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Story: Shipping

Boarding the Wairarapa

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Boarding the <em>Wairarapa</em>

In the late 1870s and early 1880s the Union Steam Ship Company changed the way people crossed the Tasman Sea, building eight large new ships of between 1,700 tons and 2,000 tons. This photograph, taken on 30 June 1884, shows passengers boarding one of the ships, the Wairarapa, at Russell for a pleasure cruise.

Using this item

Museum of Wellington City and Sea

Reference: Neg. no. 4558

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How to cite this page

Gavin McLean, Shipping – The era of steam, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5673/boarding-the-wairarapa (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Gavin McLean, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 January 2016.