NZ history - early Wellington settlers

The New Zealand Company was set up to establish colonisation of a young New Zealand, by an enthusiastic group of Englishmen in 1825 who also had their eyes on the lucrative and profitable business deals to be had from products such as flax, native timbers, and whaling.
With this in mind, an exploration team was sent out in 1826, and after sailing around the South Island coast for a bit they decided the Te Whanganui-a-Tara harbour area would be ideal and promptly named it Lambton Harbour after the head of the New Zealand Company, John George Lambton (later, Lord Durham).
The fact that the area was already occupied by natives, who'd already built a large pa - the Te Āti Awa tribe - did not disrupt their settlement plans.

Charles Heaphy's Wellington [1840], lithograph by Thomas Allom
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But, the chief surveyor had other ideas, and because of its flat area, put the town at the mouth of the Hutt (Heretaunga) River. They also named the place Britannia even though the natives already knew it as Pito-one (meaning 'end of the sand'). [The place is now known as Petone.] Unfortunately they soon found their newly-built structures flooded by the river, and the settlers were moved back to Lambton Harbour.
The land that was to be used for Britannia had been purchased from the local Maori, but the land which was to be settled at Lambton Harbour had not, although this did not stop them from doing so.
It had also been hoped that Wellington would be made the country's capital but Governor Hobson decided Auckland would be a better place for it.
(It wouldn't be until 1865 that Wellington indeed would permanently become NZ's capital.)

(note: the pigs seen in the foreground would have been released by the settlers or other early European visitors)
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A transcription of the passenger list showing names of some of the first settlers, who sailed to Wellington aboard the Aurora (which had left London on the 18th of September, 1839), arriving on the 22nd of January 1840 at Port Nicholson.

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A fuller list can be found in the notes below.
There were also other ships which arrived during 1840 and brought more settlers to the area, such as the Cuba (arrived 4th Jan), the Oriental (arrived 31st Jan), the Duke of Roxburgh (arrived 7th Feb), the Bengal Merchant (arrived 20th Feb), the Adelaide (arrived 7th Mar), and the Glenbervie (arrived 7th Mar).
The Aurora passengers were classed as the first lot of true immigrants to have arrived in Wellington.

About the voyage, besides being apparently an uneventful journey, it was noted that:

book: White Wings, vol. II - Founding of the Provinces and Old Time Shipping, by Henry Brett
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A larger number of these first settlers came from in and around London, but there were those who were from as far afield as Scotland, looking to make this young new world their home. Representatives from the New Zealand Company and other parties to profit from the venture talked up this new place of 'milk & honey'.
As you might note from the passenger list in the notes below, they had a variety of occupations. Unfortunately for them, not all their skills would prove to be immediately useful in such an untamed and barren land. The lack of any sort of facilities was quite a shock for those stepping off the ships.
What was desperately needed (and became apparent rather quickly) were skills that could grow food and create shelter.
From reports it seems the local Maori were kind enough to step in and help settlers through this early period. Not so many immigrants would have survived, otherwise.

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Letters sent home were published in local newspapers for everyone to read. This extract is from one such Aurora passenger writing home to his family, and suggesting what his brother should bring out with him if he should decide to immigrate here too. This passage gives a good indication of just what the settlers were missing from home, and how underprepared they were for their new life.

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Plans showing a proposed layout of the city centre.

"This detail of the city centre of the Wellington includes names that recall London landmarks, such as Covent Garden, Soames Square and Billingsgate Fish Market. None of these names were retained when the settlement was laid out."
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"This map showing the proposed layout of the town of Wellington, with its 1,100 one-acre (0.4-hectare) town sections, was drawn in England to convince investors to support the venture. In reality, the company’s surveyor, William Mein Smith, struggled to follow this elaborate plan when he first laid the settlement out at Petone."
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Every year since 1841, Wellingtonians have celebrated their region's anniversary on the Monday nearest the 22nd of January.

(1842)
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Those early pioneers certainly made quite an effort to carve out a life in such a new and sometimes harsh country.
Perhaps, if you read the names below, you'll find you're related to one?
You can certainly be proud of what they achieved.

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Notes:

The only picture I could find of the Aurora, although it was taken much later than 1840.

"The ship Aurora at an unidentified location, Ref: 1/2-025379-F, Alexander Turnbull Library, NZ"
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We can only begin to imagine what such a journey was like for all those on board.

