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Wellington Harbour Board
WHB COA.png
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; 34 years ago (1989-10-31)
Purpose Port operator
Headquarters Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store
Head Office and Bond Store on Queens Wharf.
Harbour Board 2008 (2483769171)
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.
Harbour Board bldg Academy of Fine Arts 2016 (26617763222)
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

Wellington reclamation animation
An animation showing the phases of reclamation by year in Wellington Harbour.
Lambton Harbour, Wellington
Lambton Harbour.
Container Terminal and Rockery (26654427271)
The Container Terminal.
Aotea Quay and the Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand, 23 Feb 2008
Reclamation for future expansion.
Tugs (1201275179)
Kupe, Ngahue and Toia. 2007

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)
W H Levin.jpg 1880 1881 Governor
2 William Valentine Jackson
(1832–1900)
No image.png 1881 1883 Wellington
3 Edward Pearce
(1832–1922)
Portrait of Edward Pearce November 1915 (cropped).jpg 1883 1887 Governor
4 John Duthie
(1841–1915)
John Duthie, ca 1900.jpg 1887 1888 Wellington
5 Henry Rose
(1833–1912)
No image.png 1888 1891 Shipowners
6 William Booth
(1837–1903)
No image.png 1891 1892 Wairarapa
7 John Honeycombe Cock
(1848–1892)
No image.png 1892 1893 Chamber of Commerce
8 John Jack
(1827–1909)
No image.png 1893 1895 Wellington
9 Thomas John William Gale
(1853–1903)
No image.png 1895 1897 Chamber of Commerce
10 Francis Humphris Fraser
(1833–1911)
Francis Fraser.jpg 1897 1899 Governor
11 John Hutcheson
(1854–1940)
John Hutcheson.jpg 1899 1900 Government
12 Harold Beauchamp
(1858–1938)
Harold Beauchamp 1858-1938 Nlnzimage-48 1-2-022661-F.jpg 1900 1903 Wellington
13 Nicholas Reid
(1837–1915)
No image.png 1903 1904 Shipowners
14 William Cable
(1848–1922)
No image.png 1904 1906 Wellington
15 Kennedy Macdonald
(1847–1914)
Kennedy Macdonald.jpg 1906 1908 Governor
16 Thomas Wilford
(1870–1939)
Thomas Wilford, 1909.jpg 1908 1910 Governor
17 Robert Fletcher
(1863–1918)
Robert Fletcher, 1907.jpg 1910 1915 Wellington
18 Charles Edward Daniell
(1856–1939)
Charles Edward Daniell Nlnzimage-50.jpg 1915 1919 Wellington
19 Joseph Harkness
(1850–1930)
Joseph George Harkness, member of the House of Representatives for the city of Nelson.jpg 1919 1923 Governor
20 George Mitchell
(1877–1939)
George Mitchell.jpg 1923 1925 Wellington
21 Maurice Cohen
(1862–1934)
No image.png 1925 1927 Manawatu
22 John Cobbe
(1859–1944)
John George Cobbe.jpg 1927 1929 Manawatu
23 John William McEwan
(1856–1942)
No image.png 1929 1931 Hutt
24 Charles Norwood
(1871–1966)
Charles Norwood.jpg 1931 1933 Wellington
25 Charles Murray Turrell
(1868–1944)
No image.png 1933 1934 Shipowners
26 Thomas Robert Barrer
(1863–1951)
No image.png 1934 1936 Wairarapa
27 Dougall John McGowan
(1880–1940)
No image.png 1936 1939 Payers of Dues
28 Meldrum Alfred Eliott
(1867–1946)
No image.png 1939 1940 Manawatu
29 William Lockhart Fitzherbert
(1877–1956)
No image.png 1940 1941 Manawatu
30 William Henry Price
(1872–1963)
William Henry Price.jpg 1941 1954 Shipowners
31 Sir Will Appleton
(1889–1958)
Will Appleton.jpg 1954 1957 Wellington
32 Brian Edwin Keiller
(1901–1977)
No image.png 1957 1961 Manawatu
33 Ernest Toop
(1895–1976)
Ernest Richard Toop.jpg 1961 1966 Wellington
34 Barton Albert Barton-Ginger
(1892–1969)
Barton Albert Barton-Ginger.jpg 1966 1968 Mākara
35 Eric Malcolm Hodder
(1897–1987)
Eric Malcolm Hodder.jpg 1968 1971 Wairarapa
36 Rolland O'Regan
(1904–1992)
Rolland O'Regan.jpg 1971 1974 Wellington
37 Henry Alan James
(1924–2001)
Henry Alan James.jpg 1974 1980 Wairarapa
38 John King
(1917–2012)
No image.png 1980 1986 Feilding
39 Nigel Gould
(1948–)
Nigel Gould.jpg 1986 1989 Lower Hutt
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