This Act established the first six provinces of Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago.
Their only visible function today is their use to determine, with the exception of the Chatham Islands, Northland, and South Canterbury, the geographical boundaries for anniversary day public holidays.
Another practicality was that Parliament had long breaks between sessions due to the difficulty of travel at the time.
In one instance, the Wellington Provincial Council passed an act that empowered itself to raise a £25,000 loan.
[3] The election for Superintendent, to be held every four years, was a major event in the provinces for weeks and months leading up to it.
The Press, for example, these days the largest newspaper in the South Island, was founded by James FitzGerald (1st Superintendent of Canterbury) to oppose the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel proposal by his opponent William Sefton Moorhouse (2nd Superintendent of Canterbury).
[4] Drunkenness, fighting and the throwing of flour bags and rotten eggs on election day were common.