seek “fresh woods and pastures new,” but he will live in Canterbury history as the godfather of the Mackenzie Plains, which he discovered, and to which he took his stolen sheep.
The election for the House of Representatives of the second Parliament of New Zealand took place in December, 1855, and January, 1856. There were 37 members to he elected, and the Superintendents of the six provinces all gained seats—Mr. FitzGerald as Member for Lyttelton. Christchurch was represented by Mr. H. Sewell, and there were three other members for Canterbury. Mr. Henry Tancred was appointed to the Legislative Council; the first Canterbury nomination to that body.
A short session of the Provincial Council opened on February 28. Mr. FitzGerald, owing to ill-health, was unable to attend the opening. Mr. Godley had resigned the position of Canterbury Agent in London (July 2, 1855), and Mr. H. Selfe Selfe was appointed to succeed him. The appointments in each case were honorary, and the services of both gentlemen were subsequently recognised by the thanks of the Provincial Council, and a grant of £100 to each to “purchase a memorial.”
At a later session held in November of the same year, the Council decided to have the Seal of the Canterbury Association converted into a Seal for the Province by changing the word “Societatis” into “Provinciæ.” There had been a rather amusing battle for the possession of this Seal a few years before. Mr. Joseph Brittan, when appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands by Sir George Grey, occupied the Canterbury Association’s office, and seized upon the Seal, in addition to survey maps and other Association property, and refused to surrender them to Mr. Sewell, the representative of the Association, even though the latter obtained Judgement against Mr. Brittan for illegally retaining possession of the property. Mr. Sewell, in his journal, expressed great indignation, and
