo was loaded on and off ships at the wharves directly to and from goods trains. Much of
1428-823: The West Coast was separated from the Province with the formation of the County of Westland on the West Coast with the boundary line defined as the crest of the Southern Alps . In 1873 the County formed its own Province, the short-lived Westland Province . In the south the course of the Waitaki River was not known and disputes arose with the Province of Otago over pastoral leases in the inland high country. In
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#17327795679961496-693: The area was distributed across eight counties . The Ferrymead Railway was the first railway to be opened (1863) and closed (1868) in New Zealand. It was made obsolete by the opening of a new 8 miles (13 km) line through a tunnel giving Christchurch access to the better port of Lyttelton . The mainlines of the Canterbury Provincial Railways were Irish gauge (5 feet 3 inches or 1.60 meters) with some branch lines in Colonial gauge (3 feet 6 inches or 1.07 meters). These lines were all eventually absorbed into
1564-418: The boundaries of the provinces were gazetted on 28 February. Electoral regulations were gazetted on 5 March. As with general elections, elections were open to males 21 years or older who owned freehold property worth £50 a year. The first provincial elections were held at the same time as the 1853 general elections . While Governor George Grey had issued the writs for the provincial and general elections at
1632-406: The cessation of the electrified passenger services in 1970, a limited diesel service continued to operate until the running of the last train on 28 February 1972. Thereafter, the only passenger trains on the line were the non-stop Steamer Express’, or "boat trains", until they were likewise cancelled four years later. The frequency of train running in the early years of operation was limited more by
1700-441: The colony becoming liable. Almost as soon as they were founded, New Zealand's provinces were the subject of protracted political debate. Two factions emerged in the General Assembly : "Centralists", favouring a strong central government and "Provincialists", favouring strong regional governments. The Centralist members of the General Assembly regarded the provinces as inherently self-interested, and prone to pork-barrel politics. In
1768-591: The construction of railways, for example, three of the provinces had constructed railways (as was the case in Australia) to different track gauges , with Canterbury Provincial Railways being built to "broad" gauge, Southland's railways being built to "standard" gauge. As a result, the Public Works Act of 1870 standardised the gauge to be used, and Otago's first railway, the Port Chalmers railway ,
1836-601: The counties were replaced by enlarged district councils . The Department of Lands and Survey split the country into the Land Districts of Auckland (North), Auckland (South), Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland, Otago and Southland. The New Zealand Rugby Union was formed in 1892 with foundation members principally being provinces: Auckland †, Hawke's Bay †, Taranaki †, Manawatu , Wanganui , Wairarapa , Wellington †, Nelson †, Marlborough † and South Canterbury . At
1904-462: The distinction of being the last timetabled passenger services to run on the Lyttelton Line. The main impetus for electrification of the Lyttelton Line was to alleviate the nuisance created by the smoke exhaust of the steam locomotives in the Lyttelton tunnel for passengers and crews alike. Other options tried or investigated for this line were duplication, and an attempt in 1909 to convert a Wf class steam locomotive to oil burning for operation through
1972-529: The earlier Otira locomotives, but later became Ec's, short for E lectrics based at C hristchurch. By 1970, the Ec locomotives had reached the end of their working lives and it was decided that the cost of continuing to maintain the sub-station at Woolston and overhauling the existing locomotives or replacing them could not be justified. Another factor against the electrification was the operational cost of marshalling trains at Christchurch and Lyttelton to add or remove
2040-465: The electric locomotives from trains for just a 10 km (6.2 mi) journey. It was decided to dieselise the line, and accordingly the last electric train ran on Friday, 18 September 1970. All electrical infrastructure on the line was subsequently removed. The suburban passenger trains on the Lyttelton Line made stops at four intermediate stations between Christchurch and Lyttelton. Some of these stations also handled goods traffic. Work on building
2108-534: The electrical overhead came from a sub-station erected at Woolston in which was housed two English Electric rotary converters. They had a rated output of 900 amps, and an 11,035 volt AC input in six phases from two transformers supplied by Lake Coleridge . Standard operation of the sub-station involved the use of the converters on alternate days to allow for maintenance and repair. With the sub-station being located in Woolston, roughly halfway between both termini of
Canterbury Province - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-840: The electrification of the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch urban networks, and possibly also Dunedin. It concluded that if the North Island Main Trunk through Johnsonville were electrified, that would delay the need for the Tawa Flat deviation . Also recommended were the electrification of the Wairarapa Line via Haywards as far as Upper Hutt; the electrification of the Hutt Valley Branch; electrification in Auckland out to Henderson and Otahuhu; electrification in Christchurch out to Rangiora and through
