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 1821 and 1997
Te Rauparaha’s migration to Kapiti
Ngāti Toa left Kāwhia and migrated south, seizing Kapiti Island as a base that controlled Cook Strait and the trade passing through it.
Kapiti IslandJacky Guard’s whaling station at Te Awaiti
John Guard said he began whaling in Tory Channel in 1827, one of the first shore stations in an industry that placed small mixed Māori–European settlements 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 most powerful earthquake recorded in New Zealand lifted the southern end of the Remutaka Range by more than 6 metres and raised Wellington’s shoreline out of the sea.
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 grievance first formally stated in 1849 was finally settled: $170 million, an apology, and Aoraki/Mount Cook, vested in the iwi and gifted back to the nation, 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
The nine provincial governments were abolished, leaving central government as the single legislative authority, with new counties in rural areas while towns carried on unchanged.