Other passengers on the Aurora I've found are:
Baker, Richard (Maj.)
Barrow, James sr. (b. 1799; labourer)
Barrow, James jr. (b. 1816; labourer)
Barrow, Thomas (b. 1820; labourer)
Barry, John (b. 1810; gardener)
Barry, Richard (b. 1815; agriculturalist)
Barry, William (b. 1808; agricultural labourer)
Boon, Robert (b. 1813; agriculturalist)
Box, John
Brown, Andrew sr. (b. 1798; smith & carpenter)
Brown, Andrew jr.
Brown, David (b. 1823; smith & carpenter)
Brown, Gibson
Brown, John (b. 1820; smith & carpenter)
Carter, Joseph (b. 1811; labourer)
Carter, Sarah Ann (nee Briant; b. 1812)
Child, John Wright (b. 1814)
Coppin, Hannah (child)
Coppin, Harriet (nee Horton)
Coppin, Job (b. 1818; labourer)
Coppin, John (child)
Coppin, John Neale
Coppin, Martha (child)
Davies, Edward (b. 1811; currier)
Davies, Martha
Davis, Richard
Davis, Rowland Robert (b. 1809; smith)
Davis, Mary Ann
Davis, (8 children)
Deans, William (b. 1817; farmer)
Deighton, Richard John (b. 1819)
Deighton, Samuel (b. 1820)
Drake, Thomas John (b. 1814)
Draper, Martha (b. 1809; servant)
Draper, Sarah (b. 1811; servant)
Edwards, James (b. 1809; labourer)
Farrance, James (b. 1819; labourer)
Friend, Richard (b. 1806; bricklayer & labourer)
Friend, William (b. 1824; labourer)
Gebbie, John (b. 1813; farm labourer)
Gebbie, Mary (nee Campbell; b. 1816)
Glover, James (b. 1805; agricultural labourer)
Gratage, Daniel (b. 1817; agricultural labourer)
Groombridge, Mary (b. 1815; dressmaker)
Hayward, William (b. 1809; miller)
Heale, Theophilus (Capt.)
Hicks, Charles (b. 1814; labourer)
Holes, Peter (b. 1811; brickmaker)
Houghton, Allan
Houghton, Charlotte (b. 1820; servant)
Houghton, Francis
Houghton, George
Houghton, James H.
Houghton, Jessie
Houghton, John (b. 1819; mariner)
Houghton, Robert (b. 1797; mariner)
Houghton, Sarah
Hunt, George
Hunt, Uriah (b. 1816; agriculturalist)
Langford, ?
Langford, John Alfred (b. 1816; chairmaker)
Langford, Harriet (nee Bates; b. 1818)
Lodge, John (b. 1808; stonemason)
Maxwell, Christopher (b. 1821)
Maxwell, Elizabeth Mary (nee Stevenson; b. 1821)
Maxwell, James (b. 1819; agriculturalist & sheep farmer)
Maxwell, William (b. 1819)
McDermott, Deborah (b. 1819; milliner)
McGurk, Charles (b. 1819)
Miles, John Clement (b. 1818; baker & gardener)
Morrison, Daniel
Morrison, William (b. 1816; farm labourer & carpenter)
Nicholls, William (b. 1818; cooper)
Oxenham, Jemima (b. 1824; seamstress)
Oxenham, John (b. 1810; shipwright)
Oxenham, Nicholas
Oxenham, Sarah (b. 1820; seamstress)
Palmer, George Thomas jr. (b. 1809)
Palmer, Selina Augustas (b. 1816)
Parker, Ann (b. 1814)
Parker, James (b. 1799)
Parker, Samuel
Parker, William (b. 1816; blacksmith)
Parkes, Catherine (b. 1824; seamstress)
Parkes, Charles (b. 1819; agricultural labourer)
Parkes, Elizabeth (b. 1794)
Parkes, Frederick
Parkes, Henry (b. 1821; grocer)
Parkes, Jane (b. 1820)
Parkes, Mary Ann (b. 1816)
Petherick, Carolina Emma (b. 1834)
Petherick, Edwin Henry (b. 1830)
Petherick, Frederick George (b. 1833)
Petherick, George (b. 1820; carpenter)
Petherick, James sr. (b. 1806; builder)
Petherick, James jr. (b. 1836)
Petherick, John Augustus (b. 1829)
Platt, J. T. (Mrs)
Prebble [or Pribble], Ann (nee Stone; b. 1803; servant)
Prebble [or Pribble], James (b. 1799; carpenter)
Prebble [or Pribble], Richard (b. 1823; carpenter)
Pudney, Joseph (b. 1816; brickmaker)
Read, Henry (b. 1812; brazier & smith)
Richardson, James (b. 1807; builder)
Roper, T.
Sadler, Joseph (b. 1819; servant)
Sawyer, John (b. 1815; currier)
Stafford, Edward (b. 1812; tailor & gardener)
Stokes, John M. (surgeon)
Stokes, Margaret (b. 1809)
Stratford, George A.
Wallace, John Howard (b. 1816; merchant)
Wallace, William Ellerslie (b. 1814; agricultural labourer)
Welch, Thomas (b. 1814; labourer)
White, George
Whitewood, William Matson (b. 181; servant)
Wilkinson, Johnson B. (b. 1813; labourer)

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Bibliography:

https://www.familysearch.org

http://www.huttcity.govt.nz/Leisure--Culture/Museums-and-galleries/Our-museums/petone-settlers-data/

https://library.huttcity.mebooks.co.nz/text/Petone100/t1-body-d4.html

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bre02Whit-t1-body-d1-d1-d7.html

http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/settlersb.html

https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/1457/plan-of-wellington-1840

https://teara.govt.nz/en/wellington-region

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Company

http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/

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(extra tags: #life #education #minnowsupport #blog)