Editing Wellington (section)

===Early European settlement===
[[File:Lambton Harbour, Wellington, New Zealand c 1840.jpg|thumb|Lambton Harbour, Port Nicholson ca. 1840]]
Steps towards [[European settlers in New Zealand|European settlement]] in the area began in 1839, when Colonel [[William Wakefield]] arrived to purchase land for the [[New Zealand Company]] to sell to prospective [[British Empire|British]] settlers.<ref name=":2" /> Prior to this time, the Māori inhabitants had had contact with Pākehā whalers and traders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.govt.nz/dmsdocument/5820.pdf|title=Deed of Settlement of Historical Claims signed between Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust and The Sovereign in Right of New Zealand|date=19 August 2008|website=New Zealand Government|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204122027/https://www.govt.nz/dmsdocument/5820.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=15 September 2018|page=8|quote=The importance of the Harbour to Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika increased as trade was entered into early in the 19th century.}}</ref>
[[File:Early Map of Wellington - Wellington County District (23530307892).jpg|alt= Early Map of Wellington – Wellington County District|thumb| This early map of Wellington County District shows a number of important historical sites, including Māori [[pā]], pathways, [[Marae|wāhi tapu]], and pre-1840 battle sites, as well as battle sites from the New Zealand Land Wars.]]
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship ''[[New Zealand Company ships#Tory|Tory]]'' on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the ''[[New Zealand Company ships#Aurora|Aurora]]'' on 22 January 1840. Thus, the Wellington settlement preceded the signing of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]] (on 6 February 1840). The 1840 settlers constructed their first homes at [[Petone]] (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the [[Hutt River (New Zealand)|Hutt River]]. Within months that area proved swampy and flood-prone, and most of the newcomers transplanted their settlement across Wellington Harbour to [[Thorndon, New Zealand|Thorndon]] in the present-day site of Wellington city.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Easther|first=John|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34915088|title=The Hutt River = Te-Awa-kai-rangi : a modern history, 1840–1990|publisher=Wellington Regional Council|year=1991|isbn=0-909016-09-7|location=Wellington [N.Z.]|pages=24–29|oclc=34915088}}</ref>