The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand

Provinces of New Zealand

The Provinces of New Zealand existed from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. They were replaced by counties, which were themselves replaced by districts.Following abolition, the provinces became known as provincial districts...

 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.

Area

The capital of the province was Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

. Southland Province

Southland Province

The Southland Province was a province of New Zealand from March 1861 until the province rejoined with Otago Province in 1870.-History:When provinces were formed in 1853, the southern part of New Zealand belonged to Otago Province...

 split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870.

Superintendents

The Otago Province had five Superintendents

Superintendent (politics)

Superintendent was the elected head of each Provincial Council in New Zealand from 1853 to 1876.-Historical context:Provinces existed in New Zealand from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. After the initial provinces pre-1853, new provinces were formed by the New Zealand...

:

No.	from	to	Superintendent
1	26 Dec 1853	Dec 1859	William Cargill William Cargill William Walter Cargill was the founder of the Otago settlement in New Zealand, after serving as an officer in the British Army. He was a Member of Parliament and Otago's first Superintendent.-Early life:...
2	3 Jan 1860	6 Mar 1861	James Macandrew James Macandrew James Macandrew was a New Zealand ship-owner and politician. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1853 to 1887 and as the last Superintendent of Otago Province.-Early life:...
3	17 May 1861	15 Apr 1863	John Larkins Cheese Richardson John Larkins Cheese Richardson Sir John Larkins Cheese Richardson was a 19th century New Zealand politician, and a cabinet minister.-Military career:Richardson was born in India, where he was in the Army, and was known as Major Richardson.- Political career:...
4	16 Apr 1863	23 Jun 1865	John Hyde Harris John Hyde Harris John Hyde Harris was a 19th century New Zealand politician. Born in England, he came to Dunedin as a young man and practised as a lawyer, and was then a judge. He entered provincial politics and was elected as the fourth Superintendent of the Otago Province...
5	11 Aug 1865	26 Feb 1867	Thomas Dick Thomas Dick (New Zealand) Thomas Dick was a 19th century New Zealand politician. He was Superintendent of Otago Province in 1865, then Minister of Justice from 1881 to 1882, and Minister of Education from 1881 to 1884.-Early life:...
	27 Feb 1867	1 Jan 1877	James Macandrew (2nd time)

Railways

The Province built the Port Chalmers Branch

Port Chalmers Branch

The Port Chalmers Branch was the first railway line built in Otago, New Zealand, and linked the region's major city of Dunedin with the port in Port Chalmers...

 under the auspices of the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited, and was built to the recently adopted national gauge of 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches), and it was the first line in the country with that gauge to open, on 1 January 1873. The first locomotive to run on the line was the E class

NZR E class (1872)

The NZR E class of Double Fairlie steam locomotives were two different types of Fairlie locomotive, and were the first classes to take that designation, followed by the E class Mallet compound locomotive of 1906 and then the E class battery electric locomotive of 1922...

 Josephine, a double Fairlie

Fairlie

A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended...

 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

, whose local popularity ensured she was retained beyond her retirement from service on the railways in 1917 and is preserved today in the Otago Settlers Museum

Otago Settlers Museum

The Otago Settlers Museum is a regional history museum in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its brief covers the territory of the old Otago Province, that is, New Zealand from the Waitaki River south. It is New Zealand's oldest and most extensive history museum...

 in Dunedin.

When the Southland province amalgamated with Otago in 1870, the latter acquired the former province's railways - which were built to the standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 feet 8.5 inches).

Legislation

• Otago Harbour Trust Leasing Ordinance 1862
• Education Reserves Ordinance 1864
• Education Reserves Ordinance 1865
• Harbour Reclaimed Lands Sale and Leasing Ordinance 1868
• University of Otago Ordinance 1869
• Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute Ordinance 1870
• Oamaru Racecourse Reserve Management Ordinance 1870
• University of Otago Endowment Ordinance 1870
• Blueskin Market Reserve Ordinance 1871
• Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1871
• Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Reserve Management Ordinance 1871
• Lawrence Athenaeum and Mining Institute Ordinance 1872
• Lawrence Athenaeum and Mining Institute Reserves Management Ordinance 1872
• Oamaru Town Reserves Management Ordinance 1872
• Cromwell Athenaeum Ordinance 1873
• Dempsey Trust Ordinance 1873
• Invercargill Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1873
• Riverton Athenaeum Ordinance 1873
• Winton Racecourse Reserve Management Ordinance 1873
• Caledonian Society of Otago Incorporation Ordinance 1874
• Roslyn Institute Ordinance 1874
• Arrowtown Athenaeum Ordinance 1875
• Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1875
• Riverton Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1875
• University of Otago Lands Trust Ordinance 1875

External links

• A page containing a map of the old provincial boundaries is available.