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Story: Timekeeping

New Zealand’s telegraph network, 1868

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New Zealand’s telegraph network, 1868

The coming of the telegraph established New Zealand standard time. By 1868 a telegraph network extended from Napier down to Bluff. But for efficiency telegraph operators had to observe the same time at all places on the network. The upshot was a parliamentary resolution establishing a standard New Zealand time.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1868, E-5

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Timekeeping – New Zealand mean time, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/6693/new-zealands-telegraph-network-1868 (accessed 23 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.