Quick facts for kids
Wellington Harbour Board
Coat of arms of the Wellington Harbour Board
|
Abbreviation |
WHB |
Motto |
Latin: Fime dum fide
(Strong but true) |
Formation |
January 1, 1880; 144 years ago (1880-01-01) |
Dissolved |
October 31, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-10-31) |
Purpose |
Port operator |
Headquarters |
Wellington, New Zealand |
Head Office and Bond Store on Queens Wharf.
Wharf offices from the Government or Queen's Wharf. The bronze building on Customhouse Quay is on the site of New Zealand's General Post Office.
The former wharf offices seen from Post Office Square.
The Wellington Harbour Board was constituted by act of parliament which took effect on 1 January 1880. Shipowners, those paying harbour dues, Wellington City, Hutt County, Wairarapa County, and Wellington's Chamber of Commerce all elected representatives to the board. The Mayor of Wellington was a member as was one further direct government appointment.
In October 1988 obliged by central government's unexpected resort to the High Court the business of the port was taken over from the Board by a conventional commercial enterprise, also named Port of Wellington Limited. The Lambton Harbour Project begun in 1985 hiving off and developing the Board's waterfront property in conjunction with the Wellington City Council and the Board's own self-corporatisation in mid-1987 were made obsolete.
The Board's own decisions had been overtaken by the central government's restructuring of its own and local government activities. For ports these were set out in the Ports Reform Act of April 1988 and they were given effect in Wellington the following October.
After realising its substantial remaining assets accumulated over almost 110 years the proceeds were divided between the district councils now representing Wellington, Hutt, Wairarapa and Manawatu and the Wellington Harbour Board's life ended through the 1989 local government reforms on 31 October of that year.
Establishment
The new board was given the right to levy dues on goods passing through the port but no assets. At the time the Harbourmaster and Pilots were government employees. The City Council owned Queens Wharf and its bond store. There was a new wharf and reclamation but it belonged to New Zealand Railways.
Redevelopment of the coastline
Main article: Reclamation of Wellington Harbour
An animation showing the phases of
reclamation by year in Wellington Harbour.
Reclamation for future expansion.
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Kupe, Ngahue and Toia. 2007
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Chairmen of Wellington Harbour Board
The following is a complete list of Chairmen of Wellington Harbour Board.
No. |
Chairman
(Birth–Death) |
Portrait |
Term of office |
Constituency |
1 |
William Levin
(1845–1893) |
|
1880 |
1881 |
Governor |
2 |
William Valentine Jackson
(1832–1900) |
|
1881 |
1883 |
Wellington |
3 |
Edward Pearce
(1832–1922) |
|
1883 |
1887 |
Governor |
4 |
John Duthie
(1841–1915) |
|
1887 |
1888 |
Wellington |
5 |
Henry Rose
(1833–1912) |
|
1888 |
1891 |
Shipowners |
6 |
William Booth
(1837–1903) |
|
1891 |
1892 |
Wairarapa |
7 |
John Honeycombe Cock
(1848–1892) |
|
1892 |
1893 |
Chamber of Commerce |
8 |
John Jack
(1827–1909) |
|
1893 |
1895 |
Wellington |
9 |
Thomas John William Gale
(1853–1903) |
|
1895 |
1897 |
Chamber of Commerce |
10 |
Francis Humphris Fraser
(1833–1911) |
|
1897 |
1899 |
Governor |
11 |
John Hutcheson
(1854–1940) |
|
1899 |
1900 |
Government |
12 |
Harold Beauchamp
(1858–1938) |
|
1900 |
1903 |
Wellington |
13 |
Nicholas Reid
(1837–1915) |
|
1903 |
1904 |
Shipowners |
14 |
William Cable
(1848–1922) |
|
1904 |
1906 |
Wellington |
15 |
Kennedy Macdonald
(1847–1914) |
|
1906 |
1908 |
Governor |
16 |
Thomas Wilford
(1870–1939) |
|
1908 |
1910 |
Governor |
17 |
Robert Fletcher
(1863–1918) |
|
1910 |
1915 |
Wellington |
18 |
Charles Edward Daniell
(1856–1939) |
|
1915 |
1919 |
Wellington |
19 |
Joseph Harkness
(1850–1930) |
|
1919 |
1923 |
Governor |
20 |
George Mitchell
(1877–1939) |
|
1923 |
1925 |
Wellington |
21 |
Maurice Cohen
(1862–1934) |
|
1925 |
1927 |
Manawatu |
22 |
John Cobbe
(1859–1944) |
|
1927 |
1929 |
Manawatu |
23 |
John William McEwan
(1856–1942) |
|
1929 |
1931 |
Hutt |
24 |
Charles Norwood
(1871–1966) |
|
1931 |
1933 |
Wellington |
25 |
Charles Murray Turrell
(1868–1944) |
|
1933 |
1934 |
Shipowners |
26 |
Thomas Robert Barrer
(1863–1951) |
|
1934 |
1936 |
Wairarapa |
27 |
Dougall John McGowan
(1880–1940) |
|
1936 |
1939 |
Payers of Dues |
28 |
Meldrum Alfred Eliott
(1867–1946) |
|
1939 |
1940 |
Manawatu |
29 |
William Lockhart Fitzherbert
(1877–1956) |
|
1940 |
1941 |
Manawatu |
30 |
William Henry Price
(1872–1963) |
|
1941 |
1954 |
Shipowners |
31 |
Sir Will Appleton
(1889–1958) |
|
1954 |
1957 |
Wellington |
32 |
Brian Edwin Keiller
(1901–1977) |
|
1957 |
1961 |
Manawatu |
33 |
Ernest Toop
(1895–1976) |
|
1961 |
1966 |
Wellington |
34 |
Barton Albert Barton-Ginger
(1892–1969) |
|
1966 |
1968 |
Mākara |
35 |
Eric Malcolm Hodder
(1897–1987) |
|
1968 |
1971 |
Wairarapa |
36 |
Rolland O'Regan
(1904–1992) |
|
1971 |
1974 |
Wellington |
37 |
Henry Alan James
(1924–2001) |
|
1974 |
1980 |
Wairarapa |
38 |
John King
(1917–2012) |
|
1980 |
1986 |
Feilding |
39 |
Nigel Gould
(1948–) |
|
1986 |
1989 |
Lower Hutt |