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History of Wellington

Wellington, our capital city and home of Zealandia wildlife sanctuary is culturally rich. Explore the Māori myth behind Poneke and its landmarks, — like the Beehive, Te Papa, harbour and cable car, as well as historical events. SCIS no. 1836276

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Kelburn cable Car

Kelburn cable Car

View looking down Kelburn cable Car, showing residence of Martin Kennedy in Glasgow Terrace in background. The windmill in the foreground was imported by E W Mills & Co, and arrived on the ship Fr...

Postcard of government buildings

Postcard of government buildings

Shows a view of the wooden Government Buildings, with a Wellington Corporation Tramways tram in the left foreground, and figures walking by at the right. Quantity: 1 colour art print(s) on postcar...

German prisoners of war

German prisoners of war

German prisoners of war, captured by the French in Tahiti. Taken on Somes Island by an unidentified photographer. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

1965 Petone knitting design

1965 Petone knitting design

Knitting pattern for double knitting (8-ply) wool, cover showing a smiling man in knitted jacket and fabric cap, holding a golf club over his right shoulder. Quantity: 1 colour photo-mechanical pr...

Americans at Oriental Bay

Americans at Oriental Bay

An American sailor and a Marine with friends at Oriental Bay, Wellington

Wellington wind

Wellington wind

Old Wellington

Wellington

A poster of Wellington at dusk.

1960s Willis Street

1960s Willis Street

Elevated view of Willis Street, Wellington, looking towards the Hotel St George, taken ca early 1960s by Gladys M Goodall Inscriptions: Verso - top left - Willis Street, looking towards Hotel St G...

Wellington motorway

Wellington motorway

Wellington motorway construction in 1969.

Interior of Suzy's Coffee Bar, Willis Street, Wellington

Interior of Suzy's Coffee Bar, Willis Street, Wellington

Photograph taken by Duncan Winder. Source of descriptive information - Duncan Winder register, Photographic Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library. Quantity: 1 colour original negative(s). Physical...

The Terrace in 1970

The Terrace in 1970

The Terrace is one of Wellington’s oldest and most notable streets.

Rugby sevens cartoon

Rugby sevens cartoon

The Wellington Sevens tournament was more about costumes, drinking and having fun than rugby.

Earthquake preparation in Wellington

Earthquake preparation in Wellington

Cartoon related to emergency survival kits.

Commuters at Wellington Railway Station

Commuters at Wellington Railway Station

Commuters at Wellington Railway Station having just arrived on units. Photographed by an Evening Post staff photographer 10 January 1978. This photograph illustrated an article on the overcrowding...

The Sinking Of The Wahine

The Sinking Of The Wahine

I find it extraordinary that these photographs of the survivors of the Wahine sinking exist. At 6am on 10 April 1968, as passengers were beginning to wake and crew members were performing early mor...

Zealandia sanctuary

Zealandia sanctuary

Zealandia (formerly the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) in Wellington is New Zealand’s only city-based wildlife sanctuary, and was the first of its kind to open in the world. It occupies the valley of t...

Wellington harbour

Wellington harbour

The impressionist style developed in Europe in the late 19th century. It aimed to capture the movement of light on a scene. The aesthetic is evident in James Nairn’s 1894 painting 'Wellington Harbo...

Wellington Harbour

Wellington Harbour

oil on canvas 406 x 508 mm - unsigned Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the artist, 1967

Islands in Wellington harbour

Islands in Wellington harbour

This photograph shows two islands in Wellington Harbour: Mokopuna (foreground), and Matiu (Somes Island). Also in Wellington Harbour is Mākaro (Ward Island), which is not visible in this view. Mati...

Easter service, Mount Victoria

Easter service, Mount Victoria

Crowd on Mount Victoria, Wellington attending an open air Easter service. Photographed by Sydney Charles Smith some time in the 1930s Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: ...

Crowd on VE day

Crowd on VE day

VE Day, Wellington, May 1945. A crowd fills Parliament grounds and Lambton Quay. Photograph taken from Government Buildings by John Pascoe. Original caption reads: "The crowd extended from the Parl...

Queens Wharf in 1885

Queens Wharf in 1885

Overlooking Queens Wharf in Wellington, circa 1885. The vessels at the wharf are the `Ionic', `Otaki', `Canterbury', `Wairarapa' and the `Manawatu. The `Hina' is at the lower left. The `Queen of th...

Byrd Memorial, Mt. Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand

Byrd Memorial, Mt. Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand

Showing a cannon and tour buses at the Admiral R E Byrd Memorial on Mount Victoria Wellington, overlooking the Basin Reserve and Brooklyn (right) Wellington Region (N.Z.)

