Editing New Plymouth (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of New Plymouth}}
The area where New Plymouth was founded had for centuries been the home for several [[Māori people|Māori]] [[iwi]] (tribes). From about 1823, the Māori began having contact with European [[whaler]]s as well as traders who arrived by [[schooner]] to buy [[New Zealand flax|flax]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/immigration/barrettngamoto.htm|title=Immigrants and Settlers – The Story of Richard (Dicky) Barrett|publisher=Puke Ariki Museum|first=Rhonda|last=Bartle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000443/http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/immigration/barrettngamoto.htm|archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>

In 1828 [[Dicky Barrett (trader)|Richard "Dicky" Barrett]] (1807–47) set up a trading post at Ngāmotu after arriving on the trading vessel ''Adventure''. Barrett traded with the local Māori and helped negotiate the purchase of land from them on behalf of the [[New Zealand Company]]. Settlers were selected by the Plymouth Company, which was set up to attract emigrants from the [[West Country]] of England, and which took over land initially purchased by the New Zealand Company. The [[grid plan]] for the town's streets was laid out by surveyor [[Frederic Carrington]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Ron |date=1 September 2016 |title=Taranaki places – New Plymouth |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/25873/frederic-carringtons-survey-of-new-plymouth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923035246/https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/25873/frederic-carringtons-survey-of-new-plymouth |archive-date=23 September 2023 |access-date=23 September 2023 |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |quote=Carrington’s 1842 map records in detail the topography of the area, and shows the grid he laid out for the town’s streets, ignoring the many river valleys. Carrington’s tight street grid survived in 21st-century New Plymouth, but made traffic movement through the central city difficult at times. |ref=Lambert}}</ref> The first of the town's settlers arrived on the ''[[New Zealand Company ships#William Bryan|William Bryan]]'', which anchored off the coast on 31 March 1841. A series of disputes over ownership and settlement of land developed between Māori and settlers soon after and New Plymouth became a fortified garrison town in 1860–1861 as more than 3500 Imperial soldiers, as well as local volunteers and militia, fought Māori in the [[First Taranaki War]].