Places of Lower Hutt
Hutt City has many interesting places both from it's history and dedicated to it's history, we'll recommend some websites and collections you can use to find out about them.
Image: Brees, Samuel Charles, 1810-1865 :Pitone Pa, Wellington, 59. Engraved by Henry Melville. Drawn by S C Brees. [London, 1847] by S C Brees. Collection: Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref: PUBL-0020-20-1.
Which places can I find out about?
Here are some places in Lower Hutt you could find out about:
Petone | Pito-one
Site of a Māori pā (fortified settlement) that was later settled by Europeans.
Waiwhetū Marae
Urban marae opened in 1960.
War Memorial Library
Opened in 1956 after World War II. Includes three murals by Leonard Mitchell.
Hutt River | Te Awa Kairangi
A large river important to the history of the Hutt and known for many floods.
Pencarrow Lighthouse
First permanent lighthouse in New Zealand.
Riddiford Gardens
First public park in the Hutt Valley. Used to include the Riddiford Baths.
Tips: These are just some examples of places you could research. You may have somewhere different you're interested in finding out about. Just use the place name as your search terms in the resources below.
Lower Hutt resources
Here are some places you can find out about Hutt City's past:
Petone Community Library and Heritage Centre
Contains many useful resources for finding information on both local and family history including books, images, newspapers on microfiche and microfilm, and more.
7A Britannia Street, Petone.
Mon - Fri 9:30am - 5:30pm | Sat - Sun 9:30am - 5:00PM.
Talk to library staff if you need help.
Petone Settlers Museum
A small museum in Petone that has a collection of items and stories about the first European settlers of the greater Wellington region.
Visit the museum:
The Esplanade, Petone.
Wed - Sun 10:00am - 4:00pm.
Hutt City Council
The official website for the Hutt City Council, with access to many great tools and information on the history of Hutt City.
Find the tab called Ngā toi me te ahurea | Arts and culture.
This will give you some more options, choose Heritage.
From here you can find some useful web pages like Hutt City History or Heritage Buildings.
Hutt Heritage Blog
A blog about the documented heritage of Hutt City hosted by Hutt City Libraries with an extensive collection of photos and blog posts.
Enter your keyword into the search bar.
The results will be formatted with Title, Description, Author and Date it was posted.
Go through the results for the post that best matches what you are looking for.
Tips: If your keyword doesn’t work, try thinking of other words you could use. Sometimes there are different names or spellings for words. Or they could have changed over time.
Hutt City Heritage
Hutt City Heritage is a database of photographs, printed items and collected knickknacks from the Lower Hutt's past.
Enter your keyword into the search bar.
Use the filters to get more accurate results.
To the left side you can find a few options under the word Filter by.
Choose an option like Image or Document to find what you want.
Select an item to look at.
Tips: Historical sources including images and documents can be useful for finding different perspectives on a topic. Keep in mind that they may not fairly show a wide range of views or experiences.
Upper Hutt City Libraries Heritage Collections
Upper Hutt is also in the Hutt Valley. Upper Hutt Heritage Collections is a database of photographs, printed items and collected knickknacks from the area's past
Enter your keyword into the search bar.
Use the filters to get more accurate results.
To the left side you can find a few options under the word Filter by.
Choose an option like Image or Document to find what you want.
Select an item to look at.
General New Zealand websites
These websites can be a good help finding information about Hutt City historical people, places and events.
Rārangi Kōrero | New Zealand Heritage List
This is part of the Heritage New Zealand website. It is a record of place-based heritage in New Zealand.
To browse places, under Local Authority select Hutt City.
Then select the Show listings button to see all the places.
You also have the option to use filters to search by keywords, list types or show listings.
NZHistory
NZHistory is a great website for information about New Zealand Aotearoa. The website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.
Enter the name of a place in the search bar.
Choose an article to read.
Or go to the Places menu.
Browse by Region and Wellington.
Choose a Lower Hutt place.
Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.
Search for the name of a place and choose an article.
Or look for Sections and choose Places.
On the map, select Wellington.
Look through the Wellington region story for history of the region.
Or go to Wellington places and choose one of the stories about Lower Hutt areas.
DigitalNZ
This is a search site that focuses on Aotearoa New Zealand's history and brings together results from lots of different websites such as New Zealand libraries, museums, universities, and government sites all at once.
Search using the name of a place.
Look at a range of videos, audio, articles and images, and more about your topic.
Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.
New Zealand Gazetteer
This is a tool on the Toitū Te Whenua | Land Information New Zealand website where you can search for place names in New Zealand. Some places will tell you where the name came from, or other names a place may have had.
Enter a place name into the search bar.
Names in bold are an official place name.
Look in the Details section for history or meaning of the name.
Books
Here are a few general knowledge books about Hutt City history and culture.
Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka by Hilary and John Mitchell.
Lower Hutt: The first garden city by David McGill.
Once Upon a Village: a history of Lower Hutt, 1819-1965 by David Pierre Millar.
Petone: a History by Susan Butterworth.
Bygone days in Lower Hutt by George Kaye.
Tutu te puehu : new perspectives on the New Zealand Wars edited by John Crawford & Ian McGibbon.
More about Lower Hutt
People of Lower Hutt
Here are some helpful websites and collections that you could use to learn about interesting and important people from the Hutt City area.
Learn about people of Lower Hutt
Events of Lower Hutt
Many events have shaped Lower Hutt into what it is today. This page will give some examples and recommend resources that you might find useful to explore these histories.
Learn about events of Lower Hutt