Story: European discovery of New Zealand

The entrance to Port Oxley (Otago Harbour), 1826

By the 1820s many mariners were making detailed charts of different parts of the New Zealand coast. More than 20 years before the city of Dunedin was founded at the head of Otago Harbour, Captain James Herd mapped the harbour’s entrance. Herd had come from Britain to examine a possible site for settlement. He led one of the first organised parties of settlers, but took them north to the Hokianga. Not long after his visit, a whaling station was established close to the harbour entrance.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MapColl-832.11aj/1822-27/Acc.384 bttm rght insert

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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

John Wilson, 'European discovery of New Zealand - Last discoveries', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/1443/the-entrance-to-port-oxley-otago-harbour-1826 (accessed 17 April 2024)

Story by John Wilson, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 May 2016