David Jones takes over Kirkcaldie & Stains

David Jones takes over Kirkcaldie & Stains

Wellington institution Kirkcaldie Stains is set to end more than 150 years in business and will be replaced with Australian chain store David Jones.

Oriental Parade, Wellington

Oriental Parade, Wellington

Oriental Parade

Oriental Parade

cibachrome 417 x 613 mm - Brian Brake is New Zealand's most celebrated photo-journalist and his images have been published in such prestigious journals as National Geographic, Paris-Match and Life...

Wellington airport

Wellington airport

Wellington Airport – one of the world's scariest.

Rail ferries

Short film for tourists on travelling between the North and South islands.

Wellington commuters, 2011

Wellington commuters, 2011

Commuters on their way to work on a wet and blustery Wellington day are part of a tidal flow of people into the city, and will flow out again at the end of the day. For many years New Zealand town...

Smart Wellington motorway

Smart Wellington motorway

Commuters in Wellington have had an intelligence boost in the past few weeks since the country's first smart motorway opened there. Late last month the section of motorway linking the central city ...

The 1855 Wellington earthquake

In this letter to a friend, Wellington merchant and Jewish congregation leader Abraham Hort gives a graphic description of the massive earthquake that struck Wairarapa and Wellington in January 185...

Hurricanes’ parade

Hurricanes’ parade

The Hurricanes paraded through Wellington today to celebrate their win of the Super Rugby final.

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club

Wellington's oldest Yacht Club, a flourishing yacht club that enhances the vibrancy of Wellington by providing a key sporting, recreational, business and social focal point for Wellingtonians. http...

Wellington 1950s

Wellington 1950s

Footage around Wellington from the early 1950s.

Wellington rifle company

Wellington rifle company

Arrangement of text with royal crest at top centre. The Wellington Rifle Comppany wanted to increase its number to 100. Minimum height of applicants was to be 5ft. 6 inches; chest measurement 32 in...

New Zealand centennial exhibition

New Zealand centennial exhibition

Shows aerial view of exhibition grounds with beach at top left. At right is detail of tower building. Quantity: 1 colour photo-mechanical print(s). Physical Description: Photolithograph, 212 x 2...

Victoria University

Victoria University

Postcard of Victoria University College, Wellington.

Postcard. Wellington from the Terrace. G & G series, no. 116. Printed in Berlin. [1904-1914].

Postcard. Wellington from the Terrace. G & G series, no. 116. Printed in Berlin. [1904-1914].

Shows a view looking north over Wellington Harbour with red-roofed houses in the foreground. Quantity: 1 colour art print(s) on postcard. Physical Description: Collotype on postcard 89 x 140 mm. ...

Cuba Mall, 1974

Cuba Mall, 1974

All scenes taken in Cuba Mall in 1974. Several show people seated on public benches. Businesses seen in the background include Hannahs shoe shop, Fuller Fultons, and the New Tavern. A Maori couple ...

Bucket fountain

Bucket fountain

Wellington's bucket fountain returns home

Wellington in the 1960s

Wellington in the 1960s

Various shots from around Wellington in the 1960s. [ video length: 00:09:45, audio: Mute ] Archives footage preserved and made available by Archives New Zealand/Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga. ...

Controversial wind farm at Makara

Controversial wind farm at Makara

The Prime Minister has opened a controversial wind farm at Makara, in the Wellington Region.

Beatles fans at a Wellington concert

Beatles fans at a Wellington concert

Beatles fans scream during one of the concerts at the Wellington Town Hall.

1945 air raid shelter

1945 air raid shelter

A reminder of Wellington’s reaction to the threat of invasion by Japan during World War Two.

Absolutely Positively Wellington

Absolutely Positively Wellington

Banner on the Beehive with the slogan "Absolutely Positively Wellington." Photographed by Evening Post staff photographer Mark Coote on the 3rd of January 1992. Quantity: 1 colour original negati...

150 capital years for Wellington

The grey marble facade of Parliament in Wellington is having a makeover this weekend in celebration of a major anniversary for the capital city.

Tana Umaga

The former All Black Tana Umaga was born in Wainuiomata to Samoan parents. He originally played rugby league but switched to union in his late teens. He first played for Wellington in 1994, becomin...

Kirikiti

Samoan style cricket.

Troopship ‘Aquitania’

Troopship ‘Aquitania’

The ‘Aquitania’ in Wellington Harbour.

