Editing Hastings, New Zealand (section)

===European settlers' history===
[[File:Warren Hastings greyscale.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Warren Hastings]] in 1767/68]]

The Māori owners leased approximately seventy square kilometres on the [[Heretaunga Plains]] to Thomas Tanner in 1867; Tanner had been trying to purchase the land since 1864. In 1870, twelve people, known as the "12 apostles", formed a syndicate to purchase the land for around [[New Zealand pound|£]]1 10[[shilling|s]] an acre (£371 per km<sup>2</sup>). Many local people firmly believe that Hastings was originally named Hicksville, after Francis Hicks, who bought a {{convert|100|acre|km2|adj=on}} block of land, which now contains the centre of Hastings, from Thomas Tanner. However, this story is apocryphal. The original name of the location which was to become the town centre was Karamu.

In 1870, Colonial Treasurer [[Julius Vogel]] launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. He [[The Vogel Era#A Grand Go-ahead Policy|proposed]] to borrow huge sums from Britain to revitalise and accelerate New Zealand development. One of the leading projects was the building of a national railway linking all main centres. Hawkes Bay development involved building a railway south from Napier and eventually to Palmerston North where it would connect to the proposed main trunk line. The  decision on the route out of Napier was based largely on two reports by Charles Weber, the provincial engineer and surveyor in charge of the railways. Francis Hicks owned land in the central in the Heretaunga Plains and offered to donate land for a railway station. The offer was accepted and in 1873 Francis Hicks subdivided 100 acres into residential and suburban sections. On 7 June 1873, the ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' reported: "The name of the new town is to be Hastings. We hear it now for the first time." Exactly who chose the name has been disputed, although Thomas Tanner claimed that it was him (see ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' report 1 February 1884) and that the choice was inspired by his reading the trial of [[Warren Hastings]]. In any event, the name fitted well with other place names in the district (Napier, Havelock and Clive), which were also named after prominent figures in the history of British India.{{sfn|Boyd|1984|pp=16–21}} In 1874, the first train took the twelve-mile (19&nbsp;km) trip from [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]] to Hastings, opening up Hastings as an export centre, through Port Ahuriri. 
Another big jump in the local economy occurred when Edward Newbigin opened a brewery in 1881. By the next year, there were 195 freeholders of land in the town of around six hundred people. The town was incorporated as a borough on 20 October 1886.

Hastings first received power in 1912,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/news/drive-to-provide-electricity/1519903/ |title=Historic HB: Drive to provide electricity |work=[[Hawke's Bay Today]] |date=28 August 2012 |access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref> followed by Napier in 1915.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.napier.govt.nz/index.php?pid=604 |title=Napier Physical Development History |work=Napier City Council |year=2012 |access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref>

In 1918, nearly 300 people died of a flu epidemic that swept Hawke's Bay.