Total population 26,707 | Date taken 1 November, 1851 | |
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The 1851 New Zealand census was the first national population census. The day used for the census, was Saturday 1 November 1851. The enumeration was left to the governments of New Ulster and New Munster, the two provinces into which the country was then divided and was ordered by the Census Ordinance of 1851. The census, which was confined to Europeans, revealed a population of 26,707.
Contents
Summary
General Census of 1851
Data availability
The Blue Books were statistical information from New Zealand’s early Colonial period (1840-1855). They have information about population, revenue, military, trade, shipping, public works, legislation, civil servants, foreign consuls, land transactions, churches, schools, and prisons.
Population and dwellings
Population counts for the New Zealand districts. The original six were Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, though in 1858 New Plymouth was renamed Taranaki.
Birthplace
Population by country of birth:
Religion
Members of Christian denominations formed 93.35 per cent. of those who made answer to the inquiry at the census; non-Christian sects were 0.24 per cent.; whilst “other” religions constituted 6.41 per cent.
Numbers of livestock
Showing the numbers of livestock in the possession of Europeans in the several settlements in 1851.