Editing Wellington (section)

===National capital===
{{see also|Capital of New Zealand}}
[[File:Corner of Bowen Street and Lambton Quay, circa 1929.jpg|thumb|[[Thorndon, New Zealand|Thorndon]], the centre of government in Wellington, {{circa|1929}}. The original [[Government House, Wellington|Government House]] (now the site of the [[Beehive (New Zealand)|Beehive]]), [[New Zealand Parliament Buildings|Parliament Buildings]] and [[Turnbull House]] are in the background.]]
Wellington was declared a city in 1840, and was chosen to be the capital city of New Zealand in [[timeline of New Zealand history#1860s|1865]].<ref name="Levine" />

Wellington became the capital city in place of [[Auckland]], which [[William Hobson]] had made the capital in [[timeline of New Zealand history#1840s|1841]]. The [[New Zealand Parliament]] had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, on a temporary basis; in November 1863, the [[Prime Minister of New Zealand]], [[Alfred Domett]], placed a resolution before Parliament in Auckland that "... it has become necessary that the [[seat of government]]&nbsp;... should be transferred to some suitable locality in [[Cook Strait]] [region]." There had been some concerns that the more populous [[South Island]] (where the goldfields were located) would choose to form a separate colony in the [[British Empire]]. Several commissioners (delegates) invited from Australia, chosen for their neutral status, declared that the city was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and its good [[Wellington Harbour|harbour]]; it was believed that the whole [[Royal Navy]] fleet could fit into the harbour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/history-of-new-zealand-1769-1914|title=History of New Zealand, 1769–1914 – A history of New Zealand 1769–1914|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|publisher=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage]]|access-date=10 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720150026/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/history-of-new-zealand-1769-1914|archive-date=20 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Wellington's status as the capital is a result of [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]] rather than statute.<ref name="Levine" />

Wellington is New Zealand's [[politics of New Zealand|political]] centre, housing the nation's major government institutions. The New Zealand Parliament relocated to the new capital city, having spent the first ten years of its existence in Auckland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parliament moves to Wellington|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/parliament-sits-for-the-first-time-in-wellington|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage|access-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425175533/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/parliament-sits-for-the-first-time-in-wellington|archive-date=25 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A session of parliament officially met in the capital for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900.<ref>{{cite book|last=Temple|first=Philip|year=1980|title=Wellington Yesterday|isbn=0-86868-012-5|publisher=John McIndoe|author-link=Philip Temple}}</ref>

The [[Old Government Buildings, Wellington|Government Buildings]] were constructed at [[Lambton Quay]] in 1876. The site housed the original [[public sector organisations in New Zealand|government departments in New Zealand]]. The public service rapidly expanded beyond the capacity of the building, with the first department leaving shortly after it was opened; by 1975 only the Education Department remained, and by 1990 the building was empty. The capital city is also the location of the highest court, the [[Supreme Court of New Zealand]], and the historic former High Court building (opened 1881) has been enlarged and restored for its use. The Governor-General's residence, [[Government House, Wellington|Government House]] (the current building completed in 1910) is situated in [[Newtown, New Zealand|Newtown]], opposite the [[Basin Reserve]]. [[Premier House]] (built in 1843 for Wellington's first mayor, [[George Hunter (mayor)|George Hunter]]), the official residence of the [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|prime minister]], is in [[Thorndon, New Zealand|Thorndon]] on Tinakori Road.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

In 1903 Wellington annexed the [[Melrose Borough]],<ref>{{cite book | last=Bloomfield | first=Gerald Taylor | title=The Evolution of Local Government Areas in Metropolitan Auckland, 1840-1971 | publisher=[Auckland] : Auckland University Press | publication-place=Auckland | date=1973 | isbn=0-19-647714-X | page=10}}</ref> in 1919 it annexed the [[Borough of Onslow]] and [[Karori]] and [[Miramar, New Zealand|Miramar]] boroughs in 1920. The [[Johnsonville, New Zealand|Johnsonville]] Town District was annexed in 1953.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bloomfield | first=Gerald Taylor | title=The Evolution of Local Government Areas in Metropolitan Auckland, 1840-1971 | publisher=[Auckland] : Auckland University Press | publication-place=Auckland | date=1973 | isbn=0-19-647714-X | page=14}}</ref>

Over six months in 1939 and 1940, Wellington hosted the [[New Zealand Centennial Exhibition]], celebrating a century since the signing of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]]. Held on 55 acres of land at Rongotai, it featured three exhibition courts, grand Art Deco-style edifices and a hugely popular three-acre amusement park. Wellington attracted more than 2.5 million visitors at a time when New Zealand's population was 1.6 million.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Maclean|first1=Chris|title=Wellington region – Boom and bust: 1900–1940|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/wellington-region/page-9|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=9 July 2007|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720233251/https://teara.govt.nz/en/wellington-region/page-9|archive-date=20 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>