History of Auckland City

Chapter 1: If at first you don't succeed (1840-1871)

The founding of Auckland

As a British colonial settlement Auckland came into existence in 1840 as the site chosen for his capital by the first governor, Lieutenant William Hobson. A 3,000 acre segment hinging on Mt.Eden (Maungawhau), the highest volcanic cone (643 feet) on the isthmus, was purchased from local Ngati Whatua Maori chiefs. What principally appealed were the splendid Waitemata and Manukau harbours and proximity to both fertile land and river access both north and south. For its first decade, Auckland's rationale was to provide a base for and service the entourage of an infant administration

Within a year nearly 2,000 people were living in primitive wood and raupo dwellings, a number which had swollen to 3,500 by mid-century. A census conducted in 1841 counted 250 mechanics, 150 agricultural labourers, 100 shopkeepers and 100 domestic servants as vastly outnumbering the 125 recorded as `upper class.' While plans had already been laid to reclaim Commercial Bay, the original landing spot, and a `town plan' drawn up by Felton Mathew, the Surveyor-General, the principal obstacle confronting the settlers was in getting from point A to point B along tracks which were often not even metalled. And what became roughly the line of Queen St, the Ligar Canal, doubled as an open sewer.

First ideas of local government

Municipal reform in England instilled grandiose ideas of establishing units of local self-government. While dressed up in constitutional finery, their chief aim was to offload expenditure onto struggling settlements. Several measures were passed, the first being the Municipal Corporations Ordinance 1842, and being quite unwanted, never came to fruition. `User pay' -- especially in the form of rates -- was even less welcome than winter quagmires and offensive cesspits. Better to rely on public subscriptions and the occasional Government grant to maintain roads. At least in 1844 it was decided to widen Queen St by twenty feet.

The 1846 New Zealand Constitution Act passed by the British Parliament was widely condemned as premature, unworldly and unworkable, and its provisions for elaborate boroughs in European-controlled areas ridiculed. Notwithstanding its depiction as the first rung on the ladder of self-government, Governor George Grey secured its suspension and Auckland's interests remained under the stewardship of Government administration. In 1850 a quasi-local body did appear in the shape of the quaintly-named `Hundred of Auckland' and three wardens were elected. However, as their main function was the management of waste Crown lands and the pasturing of stock thereon, they were irrelevant as regards the tasks of firefighting, constructing roads and warding off pestilence.

The 'Grate' Borough Of Auckland 1851-52

Then in 1851, without warning or request, the exasperated Grey issued an astounding charter which created the Borough of Auckland. Complete with a radical franchise -- all adult males occupying a tenement -- aldermen, and such expansive boundaries that a 'capital' was designated, the council was to be responsible for almost every public function, including the police, schools and hospitals. Vigorous elections at which 72% of the 1,400-strong electorate voted, were duly held. Despite much goodwill, the experiment foundered within a year. Confronted with a plethora of problems and the Governor's failure to deliver on promises of assistance, the Council balked at actually striking a rate. `Country' members jibbed at having to ride up to fifteen miles to attend meetings. Amidst unproductive wrangling, the Council ceased functioning and a second election in 1852 failed to see sufficient councillors elected.

Failure second time around

Initially the 1852 Constitution Act offered a sounder platform for the introduction of local government, although it was unclear whether the `municipal institutions' envisaged were the provincial governments themselves or subordinate agencies of their creation. To the Auckland Provincial Council it was the latter and in quick order gave the now-prospering town of 9,000 a city council bolstered by a Ł3,000 foundation grant. Its boundaries were severely contracted, some functions such as education withdrawn, and an obligation to suppress an extensive range of nuisances such as Sabbath-breaking and houses of ill repute, added. Though it worked diligently, the council soon passed into oblivion, a victim of constitutional incompetence and the arrows of those determined to stop a rate being levied. Its defenders were few and easily overcome.

For seven years local matters were effectively under Provincial Government control. Residents were encouraged to collectively pay for maintaining the streets outside their doors, the building of a sewer started by the defunct City Council continued and wealthier citizens could bring water into their houses from a private main drawing on the Domain Springs. The vast majority lugged buckets from standpipes. Sporadic attempts to re-establish elected local government enlisted almost no popular support.

Scaled-down machinery of the 1860s

By 1862 circumstances had changed: votes for public works in Auckland were receiving declining sympathy in the Provincial Council and a damning report noted that such works had virtually ceased. An elective Board of Works charged with streets, bridges, drainage, water supply and markets, but without any endowments, was imposed upon an unenthusiastic citizenry. Only 15% of the 1,400 eligible ratepayers voted at the election, at which a labourer topped the poll. Little was expected and little delivered. Members resigned, staff went unpaid, and finally the rate which was struck went uncollected. Even the chairman refused to pay on legal grounds. Sustained into 1863 only by Provincial grants, it disbanded with little regret. Historically, its real significance is its location at the very beginning of continuous local control of Auckland affairs.

A hiatus was avoided by the Provincial Government already having passed specific legislation to establish a City Board for Auckland. Underpinned well legislatively, and headed by a salaried chairman, the City Board of Commissioners outdid their predecessors. Within a few months a rate was struck and 94% collected, committees functioning and `the rivers of mud' which constituted many city streets re-levelled and bedded with scoria. A propensity among citizens and firms for ripping up streets was curbed. A professional fire brigade under the ironically-named Asher Asher was formed, and the main streets became lit by gas. However, the stench which pervaded much of the town attested to slow progress in laying a sewer network and an adequate water supply remained a distant goal.

Modest achievements of the commissioners

Although the Commissioners worked long and diligently, they were always at full stretch. The capital (and hence Government spending) was lost to Wellington in 1865 and the Land Wars took many staff away. An economic downturn in the mid 1860s saw the Provincial Government's contribution to revenue plummet from 30% to nil and disenchantment among the citizens mounted. Services were radically cut and the Board almost ceased to function. Regarded as a compromise, the City Board under its final chairman, Philip Philips, strove to serve the population of by then some 13,000 as best as an unsupportive press, unsympathetic provincial government allowed. And from 1869 it lived in a the shadow of a growing political demand that Auckland was sufficiently mature to warrant the bestowal of the `proper' local government allowed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1867.

G.W.A. Bush 5.8.98