2244-478: The electrified section, the greatest distance travelled by the current was a little more than 3 miles (4.8 km). As the entire line was double-tracked, with the exception of the tunnel, there were two parallel paths to supply current to, including some electrified sidings. The total length of electrified track was 10.8 miles (17.4 km), including 4.3 miles (6.9 km) of double-track and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) of single-track. Section isolators were fitted at
2312-673: The end of the tunnel and the entrance to Christchurch station so the central section could be operated independently if necessary. The six locomotives ordered for use on the Lyttelton Line were built in 1928 at the Dick Kerr works of the English Electric Co. in Preston. They were similar in many respects to the Eo locomotives deployed at Otira, but had longer bogies and more powerful motors. They were originally classified E, as were
2380-475: The evening. Those desiring to arrive early had the option of a service departing Christchurch at 19:10, but still had to wait for the arrival of the express and the boarding of its passengers and luggage before the ferry could depart for Wellington. The future of the ferry service was dealt a deleterious blow on 10 April 1968 with the sinking of TEV Wahine in Wellington Harbour . However, it
2448-436: The ferry wharf and Lyttelton station to transfer to a train. It was not until 1902 that express trains ran on to the wharf to collect the passengers and their luggage from beside the ferry. This involved hauling the carriages past Lyttelton station, where another locomotive pulled them around a sharp curve on to No. 2 wharf in front of the station. This wharf was operated by steam locomotives until 1970, as an important aspect of
2516-407: The first public railway in New Zealand, between Ferrymead and Christchurch; including in its route the still operational first railway tunnel in New Zealand; and, having been the site of the first electrified suburban service in New Zealand. Part of the Lyttelton Line was originally operated as New Zealand's first public railway, connecting the city of Christchurch to a wharf at Ferrymead. Because of
2584-415: The former provinces often refers to anything rural, e.g. one may refer to a town as provincial rather than rural or use the phrase 'out in the provinces,' in order to refer to the countryside. These terms can often be heard on national television networks, particularly on weather broadcasts. † indicates an old province. Lyttelton Line Lyttelton Line is a name sometimes used to refer to
2652-464: The goods traffic, especially inwards general cargo, was only consigned as far as Christchurch. This often had the effect of causing serious congestion at the Christchurch station goods yard, with wagons frequently being used for storage. This method of operation remained unchanged until the opening of goods sheds on Cashin Quay in 1965, which heralded the era of containerisation. Containers continue to be
2720-456: The inaccessibility of the harbour at Lyttelton, shipping traffic berthed at the Ferrymead wharf from which people and supplies were transported to Christchurch by train. The construction of such a long and expensive tunnel and line was controversial in the 1850s and 1860s, see William Moorhouse . Following the opening of the Lyttelton rail tunnel on 9 December 1867, the portion of the line from
2788-405: The inadequacy of port facilities rather than the capacity of the railway. All trains of this period on the Lyttelton Line were mixed, with the amount of traffic being insufficient to justify separate freight and passenger services. This remained the case until 5 November 1872 when a new timetable scheduled four goods services per day to accommodate the increasing amount of traffic. The extension of
Canterbury Province - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-863: The late 1950s, the Christchurch City Council moved the province's Anniversary Day to coincide with the show and encourage greater crowds. The holiday is presently defined as the "second Friday after the first Tuesday in November", ensuring that it will follow the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival. This adjustment is observed in northern and middle Canterbury; southern Canterbury instead observes its Anniversary Day on Dominion Day (the 4th Monday in September). 43°31′46″S 172°38′02″E / 43.529454°S 172.633895°E / -43.529454; 172.633895 Provinces of New Zealand The provinces of
2924-404: The line required a reduction in the number of stops made by the passenger trains in 1870. The trains had been stopping at the intermediate stations of Heathcote, Hillsborough (Woolston), and Opawa, but with the adjustments to the timetable, the number of stops at Hillsborough was reduced to two daily. By 1874, it was possible for those trains not needing to stop at Hillsborough or Opawa to complete
2992-527: The main line to the wharf reverted to branch line status, but quickly lost its traffic to the line through to Lyttelton and became a siding after July 1868. As with other railway lines then under construction by the Canterbury Provincial Council, the line and the tunnel were constructed to accommodate 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) rolling stock at the behest of contractors Holmes & Richardson of Melbourne , as this
