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Story: Northland places

Deptford dockyard

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Deptford dockyard

Ngāpuhi chief Patuone visited Sydney in 1826 and promoted the Hokianga Harbour as a trading base. As a result, merchants from New South Wales established a timber mill and shipyard there. They named it Deptford after the famous Royal Navy shipyard in England. Several ships were built there in the years before colonisation, including the barque Sir George Murray in 1830.

Using this item

National Library of Australia, Rex Nan Kivell Collection

Reference: nla.pic-an2838541

by Augustus Earle

Permission of the National Library of Australia must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Claudia Orange, Northland places – Hokianga district, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7841/deptford-dockyard (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Claudia Orange, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 May 2015.