Grey County, New Zealand

The Greymouth Grey County Chambers built in 1924, today the home of a museum

Grey County was one of the counties of New Zealand in the South Island.

Grey County was formed in 1877 after the abolition of provincial government in 1876.[1] The area had previously belonged to Westland Province and Nelson Province and covered rural land and settlements in the vicinity of Greymouth, but not the urban area of Greymouth itself, as that area had been governed by the Greymouth Borough Council since 1868.[2] The reason that Grey County went across a provincial boundary was that the boundary had been set as a straight line from the head of the Hurunui River to Lake Brunner at a time when the area was virtually uninhabited, but the West Coast Gold Rush then straddled that boundary.[1]

The southern boundary of Grey County was the Taramakau River, and the maintenance of the bridge over the river was shared with Westland County. Grey County extended for 40 miles (64 km) along the coast, and went inland as far as the great divide in the Southern Alps.[3]

Grey County was abolished in the 1989 local government reforms, when the area became part of Grey District. The head of the local government administration was an elected chairman.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McLintock, A. H., ed. (23 April 2009) [First published in 1966]. "Westland Province and Provincial District". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Untitled". Grey River Argus VI (394). 23 July 1868. p. 2. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Grey County Council". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 September 2015.


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