Picton

Picton by night © Christopher Cookson

When Europeans sailed up Queen Charlotte Sound for the first time they found an well established village at its head. This was known to the Maori as Te Wera a Waitohi, the burning of Waitohi, or simply Waitohi and had a population of around 200. Realising the value of the site for settlement The New Zealand Company sent Francis Bell to purchase the land from the Maori who agreed to move to Waikawa. In the next few years there seemed to be some doubt as to what the settlement should de called. Captain Steine had named it Horne Bay in 1832 but it was renamed Newton Bay in 1847. New Zealand Company officials suggested Cromwell and Beaconfield which were used briefly before Picton was finally adopted in honour of Sir Thomas Picton, the hero of Badajoz, one of the Duke of Wellington's generals in the Peninsula War. Sir Thomas died in the Battle of Waterloo.
By 1850 Picton was fully established and had begun servicing the antimony, copper and coal mines in the area as well as gold mining up the Pelorus valley. As the population and farming increased a number of processing units set up to service the town. Eventually the railway linking Picton to Blenheim and the rest of the country was built. This resulted in Picton becoming the main inter-island travel port.
Picton was made capital of the Marlborough province at about this time, leading to tense relations with Blenheim, not to be resolved until Blenheim was finally made capital. When it was realised that a more central location was required than Auckland for New Zealand's capital, again Picton was recommended, only to be ditched in favour of Wellington. Many years on Picton is pretty town of around 4000 people who make their livings servicing the port and processing products from throughout the Sounds, one of the most important being mussel farming as well as servicing the thousands of holiday makers who visit the Sounds each year. It is expected that the areas economy will become more reliant on tourism in the future due to plans to shift the rail port to Clifford Bay 14km south east of Blenheim.

Picton Harbour © C.Cookson