Editing New Zealand Defence Force (section)

===Volunteers (1858–1909)===
{{main|Volunteer Force (New Zealand)}}
Although there were informal volunteer units as early as 1845, the appropriate approval and regulation of the units did not occur until the [[Militia Act 1858]]. Those who signed up for these units were exempt from militia duty, but had to be prepared to serve anywhere in New Zealand. One of the earliest gazetted units (13 January 1859) was the [[Taranaki Regiment|Taranaki Volunteer Rifle Company]].<ref>Taranaki Volunteer Rifle Corps, ''Taranaki Herald'', Volume VII, Issue 340, 5 February 1859, Page 3</ref>

To the Volunteer Rifle Corps were added Volunteer Artillery Corps in mid-1859. The first of these Volunteer Artillery Corps were based in Auckland.<ref>Auckland, Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 71, 3 September 1859, Page 2</ref>

By late 1859 the number of volunteer units was so great that Captain H C Balneavis was appointed Deputy Adjunct-General, based at Auckland.<ref>Untitled, ''Hawke's Bay Herald'', Volume 2, Issue 103, 10 September 1859, Page 2</ref>