Lord Auckland

Posted on 11 August 2008


Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Lord Auckland!

In 1840 Captain William Hobson, then the Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand named the newly established capital city of the colony after this pompous looking dude that was his naval commander: Lord Auckland.

His statue is sitting in front of the Civic Administration Building just as pompous looking as the Lord himself or at least it used to when it was unveiled back in 1966. It looks quite dated now… Auckland was capital for 25 years before losing the privilege to Wellington.

A sailing regatta was held when the union flag was raised for the first time, a tradition which is still observed every year on Auckland Anniversary Day in late January.

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3 responses to Lord Auckland

  • Hilda says:
    August 12, 2008 at 00:50

    Oh wow, thank you for the introduction and the history lesson. Auckland was always just the name of your city to me. Never thought it was a person. Which is silly, really, knowing we have so many places named after people. Duh.

    Reply
  • Kris says:
    August 13, 2008 at 11:04

    I bet that Lord Auckland was a hit with the ladies though!

    “Come on, check out this town, it’s named after me you now” (puts arm around shoulder…)

    Reply
  • antonia says:
    August 17, 2008 at 18:20

    oh, it seems to me he was very ellegant dandy :) – nice photo

    Reply

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