Suzy's coffee bar

Suzy's coffee bar

This popular café was opened in 1964 by Suzy van der Kwast and her husband.

Wellington

A painting of early Wellington.

Oriental Parade, Wellington

Oriental Parade, Wellington

View of a large number of people enjoying a sunny day on Oriental Parade beach in Wellington.

Story of Wellington harbour

Story of Wellington from early Māori to European times.

Wellington nightclubs

History of Wellington’s 1980s nightclubs.

Wellington places

A map of Wellington.

Te Āti Awa of Wellington

During the 1820s and 1830s, members of Te Āti Awa and other tribes travelled to the Wellington region.

Information about Weta studio educational tours.

Wellington's cable car

A ride on Wellington’s historical cable car from Lambton Quay to Kelburn.

Wellington poem

A poem inspired by the Wellington wind.

History of the Hurricanes

The history and timeline of the Wellington Hurricanes.

Māori history of the greater Wellington region

Māori history of Wellington, "Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui" or the head of the fish of Maui.

This page on ManyAnswers has links to reviewed websites and databases on Wellington.

Rush-hour commuters

Rush-hour commuters

Morning commuters at Wellington railway station in 1978.

Ngāti Pōneke performers

Ngāti Pōneke performers

In the early 1900s, there were few Māori living in Wellington. Numbers increased after the First World War when Māori began moving to the city from the country. This led to the formation of the mul...

Fat Freddy's Drop

Fat Freddy's Drop

Fat Freddy’s Drop is a Wellington band of Māori and Pacific musicians who play a blend of jazz, soul and funk. The six musicians perform on a range of instruments including trumpet and saxophone. T...

Early Wellington sections for sale

Early Wellington sections for sale

Before the first settlers arrived in Wellington, sections were sold in London by ballot through The New Zealand Company. This image of three cadastral maps shows the properties with their boundarie...

The Terrace, Wellington

The Terrace, Wellington

The Terrace is a very well-known Wellington street. This image was taken in 1927 from the recently built Druid's building at the back of Lambton Quay. It is now known as Woodward House. In the phot...

Wellington city

Wellington city

View of Wellington taken from Mt Victoria.

Cook Strait ferries

Cook Strait ferries

Cook Strait ferries bridge the gap between the North and South Islands. The Interislander at the front of this photograph is the ‘Arahanga,’ which carried freight across the Strait between 1972 and...

1960s Kelburn cable car

1960s Kelburn cable car

The Kelburn Cable Car, Wellington, photographed in the early 1960s by Gladys Goodall of Christchurch. Inscriptions: Verso - top left - Kelburn Cable Car, Wellington, N.Z. This is the last tram lef...

Arthur Street, Wellington

Arthur Street, Wellington

This street (that probably started as a cart track) is now an important route through Wellington.

Queens Wharf, Wellington

Queens Wharf, Wellington

This postcard was printed in 1908 approximately 70 years after the first settlers arrived in New Zealand. It shows a view of Queens Wharf looking towards Mount Victoria. Steamships and sail ships a...

1848 earthquake damage

1848 earthquake damage

These 1948 sketches by Robert Park have been used to illustrate which buildings and building materials suffered the most damage during the Wellington or wider Wairarapa earthquake. The buildings fr...

Caricature of Tana Umaga

Caricature of Tana Umaga

The chants of “Uh, Ah, Umaga” by thousands of spectators at Wellington, Hurricanes and All Blacks matches indicate how popular this rugby player was. Tana’s parents emigrated from Samoa and he grew...

Pito-one pā

This peaceful scene is of Pito-one pā with several groups of Māori in the foreground and a waka pulled up on the beach. This area of Wellington is in the Hutt Valley close to the Hutt River. This i...

Centennial Exhibition poster

Centennial Exhibition poster

Rising out of the sandy wastelands of Lyall Bay, the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition became New Zealand’s biggest and most popular 20th century attraction. When it closed its doors in May 1940, o...

The Beehive

Construction of the Beehive, Parliament grounds, Wellington.

Troll at the Weta Cave

Troll at the Weta Cave

The monumental success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy owed a great deal to the model- making and special effects from Weta Workshop. Starting from a shoestring budget in the spar...

Anzac Day, 1974

Anzac Day, 1974

All images were taken at the Wellington Cenotaph on Anzac Day after the memorial service. People are seen looking at the wreaths laid by various dignitaries commemorating fallen soldiers, and child...

1960s sketch of Wellington

1960s sketch of Wellington

Wellington’s attributes are humorously described in this sketch resulting from a visit to the Wellington Savage Club by the Manawatu Savage Club. It includes references to those quirky aspects of W...

