Following the
Treaty of Waitangi, signed on 6 February 1840,
New Zealand became a colony of the
British Empire, initially administrated as part of the
Colony of New South Wales. In the
royal charter of November 1840, New Zealand was divided into three divisions:
New Ulster,
New Munster, and New Leinster. These divisions held geographic but not
administrative significance. The names of the regions were created by governor
William Hobson, who named them after the corresponding
provinces of Ireland, with New Leinster being named after the province of
Leinster. The
Colony of New Zealand became a
crown colony of the British Empire on 3 May 1841. The
New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 divided New Zealand into two
provinces,
New Ulster, and
New Munster, and the area known as New Leinster was then incorporated into the province of New Munster. ==References==