1890: Celebration of the Colony’s Jubilee

January 29, 2023

By AHNZ

Today in history, 29 January, 1890, we celebrated our first 50 years of New Zealand history. Auckland, in particular, poured time and effort into four days of festivities. Maoris were in attendance too although, back then, their name for our country was Nui Tireni and Aotearoa had never been contemplated. However the interesting thing about this anniversary day that would startle the modern mind is that it was not at all set from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February.

New Zealanders of 1890 knew better than ourselves when the colony got started because it was their lived experience. For example, Daniel Pollen witnessed the coming of Hobson and the signing of the Treaty and was still alive (77yo) and present for the Jubilee. Also, William Colenso, who attended Napier’s Jubilee service at the ripe old age of 79 was present himself at the Bay of Islands when William Hobson sailed in to pronounce himself Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand.¹ The people of Wellington remembered the 50th too but insisted on the 22nd of January since that was the date that had the most meaning for them. In Christchurch and Dunedin there was a public holiday. For the most part it was New Zealand’s Jubilee and Auckland’s Celebration. Ref. 1840: Wellington Anniversary, AHNZ

There were street decorations, parades from all sorts of community groups, a message from Queen Victoria, speeches, horse racing, illuminations, Maori canoe races, swimming carnival, an intercolonial cricket match with New South Wales, a ball at the Northern Club, yachting, rowing, gymnastics, bicycle races, running races, obsticle courses, hakas, and a horticultural show. A special Ode to Zelandia song was composed telling the history of the young nation. John Thurston, Governor of Fiji, appeared. Rewi Maniapoto of the Waikato came. Charles Wynn-Carington, Governor of New South Wales, attended too and perhaps helped smooth the way for New Zealand to join the Federation of Australia later that year (we did not.)

The religious community created an initiative to have the Jubilee Celebration Committee cooperate with them to give pardons to all first offenders incarcerated in New Zealand jails.² This idea was downright Biblical but, then, so was the idea of a ‘jubilee’ after 50 years which New Zealanders were not too familiar with and needed to have it explained. Apart from Queen Victoria’s recent “jubilee” it was only known from the book of Leviticus but it was a word that would enter our lexicon now and have many occasions for future use.

“A PAMPHLET Containing THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF NEW ZEALAND HISTORY, Also, Full Reports of the EVENTS OF THE FOUR JUBILEE DAYS. Contents: The Early Days of the Colony—Early Communication with New Zealand—First Settlers The Maori Immigration— of the Maori Race— Cannibalism— Exterminating Wars—The Whalers—The Missionaries Zealand a British Colony—The Settlement of Auckland— The Pilgrim Fathers-Early Struggles-After Fifty Years…” – NZ Herald (1890,) Papers Past

“The Jubilee procession, or demonstration, proposed to be held on tho morning of January 29th, ia being favourably taken up by the various friendly and trade societies, and promises to be a great success. The city and suburban fire brigades, and also the Salvage Corps, have signified their willingness to take part, and favourable replies have also been received from various branches of the Oddfellows, Foresters, Orangemen, the Seamen’s Union, and various other trade societies….

“The most attractive piece to be performed is a ” Jubilee Ode to Zealandia,” written by Mr M. May, of Ponsonby, and set to music by Mr J. H. Phillpot, comprising tenor and bass solos, quartet and chorus…” – New Zealand Jubilee, Auckalnd Celebration. Auckland Star (1890,) Papers Past

“During my stay in New Zealand, the anniversary o the colonisation of the North Island occurred, and great preparations had been made for a worthy celebration…everyone who had time and an apartment would go there…I checked into one of the hotels…Of the numerous rooms, some were occupied by whites , but perhaps the majority of civilised Maori, among whom was King Tawhiao’s brother, and oldgrey-haired Maori man, wearing anything but royal garb. Races, contests on velocipedes and competitive swimming succeeded each other, and parties went through the city to the sound of games and flying flags.” – Pa Forskningsfard, Fristedt (1891)

In 2017 the New Zealand Herald took a shot at the public for having “little clue about the details of the Treaty of Waitangi, including what year the historic document was signed.” But why should we? For most of our history the rituals at Waitangi were unimportant and a legal nullity. New Zealanders, in not knowing, had not lost contact with the past at all but rather had not been successfully propagandised.  The first Waitangi Day public holiday was in 1977 as a product of historical revisionism. Ref. 1970s: Kiwis have no idea when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, AHNZ

Clearly the first generations of New Zealanders did not place much importance on ‘Waitangi Day’ and it is our own modern social construct. What mattered more was William Hobson’s proclamation by which Crown control was established. The Treaty was simply performed for Public Relations reasons since the legal and sovereignty part of the job was already in the bag. Interesting, though, that the 50th Jubilee kicked off on the day Hobson arrived in New Zealand. He did not actually set foot on New Zealand soil and issue his proclamations until January 30th.

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1 Ref. The Jubilee, South Canterbury Times (1890,) Papers Past

2 Ref. Auckland Star (1890,) Papers Past

Image ref. Cartoon making fun of priests seeking to pardon convicted criminals to mark the Jubilee. Ref Observer (1890,) Papers Past

Image ref. Cover of New Zealand’s Jubilee 1840-1890 (1890,) NZ Herald and NZ Weekly News, Trove, National Library of Australia

Image ref. HMS Herald in 1840, at Stewart Island. Alexander Turnbull Library, enhanced by AHNZ (2024)

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