Grey County, New Zealand

[3] The overall area covered rural land and urban settlements, though the administrative authority for the urban area of Greymouth was transferred from Canterbury Province to the Greymouth Borough Council in 1868.

[4] The reason that the area that would become 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.

[2] In 1866, there was a failed proposal for portions of Canterbury Province, including the urban area of Greymouth and the rural area south to the Taramakau River, to be annexed and solely administered by Nelson Province.

[5] With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, Grey County was created, taking over administration of its area in January 1877.

Grey County extended for 64 kilometres (40 miles) along the coast, and went inland as far as the great divide in the Southern Alps.