3060-530: The mixed services ceased and a new timetable scheduled 5 daily passenger trains, increasing to seven daily services on 9 February 1876. These services were popular with school pupils travelling from Lyttelton to classes in Christchurch, and with workers travelling from Woolston and Heathcote to jobs in Lyttelton. It was found that the separation of passenger and goods traffic led to a reduction in operational costs, with savings made in fuel and wear-and-tear on machinery. Increases in traffic density and train speed on
3128-798: The names of former provinces and current regions have a tendency to be preceded by "the". Thus, for example, we have Auckland , Canterbury , Hawke's Bay , Marlborough and Wellington , but the Waikato , the Manawatu , the Bay of Plenty , and the West Coast . The current regions of New Zealand and most of their councils came about in 1989: Northland , Auckland †, Waikato , Bay of Plenty , Gisborne , Hawke's Bay †, Taranaki †, Manawatu-Whanganui , Wellington †, Tasman , Nelson †, Marlborough †, West Coast †, Canterbury †, Otago † and Southland †. Another usage of words associated with
3196-780: The old provinces. The former boundaries of the provinces served as administrative areas for the education boards set up under the Education Act of 1877 and for the offices of several Government Departments, including the Department of Lands and Survey . Upon abolition, various responsibilities were delegated to boards. For example, the Education Act 1877 created the Education Boards for Auckland, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Westland, Southland, Canterbury and Otago districts. In 1989
3264-630: The portion of the province west of the Southern Alps was split off as Westland in 1867. Upon the establishment of the University of New Zealand in 1870, its Christchurch campus housed the system's headquarters. On the east coast the province was bounded by the Hurunui River in the north and the Waitaki River in the south. The boundary on the west coast was largely undefined before the West Coast became its own province. In 1868
3332-610: The present day regions , for example, the Manawatū-Whanganui region is largely in the Wellington provincial district. The districts are represented by teams in rugby union 's ITM Cup and Heartland Championship , both of which replaced the National Provincial Championship in 2006, although the term "provincial" is still used in connection with rugby for the present 29 unions whether founded in
3400-571: The provinces became known as provincial districts . Their principal legacy is the use of some provincial boundaries to determine the geographical boundaries for anniversary day public holidays . Following the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, New Zealand became a British colony, initially as part of New South Wales . The Royal Charter of November 1840 stated that the islands of New Zealand were "designated and known respectively" as: These names were of geographic significance only. New Zealand became
3468-439: The provinces were separated from the central government for the first time. New Ulster and New Munster had their own seals. New provinces were formed by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 . This Act established a quasi-federal system of government and divided the country into the six provinces of Auckland , New Plymouth , Wellington , Nelson , Canterbury , and Otago . Each province elected its own legislature known as
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#17327795679963536-576: The provincial boundaries on 10 March 1848: Each province had a Lieutenant-Governor , appointed by the Governor-in-Chief. The 1846 Constitution Act was suspended in early 1848, with the only operative provisions relating to the reform of the provinces. News of the suspension did not reach New Zealand until 23 March 1848, when the immigrant ship John Wickliffe arrived in Port Chalmers to begin European settlement of Otago. In addition,
3604-433: The same Act. Stewart Island / Rakiura, which had since 1853 not been part of any province, was annexed to the province of Southland on 10 November 1863. Provinces established under this act elected their superintendents in a different way. Members of the provincial council would elect a suitable person listed on the electoral roll as superintendent by a majority. If such a person was an elected member, this would result in
3672-405: The same time, the provincial councils met before the general assembly met, in May 1854. The New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857 provided for the appointment of a deputy superintendent. The Constitution Act provided for the creation of additional provinces, and when the spread of European settlements between the original centres of the provincial governments and the outlying settlers grew,
3740-673: The section of the Main South Line in New Zealand 's South Island between Lyttelton and Christchurch , and can also be used to refer to the operations on this section. As it has always been part of the Main South Line (originally the Canterbury Great Southern Railway ), this name has never been officially used to refer to the track itself. The line between Lyttelton and Christchurch is notable for several reasons, including: incorporating part of
3808-408: The service was the use of steam to heat the carriages. This work was performed by F-class locomotives until 1964, after which Ab locomotives were used. From the wharf, the express services ran non-stop to Christchurch, where passengers could avail themselves of refreshments or the station dining room before the train continued on to Dunedin. In the opposite direction, the evening express’ terminated on
