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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

[introduction]

The survey of the city of Dunedin was made in 1846 by Mr. Charles Henry Kettle, under directions from the New Zealand Company. Two years later the Pilgrim Fathers began to arrive, and settled on the site. The provincial system of government was inaugurated in 1852. In due course the Provincial Council passed “The Dunedin Town Board Ordinance, 1855,” and the first local body, consisting of nine members, held its first meeting on the 27th of August of that year. The Town Board centinued to act till 1865, when the Provincial Council, considering that some better system of local self-government could be devised, passed “The Dunedin Town Board Dissolution Ordinance. 1865,” vesting the management of the city in three commissioners, to be appointed by the Superintendent. At the last meeting of the Town Board, which was held on the 19th of April, 1865, a resolution was placed on record protesting against this Ordinance; it nevertheless became law, and the Town Board accordingly ceased to exist. The Superintendent of the province, on the 17th of April, 1865, appointed Messrs J. Bathgate, R. Martin, and J. M. Balfour the first commissioners, but these gentlemen held office for eight days only, and resigned before the end of April. Evidently they were not comfortable, to say the least of it, and they complained of lukewarmness on the part of the Provincial Executive in giving them the needful support. The second commissioners, Messrs R. H. Forman, J. Grey, and H. Bastings, were appointed on the 4th of May, 1865, and the first two held office until the 31st of July of the same years, Mr. Bastings having resigned on the 19th of May, and been succeeded by Mr. E. Chalmers. Meanwhile the Provincial Council had passed “The Otago Municipal Corporation Ordinance, 1865,” constituting the city of Dunedin a corporation under the style and title of “The Corporation of the city of Dunedin.” The first election for the mayoralty took place on the 21st of July, 1865, and Mr. William Mason was elected to the position. The first council was elected on the 1st of August following, and held its first meeting on the 5th of the same month. The original Ordinance of the Provinical Council in 1865 was superseded by “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” passed by the General Assembly, and this in turn by the “Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” under which and its subsequent amendments the government of the city is now carried on, under the style of “The Borough of the City of Dunedin.”

High Street, Dunedin: 1859.

High Street, Dunedin: 1859.