Editing Time ball (section)

===New Zealand===
[[Image:Timeball station.jpg|thumb|right|The time ball at [[Lyttelton, New Zealand|Port Lyttelton]], New Zealand, started signalling [[Greenwich Mean Time]] to ships in the harbour beginning in 1876. The [[Lyttelton Timeball Station]] was destroyed by an earthquake in 2011 but was rebuilt and reopened in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2756733-lyttelton_timeball_station_christchurch-i?action=describe |title=Lyttelton Timeball Station, Christchurch |publisher=Yahoo! Travel |access-date=27 May 2007 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310000827/http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2756733-lyttelton_timeball_station_christchurch-i?action=describe |url-status=dead }}</ref> ]]

In March 1864 New Zealand's first time ball was established at Wellington. This was followed by Port Chalmers in June 1867, Wanganui in October 1874, Lyttelton in December 1876 and Timaru in 1888. Attempts were made by some people in Auckland to establish time balls there from 1864 onwards, but these were not recognized by the authorities until a permanent time ball was mounted on the [[Auckland Ferry Terminal|Ferry Building]] in August 1901.

* Port Chalmers
:Established by the Otago Provincial Council on top of [[Observation Point]] in [[Port Chalmers]] in June 1867 the [[Port Chalmers time ball |time ball]] service initially operated at 1 pm on all days of the week except Sundays. The service was discontinued in October 1877, but following concerns raised by 11 shipmasters the service resumed in April 1882 as a weekly service. In 1910 the time keeping service was discontinued but the ball however continued to be used until 1931 as a warning device. It was removed in 1970 but a replacement was restored to service in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last= Kinns |first= Roger |date= 2017 |title= The Principal Time Balls of New Zealand |journal= Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage |volume= 20 |issue= 1 |pages= 69–94|doi= 10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2017.01.05 |bibcode= 2017JAHH...20...69K |s2cid= 209901718 }}</ref> 

* Lyttelton
:Established in December 1876 the [[Lyttelton Timeball Station]] in [[Lyttelton, New Zealand]], was operational until it was damaged in the [[2010 Canterbury earthquake]]. Further severe damage occurred in the February [[2011 Christchurch earthquake]],<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12578016 | work=BBC News | title=New Zealand quake: The epicentre town | date=25 February 2011}}</ref> and a decision was made in March 2011 to dismantle the building, a danger to the public,<ref name=dismantle>{{cite web|first=Charlie|last=Gates|title=Timeball Station to be demolished |publisher=[[stuff.co.nz]] |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4731937/Timeball-Station-to-be-demolished|date=4 March 2010|accessdate=15 June 2011}}</ref> but the tower collapsed during the [[June 2011 Christchurch earthquake|major aftershock]] that hit the Lyttelton area on 13 June 2011.<ref name=tower_collapse>{{cite news|first=Marc|last=Greenhill|title=Workmen unscathed as Timeball Station collapses|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/5139273/Workmen-unscathed-as-Timeball-Station-collapsesc_id=1502981&objectid=10731994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024150950/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/5139273/Workmen-unscathed-as-Timeball-Station-collapsesc_id%3D1502981%26objectid%3D10731994|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 October 2012|accessdate=15 June 2011|publisher=stuff.co.nz|date=14 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  In November 2012, a large financial donation <ref name="Donor fronts to save Lyttelton Timeball Station">{{cite web|last=Greenhill|first=Marc|title=Donor fronts to save Lyttelton Timeball Station|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/8005801/Donor-fronts-to-save-Lyttelton-Timeball-Station|work=Stuff|accessdate=2012-11-28|publisher=stuff.co.nz|date=28 November 2012}}</ref> was made available to contribute towards rebuilding the tower, a project the community considered. On 25 May 2013, it was announced that the tower and ball would be restored, and that funds were to be sought from the community to rebuild the rest of the station. The station was officially reopened on 2 November 2018.<ref name="Landmark Inc helps save Lyttelton Timeball with...">{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Francesca|title=Million dollar donation to rebuild Lyttelton Timeball|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/hills-and-harbour/8717525/Million-dollar-donation-to-rebuild-Lyttelton-Timeball|work=Stuff|accessdate=2013-05-25|publisher=stuff.co.nz|date=25 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="Radio New Zealand : News : Christchurch Earthquake : $1m donation to rebuild timeball:">{{cite web|title=$1m donation to rebuild timeball|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/canterbury-earthquake/136033/$1m-donation-to-rebuild-timeball|work=Radio New Zealand|accessdate=2013-05-25|publisher=radionz.co.nz|date=25 May 2013}}</ref>

* Wellington
:The Wellington time ball service started in March 1864.<ref name=":0"/> It received its time information from the [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington|Dominion Observatory]] which was also communicated to the Lyttelton time ball service.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Kinns|first=Roger|date=2017|title=The Time Light Signals of New Zealand: Yet Another Way of Communicating Time in the Pre-Wireless Area|journal=Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage |volume= 20 |issue=2|pages= 211–222|doi=10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2017.02.06 |s2cid=217198680 }}</ref> [[Dunedin]] used local observatory facilities.<ref name=":0" /> 

:Wellington had two time ball sites – the time ball was erected at the first site by mid-January 1864 on top of the Custom House building on the Wellington waterfront <ref>{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18640114.2.15|title= Wellington (from our own correspondent)|date= 11 January 1864|work= Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |access-date= 20 December 2018}}</ref> and later relocated in 1888 to the J Shed Woolstore on top of the [[Hydraulic accumulator|accumulator tower]].<ref name=":0" /> This building and the time ball burnt down on 9 March 1909.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19090310.2.58|title= A Big Blaze |date= 10 March 1909|work=The Dominion|access-date= 19 December 2018}}</ref>
[[File:2012;2-5-6726; Shed J Accumulator Tower Showing Time Ball c. 1900.jpg|thumb|J Shed, Wellington Woolstore, showing the Time Ball at its second site {{Circa|1900}}]]
:Instead of replacing the Wellington time ball after the second site burnt down, time light signals were introduced at the [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington|Dominion Observatory]]. The earliest record of this was 22 February 1912.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19120222.2.83|title=Ships and Shipping |date= 22 February 1912|work= New Zealand Times|access-date=2018-12-19}}</ref> They were in use until 1937 when wireless signals took over as the new way to keep time.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Wellington Dominion Observatory by W F Tibbutt 1913.jpg|thumb|The Time Light arrangement at [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington|Dominion Observatory]] in Wellington {{Circa|1913}}]]