1853 stands forth a memorable year in the history of New Zealand; for on the 17th January Governor Grey proclaimed the Constitution Act of 1852, passed by the Imperial Parliament, by which the Dominion obtained representative institutions. The Act provided for a General Assembly for the whole Colony, consisting of a Legislative Council and a House of Representatives. It also abolished the Provinces of New Ulster and New Munster, which had been set up under the Charter of 1847, and replaced them by six new provinces, _viz_, Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. The Councils were elective and were presided over by a superintendent; they had legislative powers within certain limits. The Provincial Councils lasted until 1876, when they were abolished by an Act of the General Assembly. The first session of the Auckland Provincial Council, under the superintendence of Lieutenant-Colonel Wynyard, was held on June 30th, 1853, Mr. Thomas Houghton Bartley being appointed Speaker. The maiden session of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives took place simultaneously, on May 24th, 1854, the Queen's Birthday, in the newly-erected Parliament Building. As befitted the day and the occasion, the ships in the harbour were decorated. At mid-day a salute of twenty-one guns was fired at Fort Britomart, and was followed by a _feu de joie_ delivered by the 58th Regiment in the square of Albert Barracks. The Speaker of the Upper House was Mr. William Swainson, and of the Representative chamber, Mr. (_afterwards_ Sir) Charles Clifford. [Illustration: New Zealand's First Parliament Building, Erected 1854 The front portion (first gable) was the parliament building. It was afterwards extended and used by the Auckland University College.] It is outside the limits of this work to attempt anything like a parliamentary history, but it may be interesting to remark that the first Parliament Building erected in New Zealand was situated at the corner of Eden and Parliament Streets, and that it served Parliament as a meeting place from the beginning of its career until the removal of the capital to Wellington. The building continued to be used by the Provincial Council until the abolition of the provinces, in 1876. It was afterwards acquired by the Council of the Auckland University College, by which body it was enlarged, and it served its purpose in the educational work of the city until 1918, when the buildings were taken over by the City Council in connection with the proposed new city outlet from Customs Street. Upon examination, with a view to re-erecting this historic building on another site, it was found that the condition was so bad that demolition was the only course. The city trams now run over the site of New Zealand's first Parliament Building.