When is Wellington Anniversary Day?
Wellington Anniversary Day is celebrated on the Monday nearest to January 22nd.
The holiday commemorates the arrival of the first settler ship to New Zealand on January 22nd 1840.
History of Wellington Anniversary Day
The first Europeans to establish a settlement in the area now known as Wellington was an advance party of the New Zealand Company who arrived on the ship Tory on September 20th 1839. Having decided it was a good place to start a permanent settlement, the main settlers were dispatched from England.
The Aurora left Gravesend, England on September 18th 1839 with 148 emigrants and 21 crew aboard. Four months later, they arrived at Port Nicholson (now Wellington Harbour) on January 22nd 1840, where they were greeted by local Maori chiefs.
In November 1840, the settlers named the town they founded Wellington, in honour of the first Duke of Wellington, who had been victorious at Waterloo some 25 years earlier.
Anniversary Days in New Zealand
The Holidays Act 1981 specifies each locality observing a Provincial Anniversary Day to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces.
However the exact dates are not legislated for.
