Before proceeding to enumerate the outstanding events of 1866, Old Westland’s record year, it is necessary to briefly note that Commissioner Sale, and the Canterbury Provincial Council officials under his jurisdiction had by this time succeeded in setting the civic administration machinery in motion and that law and order prevailed throughout the goldfields. “King” Sale’s task had been a tremendous one, but having unlimited authority, which he used to the utmost, he soon by the just and equitable manner in which he carried out his duties gained the confidence of the people as a whole.
While it is completely outside the scope of this work to cover the political history of Old Westland, which is an intriguing book-length story in itself, still it is essential to briefly note that the beginning of 1866 saw the birth of a movement designed to bring about the separation of Westland from Canterbury, and the establishment of the former as a separate province. In this connection it is not the intention of the writer to set out the pros and cons of the arguments used in the agitation which followed; recriminations would serve no useful purpose, it being sufficient to say that the Canterbury Provincial Council (no doubt impressed by the endeavours of the separationists) raised Westland’s representation on that body from two members (who were elected on October 25th, 1865) to five members, in July, 1866.
