Southland Anniversary Day in New Zealand Date in the current year: April 22, 2025

Southland Province occupied the southernmost part of the South Island and Ruapuke Island and was New Zealand’s shortest livied province. In Māori this region is called Murihiku, which can be loosely translated as “the end of the tail”, alluding to its location. The first inhabitants of Murihiku were the Waitaha iwi (tribe), followed by Kāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu.

In the early 19th century local Māori made contact with European whalers, sealers, and missionaries. They supplied whaling ships and even cared for whalers and settlers in need. In 1840, Tūhawaiki, the paramount chief of Ngāi Tahu, signed the Treaty of Waitangi with other chiefs.

In 1853 local Māori iwi sold Murihuku to Walter Mantell who claimed the region for European settlement. The purchase was controversial because the boundaries of the land sold to the Europeans were not made sufficiently clear. The Europeans also failed to build schools and hospitals near Ngāi Tahu as promised. The region was part of Otago Province, established by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

Four years later, settlers in Murihuku started petitioning for the separation from Otago Province. In 1858, the General Assembly passed the New Provinces Act, which resulted in the creation of several new provinces: Hawk’s Bay Province in 1858, Marlborough Province in 1859, and Southland Province in 1861. Two years later, Stewart Island became part of Southland Province.

Shortly after Southland Province split from Otago Province, the Otago gold rush began. Australian prospector Gabriel Read struck gold near Lawrence on May 20, 1861, leading to an influx of new settlers to Otago, while Southland remained relatively sparsely populated. Over the next decade, the Otago prospered, while Southland sank deeper into debt.

By the end of the decade, most Southland settlers wanted to rejoin Otago. The province of Southland was officially abolished on October 5, 1870 and became part of Otago. The province of Otago, in turn, ceased to exist along all other provinces on November 1, 1876 due to the abolition of the provincial system in New Zealand by the Abolition of Provinces Act 1875. Today, the lands that once comprised Southland Province are part of the Southland Region, which covers the entire southwestern part of the South Island and includes Stewart Island.

Although the provincial system in New Zealand was short-lived, former colonial provinces continue to officially observe provincial anniversaries, marking either the arrival of the first settlers or the establishment of the provincial government. These anniversaries are typically observed on the Monday closest to the actual date, but there are exceptions. For example, Southland Anniversary Day is celebrated on Easter Tuesday, so its date can vary widely from year to year.

* date for 2025