Wellington electric train unit

Wellington electric train unit

By 1938 Wellington was established as the business hub of the country and the city leaders moved there to strengthen this position. By improving the road and rail services and much of the city’s in...

Welcome to royalty poster

Welcome to royalty poster

This poster was prepared for the visit of the Prince of Wales to New Zealand, showing the Prince of Wales feathers, the British and New Zealand flags, and the royal coat of arms. The Prince’s visit...

Aerial view of Wellington harbour

Aerial view of Wellington harbour

This painting presents an aerial view of the town of Wellington from south of Wellington Heads. In the left centre foreground one looks down onto Miramar Peninsula and Burnham Lake. The site of Wel...

The Beehive in 1981

The Beehive in 1981

Wellington wasn’t feeling so good about itself in the 1980s. Companies were moving to Auckland, big factories closed, jobs were hard to get. Absolutely Positively Wellington started life as a serie...

The Wahine shipwreck

The Wahine shipwreck

It was Cyclone Giselle that contributed to the tragic sinking of the ‘Wahine’ in Wellington harbour with the loss of 54 lives. The second most severe storm to hit New Zealand last century, Giselle ...

The Beatles in Wellington

The Beatles in Wellington

The screaming started as soon as the Beatles touched down at Wellington airport in 1964 and didn’t stop until they left 68 hours later. During that time it was reported that the high pitched scream...

Soldiers in Wellington

Soldiers in Wellington

This image was taken at the Wellington railway station. It is an image that was replicated throughout the country as young men gathered to travel north or south, often with very little notice. The ...

Building and grounds

The history of the Parliament buildings and grounds.

Katherine Mansfield’s house & garden

Katherine Mansfield's father, Harold Beauchamp, built a house for his family in Thorndon.

Wellington, the world’s best

The Deutsche Bank rates Wellington the best place to live among 47 top global cities.

NZ on Screen’s selection of Wellington related films.

Wellington's Matiu Island

Peter Jackson's hi-tech tourism plans for Wellington's Matiu Island.

War in Wellington

Map of sites from the 1846 war in Wellington.

Pukeau National War Memorial Park

Information about Pukeau National War Memorial Park.

WOW or World of Wearable Art is now a highlight of Wellington’s cultural entertainment scene.

Raroa Intermediate has researched the local area of Mt. Kaukau.

The 1913 strike in Wellington

This strike was caused by the dispute between Wellington shipwrights and the Union Steamship Company.

You can't beat Wellington (on a good day.)

A popular song about Wellington.

Anti-Vietnam War protests

Images of anti-Vietnam War protests in Wellington.

Wellington beggars

Wellington beggars tell of the etiquette and dangers of life on the streets.

Wellington statistics

Facts and figures relating to Wellington.

Matiu/Somes Island

Information about Matiu/Somes Island.

New Zealand celebrates VE day

A short film on Victory in Europe Day celebrated in Wellington and around New Zealand.

Wellington café culture

Wellington's café culture is an integral part of its identity as a city today.

Wellington writer’s walk

23 sculptural quotations from some of New Zealand’s best known writers.

Wellington Museum

Wellington Museum shares the fascinating stories of the Wellington region.

Wellington train station

Wellington Railway Station was built in 1937.

Wellington Botanic Garden

The history of the Wellington Botanic Garden goes back to the beginning of Wellington.

Wellington’s Central Park

Wellington’s Central Park is one of Wellington’s oldest public green spaces.

Wellington fault

A fault line runs through the centre of Wellington city.

Wellington earthquake

The 1855 earthquake along the Wairarapa Fault shook Wellington causing tidal waves.

Historic Wellington

Photographs showing Wellington’s past.

Te Papa is our national museum that houses the major collections of Aotearoa.

Wellington’s taniwha

The origin of Wellington Harbour, and the two taniwha who created it.

Fat Freddy's Drop - 'Bays'

Fat Freddy's Drop - 'Bays'

For their fourth studio album, Bays, Fat Freddy's Drop have ditched their usual live and improvised songwriting process in favour of an exclusively studio-created affair. Ahead of the live debut of...

Summary of the story of how Wellington became the third capital of New Zealand.

Guides & factsheets

He Tohu is a new permanent exhibition of three constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa New Zealand. They are: 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – Declaration of Independence...

The culture and popularity of a street called Cuba.

Life's a beach in Oriental Bay

Oriental Parade is a hot spot when the sun comes out.

Wellington writer’s walk

23 sculptural quotations about Wellington from some of New Zealand’s best known writers.