Te Whanganui / Port Underwood is a sheltered harbour which forms the north-east extension of Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay at the northeast of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, on the east coast of the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.457. With only a relatively narrow entrance to the south-south-east it is sheltered from almost all winds. Originally considered part of Cloudy Bay, the port was named after Joseph Underwood of the shipping firm Kabel and Underwood in the early 19th century. There is evidence of a large Māori population at various times prior to European arrival in New Zealand. In the 1820s the local Rangitane were defeated by the

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...

chief

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha ( – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira, warlord, and chief of the Ngāti Toa iwi. One of the most powerful military leaders of the Musket Wars, Te Rauparaha fought a war of conquest that greatly expanded Ngāti Toa south ...

Sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 1800 ...

first visited about 1826 and were followed immediately by whalers.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.67. John Guard, who had started a whaling station in

Tory Channel Tory Channel (officially Tory Channel / Kura Te Au) is one of the drowned valleys that form the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand. Inter-island ferry, ferries normally use it as the principal channel between Cook Strait and the Marlborough Sound ...

the previous year, set up a subsidiary station at Kakapo Bay in 1828. By 1840 there were approximately 150 Europeans in the area, probably the largest concentration in the

at that time. Large numbers of

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s and

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

s were hunted in the bay, resulting in destroying these populations and rarities of their sightings in the bay nowadays. On 16 June 1840, HMS ''Herald'' arrived with

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Thomas Banbury on board bringing the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

for the

chiefs to sign. This took place on Horahora-Kakahu Island just offshore from the eastern shoreline. The only European to sign the Treaty as one of the cedants, Joseph Thomas, son-in-law of

's elder brother Nohorua, signed on 16 June. Nouhora himself, initially reluctant to sign, did so the following day. A commemorative bronze plaque marking the occasion was unveiled here on 3 October 1964.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.149. The name of the harbour was officially altered to Te Whanganui / Port Underwood in August 2014.

Notable people

* Ann Boyce, pioneer and herbalist. * Betty Guard (1814–1870), early settler, wife of John Guard * John "Jacky" Guard (1790/92–1858), whaler and trader, husband of Betty Guard, landed in Kākāpō Bay

References

{{Authority control Geography of the Marlborough District Populated places in the Marlborough District Ports and harbours of New Zealand Marlborough Sounds Whaling stations in New Zealand Populated places in the Marlborough Sounds