3876-509: The six planned settlements or "colonies". By 1873 the number of provinces had increased to nine, but they had become less isolated from each other and demands for centralised government arose. In 1875 the New Zealand Parliament decided to abolish the provincial governments, and they came to an end in November 1876. They were superseded by counties , which were later replaced by territorial authorities . Following abolition,
3944-544: The time, three major South Island Provincial Unions – Canterbury †, Otago † and Southland † – resisted the central authority of the NZRU. Some current Provincial Anniversary Days are still public holidays in New Zealand : Auckland†, Taranaki†, Hawkes' Bay†, Wellington†, Marlborough†, Nelson†, Canterbury†, Canterbury (South), Westland†, Otago†, Southland† and Chatham Islands. † indicates it reflects an original province. The provincial districts had different boundaries from
4012-431: The trip to Lyttelton in 15 minutes. Normal service times ranged from 15 to 25 minutes. Primarily motivated by a desire to eliminate the smoke nuisance in the tunnel and to cater for an increasing amount of traffic, the line was electrified in 1929. For most of the period during which electric services operated, 20 return services were provided daily, with the trip taking about 17 minutes. The 1952 working timetable shows
4080-414: The tunnel, a move that proved to be only partially successful, and a study done into the idea of using diesel motive power through the tunnel, an option that was abandoned due to the immaturity of the technology at the time. The government commissioned British consultants Merz & McLellan in 1925 to report on various proposals for electrification of parts of the rail network. Their report recommended
4148-593: Was abandoned.) The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph —the first two of the First Four Ships —arrived in the area on 16 December 1850, later celebrated as the province's Anniversary Day . In 1852, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , which amongst other things established provincial councils . The Constitution contained specific provisions for
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#17327795679964216-608: Was already beginning to feel the effects of competition from air services, which were greatly improved with the National Airways Corporation (now Air New Zealand ) introducing Boeing 737-200 aircraft to its main routes in 1968, and by the Railway Departments own road-rail ferry service between Picton and Wellington, which commenced in 1962 and provided considerable time savings, especially to those north of Christchurch. The first service lost
4284-456: Was built to the new "standard" narrow gauge. Colonial Treasurer (and later Premier) Julius Vogel launched his Great Public Works policy of immigration and public works schemes of the 1870s, borrowing the massive sum of 10 million pounds, to develop significant infrastructure of roads, railways, and communications, all administered by the central government. This diminished the power of the provinces greatly. The provinces were finally abolished by
4352-454: Was extended to men over the age of 21 who owned property in the province. As a result, affairs of the Canterbury Association were wound up in 1855 and outstanding settlement lands handed over to the Canterbury Province. The first meeting place was the former office of the Guardian and Advertiser , Canterbury's second newspaper, on Chester Street near the Avon River . In 1866, the council moved to Guise Brittan 's house, which later became part of
4420-402: Was made in the record time of 10½ minutes, including 3 minutes to traverse the tunnel. Regular electric train services commenced using the new timetables from the following Saturday. Christchurch thus became the first city in New Zealand to receive an electric train service, preceding those inaugurated in Wellington in 1938 (to Johnsonville), 1940 (to Paekakariki) and 1953 (to Taita). Power for
4488-476: Was the early boat train from Christchurch at 19:10 in September 1968. From 1970 "boat train" services were provided by the Southerner , introduced in December of that year, which started its run to Invercargill from Lyttelton. However, patronage continued to decline and the last boat train met the final run of the Rangatira on 14 September 1976. Following the demise of the ferry connection, Southerner trains commenced their journeys from Christchurch. These trains had
4556-413: Was the gauge they were already working with in Victoria . The line remained this way until, following the abolition of provincial government in New Zealand and the establishment of a new uniform national track gauge, the line was converted to 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) by April 1876. Double-tracking of the line was completed as far as Heathcote in 1878. Though NZR considered duplicating
4624-402: Was the successful tenderer for the six locomotives, power supply and overhead contact system. The inaugural electric train service on the Lyttelton Line departed Christchurch station for Lyttelton with 18 cars and headed by EC 12 on 14 February 1929 at 15:00. Included in the consist was a ministerial car and two special cars for early Canterbury settlers, guests of the department. The journey
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