The Birth of a City - Wellington, 1840 - 1843

In August 1970 the City of Wellington celebrated the centenary of the founding of the present municipality in 1870. Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1842, an attempt at self-government, that was doomed to failure, was made by the first settlers.

This book recalls the ideas, the immense character (and characters) and the struggles of these founding fathers who carved a home, a community and a law-abiding society out of a wilderness.

Self-government of the embryonic shoreside settlement was attempted in 1842 after a highly colourful and controversial election campaign saw 12 aldermen elected to a Borough Council. They were not to serve for long as word was soon received that the Queen had withheld the Royal Assent to the Ordinance, and there were even accusations of treason.

All interested in early New Zealand history, and particularly the descendants of those associated with the birth of this city, will welcome this book.

- from the inside cover.

The Birth of a City.
A.H. Carman.
Wright & Carman Ltd.,
Wellington, N.Z.
1970.
First edition.
Some marks and previous owners name cut from front end paper.