Marlborough Museum& Provincial Archives

1250

1250 - 1300 AD: Settlement at Te Pokohiwi o Kupe

Polynesian settlers, ancestors of Māori, established a community at Te Pokohiwi o Kupe (Wairau Bar), one of the earliest known settlement sites in New Zealand.

1770

15 January 1770: Meretoto / Ship Cove

Captain James Cook anchored the Endeavour at Meretoto (Ship Cove), establishing Queen Charlotte Sound as his primary anchorage and base across three Pacific voyages.

1827

January 1827: Dumont d’Urville in the Astrolabe

French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville charted the Sounds aboard the Astrolabe, surveying Te Hoiere (Pelorus Sound) and sailing through the waters of Te Aumiti (French Pass).

1840

4 May - 17 June 1840: Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Henry Williams collected signatures to the Treaty around Queen Charlotte Sound, D’Urville Island, and Port Underwood, placing the Sounds directly within the founding history of colonial government.

1843

17 June 1843: The Wairau Affray

An armed confrontation arising from disputed New Zealand Company land claims at Tuamarina left 22 Pākehā and four Māori dead, marking the first armed conflict after the Treaty.

1846

1846 - 1847: Pastoral Economy Begins

Merino sheep driven into the upper Wairau and Awatere valleys established large pastoral runs, creating the region's dominant economic foundation for over a century.

1848

October 1848: Awatere Earthquake

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake ruptured the Awatere Fault, displacing land horizontally by eight metres and demonstrating the immense tectonic forces shaping Marlborough.

1850

1850 - 1865: Principal Towns Emerge

Waitohi was surveyed as Picton in 1850, while the settlement known as 'the Beaver' developed on the plains, eventually replacing Picton as provincial capital in 1865.

1859

1859: Province of Marlborough

The Wairau and Marlborough Sounds separated from Nelson Province to form an independent provincial government, formally adopting the civic names Marlborough, Picton, and Blenheim.

1864

1864: Wakamarina Gold Rush

The discovery of alluvial gold triggered an influx of thousands of miners into Canvastown and Havelock, creating an unprecedented nineteenth-century economic surge.

1868

3 February 1868: The Great Flood

Torrential weather caused severe flooding across the Wairau Plain, submerging Blenheim and prompting the construction of major regional river protection stopbanks.

1888

1888 - 1912: Pelorus Jack

The Risso's dolphin Pelorus Jack escorted ships through French Pass for more than two decades, becoming protected by Order in Council and celebrated worldwide.

1899

1899 - 1902: South African War

Marlborough volunteers deployed overseas with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles contingents, representing the province's initial commitment to imperial conflicts abroad.

1914

1914 - 1918: First World War

Hundreds of Marlborough soldiers served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, suffering heavy casualties that deeply affected local communities across the province.

1938

1938: Molesworth Crown Management

Surrendered after severe winters and erosion, Molesworth Station was placed under Crown management, pioneering high-country land rehabilitation and cattle farming.

1939

1939 - 1945: Second World War

Marlborough personnel deployed across Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific, while RNZAF Base Woodbourne trained thousands of service members for wartime service.

1942

1942: Lake Grassmere Salt Works

George Skellerup established solar salt production at Lake Grassmere during the Second World War, developing the lagoon into New Zealand's primary domestic salt source.

1945

1945: Main Trunk Railway

Completion of the Christchurch to Picton line connected Marlborough directly with Canterbury, cementing the port of Picton as a national freight and passenger link.

1950

1950 - 1953: Korean War

Marlborough service personnel deployed with Kayforce ground units and Royal New Zealand Navy crews during United Nations military action across Korea.

1954

1953 - 1954: Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth II

During her post-coronation tour of New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Blenheim in January 1954, drawing immense provincial crowds.

1962

11 August 1962: Cook Strait Ferries

The roll-on/roll-off ferry Aramoana began service between Wellington and Picton, creating a continuous road-and-rail highway connecting the North and South islands.

1963

1963 - 1975: Vietnam War

Marlborough service personnel deployed to South-East Asia as part of civilian surgical teams, artillery batteries, and infantry forces during the conflict.

1964

1964: Commercial Whaling Concludes

J. A. Perano and Company took their final whale in Tory Channel, closing 130 years of commercial whaling and shifting the Sounds towards maritime conservation.

1973

1973: Commercial Viticulture Begins

Montana Wines planted the first commercial vines on the Wairau Plain, initiating the transformation of regional agriculture into an internationally renowned wine centre.

1975

1975: Aquaculture in the Sounds

The issue of the first marine farming licence launched Marlborough's green-lipped mussel and king salmon industries, creating a world-leading sustainable seafood sector.

1979

1979: Farmers Department Store Fire

Destroyed by a catastrophic blaze in 1979, the Farmers Department Store was completely ruined, along with a block of shops, ending a historic era of retail on Blenheim's Queen Street.

1985

1985 - 1986: Sauvignon Blanc Acclaim

Cloudy Bay and Hunter's Wines gained widespread international acclaim, establishing Marlborough's distinctive Sauvignon Blanc style as a benchmark of world viticulture.

2000

26 December 2000: Boxing Day Fires

Driven by extreme drought and gale-force winds, a 6,000-hectare wildfire swept the Wither Hills behind Blenheim, triggering extensive emergency evacuations.

2002

2002: PPCS Riverlands Closure

The Primary Producers Co-operative Society closed its Riverlands sheep-processing plant near Blenheim, ending large-scale meat processing in Marlborough as viticulture expanded across former pastoral runs.

2006

2006: Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme

The Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme was established in 2006, paving the way for Pacific workers to fill seasonal labour shortages in Marlborough's vineyards.

2014

1 August 2014: Te Tau Ihu Settlements

Treaty settlement legislation for the eight iwi of Te Tau Ihu took effect, delivering Crown apologies, commercial redress, and recognition of ancestral kaitiakitanga.

2016

14 November 2016: Kaikōura Earthquake

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake severed State Highway 1 and the Main North Line, triggering one of the largest infrastructure recovery operations in New Zealand history.