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Story: Lighthouses

Pencarrow cottage

Image
Pencarrow cottage

On 1 January 1859 New Zealand’s first lighthouse was opened at Pencarrow Head. For the previous decade the entrance to Wellington Harbour had been marked by a light in the bay window of the cottage in this sketch.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-032-012

by H. Wilson

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

Helen Beaglehole, Lighthouses – Beginnings, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6650/pencarrow-cottage (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Helen Beaglehole, published 2 March 2009.