List of former territorial authorities in New Zealand

This is a list of former territorial authorities in New Zealand. “Territorial authority” is the generic term used for local government entities in New Zealand. Local government has gone through three principal phases with different structures: the provincial era, from 1853 to 1876; the counties and boroughs system from 1876 until 1989; and the current system of regions, cities and districts.

This article attempts to list all territorial authorities which have been disestablished.

Provincial era (until 1876)

The original three provinces were established in 1841 by Royal Charter. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 reduced the number of provinces to two. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 re-divided New Zealand into six provinces, and four additional provinces emerged during the remainder of the Provincial Era. This era came to end with the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876.

Post-provincial era (1876–1989)

After New Zealand abolished its provinces in 1876, a system of counties similar to other countries’ systems was instituted, lasting with little change (except mergers and other localised boundary adjustments) until 1989 when they were reorganised into district councils within a system of larger regions.

The Local Government Act 1974 began the process of bringing urban, mixed, and rural councils into the same legislative framework. Substantial reorganisations under that Act resulted in a shake-up in 1989, which abolished all the counties except for the Chatham Islands County, which survived under that name for a further 6 years but then became a “Territory” under the “Chatham Islands Council”.

Borough councils

New Zealand formerly used the term borough to designate self-governing towns of more than 1,000 people, although 19th century census records show many boroughs with populations as low as 200.