Story: Marlborough places

Roadside Stories: Trouble at Tuamarina

Today a sleepy settlement between Picton and Blenheim, Tuamarina was the site of bloody conflict in June 1843. The New Zealand Company believed they had bought the Wairau plains – but Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha considered that the area had not been purchased. He evicted surveyors from the Wairau, and when a party of settlers arrived to arrest him, conflict broke out.

Listen to a Roadside Story about the conflict at Tuamarina. Roadside Stories is a series of audio guides to places around New Zealand.

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How to cite this page:

Malcolm McKinnon, 'Marlborough places - Lower Wairau', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/interactive/35330/roadside-stories-trouble-at-tuamarina (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, updated 18 Jun 2015