History of the NZGB
Learn about the creation of the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) in 1946 and how the naming authority has evolved.
Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa means "the memorial markers of the landscape".
Before the NZGB
The tangata whenua Māori have lived in New Zealand for many centuries and are responsible for many of the names of this country. New Zealand connections with the Pacific can be traced through many names brought from Polynesia and the naming stories or traditions found in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Hawai'i. European place names appeared in increasing numbers with the organised settlement of New Zealand by the British in the 1840s.
Legislative provisions for place naming in New Zealand were initially under the auspices of the Royal Geographic Society of London, until the Designations of Districts Act 1894 gave the Governor-General of New Zealand authority to alter or assign place names in the colony.
One of the early reasons for an authority on place names was to avoid confusion in the naming of post offices, railway stations, etc. In 1924, the Minister of Lands approved the formation of a board to adjudicate on questions generally concerning place and feature names in New Zealand.
The first board, known as the Honorary Geographic Board of New Zealand, lacked the necessary power to implement its decisions, and so acted in an advisory capacity until 1946, when the present New Zealand Geographic Board was established under the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946.
The NZGB 1946 - present
The NZGB was created following the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946 (repealed) and its secretariat was located within the Department of Lands and Survey.
Since the Act was passed in 1946, New Zealand has become more involved in administration of the Ross Dependency in Antarctica (including survey, mapping and charting activities) while strengthening the Antarctic Treaty System established in 1959. New Zealand's changing role is one the of the factors which lead to a review of the 1946 Act.
In 1959, a United Nations resolution paved the way for the establishment of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN).
From 1987 to 1996, the NZGB secretariat was located within the Department of Survey and Land Information (a predecessor of LINZ), until the establishment of LINZ in 1996.
On 1 November 2008, the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008 came into force.
Find out about LINZ's heritage in our whakapapa.
