Story: Wellington region

Toms’s whaling station

Toms’s whaling station

During the 1830s whalers were attracted to the Wellington region. They built shore stations on Kāpiti and Mana islands. When the New Zealand Company founded Wellington at the end of the decade, some settlers placed great hopes on the settlement becoming a whaling port. The whaler Joseph Toms (spelt 'Thoms' in the picture title) established this station – pictured around 1842 – next to the Ngāti Te Rā at Whitianga (Paremata). But by then the whaling boom was over, and the industry collapsed.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PUBL-0020-05-3
Engraving by Samuel Charles Brees

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Chris Maclean, 'Wellington region - European arrival', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/13228/tomss-whaling-station (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Chris Maclean, updated 1 Aug 2015