Marlborough
Wairau
Site of the 1843 Wairau confrontation, the first armed clash between settlers and Māori after the Treaty. Later sheep country, and the crossing point between the two islands.
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6 events in Marlborough between 1822 and 1998
Te Rauparaha’s migration to Kapiti
Ngāti Toa left Kāwhia and fought their way south, seizing Kapiti Island as a base that controlled Cook Strait and the trade passing through it.
Kapiti IslandFirst shore whaling station at Te Awaiti
John Guard set up a shore station in Tory Channel, starting an industry that placed small mixed Māori–European settlements right around the coast.
Te Awaiti, Tory ChannelThe Wairau affray
An armed Nelson party tried to arrest Te Rauparaha over disputed Wairau land. Twenty-two settlers and at least four Ngāti Toa died.
TuamarinaThe Wairarapa earthquake
At an estimated magnitude 8.2, the largest earthquake in recorded New Zealand history lifted parts of Wellington by more than a metre.
WairarapaThe Aramoana begins the roll-on roll-off ferry service
The country’s first roll-on roll-off ferry let cars and rail wagons drive straight on and off, joining the two islands into one freight network.
Cook StraitThe Ngāi Tahu settlement
A claim first lodged in 1849 was finally settled: $170 million, an apology, and the return of Aoraki/Mount Cook, over land covering most of the South Island.
Ōnuku Marae, AkaroaMeanwhile, nationally
2 events that reached Marlborough along with most of the country. They still shade the map and sit on the timeline above, but they are not Marlborough’s own history.
The Musket Wars
Musket-armed war parties reshaped the map of Māori New Zealand. Perhaps 20,000 died and whole districts changed hands before the fighting burned out around 1840.
The provinces are abolished
Nine provincial governments were swept away and replaced by central government plus counties and boroughs — the shape of local government for the next century.