NINETY YEARS AGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20367, 23 September 1929, Page 12

NINETY YEARS AGO.

FOUNDING OF WELLINGTON.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE TORY.

Ninety years ago last Friday the Tory, the first ship despatched from England to New Zealand by the New Zealand Company, entered Port Nicholson so that the company's officials m'ght examine the harbour lands as a place for establishing the first settlement. The previous four weeks had been taken bp exploring Queen, Charlotte and Pelorus Sounds, and as fiat land in' sufficient quantity was not apparent, Colonel Wakefield, the leader of the expedition, had decided by August 31. 1839, to open up negotiations with the native chiefs of Port Nicliolson for the acquisition of land areas suitable for requirements of settlement. The whalers and other European settlers at the Sounds were not enthusiastic of this, as, owning property in those localities, they were hoping the settlement would be founded there. However, Colonel Wakefield had obtained from them such good accounts of Port Nicholson that he decided to proceed there to pursue the object of his voyage. Anchor was weighed at daylight at Te Awaiti on September 20. Cook Strait was crossed, and early in the afternoon the Tory beat into the harhour of Port Nicholson. When inside Barrett's Reef, then not so named, the vessel was boarded by two canoes containing the two principal chiefs of the tribe living on shore. They were Te Puni*and Te Wharepouri, and they passed the night on board the vessel at anchor north of Matiu, now Somes Island.

The chiefs had already assented to sell the harbour and the land adjoining to the representatives of the New Zealand Company, subject to certain native reserves, and by the end of a week the negotiations were practically finalised as far as immediate circumstances were concerned.