Story: Mail and couriers

First New Zealand post office

The first post office in New Zealand was at Kororāreka (later renamed Russell) in the Bay of Islands. It is the small building second from the left along the waterfront in this 1845 painting; it shared premises with the local customs office and police station.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: C-010-022
Hand-coloured lithograph by George Thomas Clayton

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:

Tim Shoebridge, 'Mail and couriers - Beginning of the postal system, 1810s–1850s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/23039/first-new-zealand-post-office (accessed 16 April 2024)

Story by Tim Shoebridge, published 11 Mar 2010