Topic summary
Port Nicholson
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Wellington Harbour.
Toponymy
Captain James Herd is said to have named the harbour "Port Nicholson" after Sydney's harbourmaster Captain John Nicholson. However, while Herd is attributed as the creator of the first charts to ascribe the name "Port Nicholson" to the harbour, it is likely that Captain John Rodolphus Kent of the cutter Mermaid had entered the harbour in 1824, and named it after the harbourmaster, his superior officer. A further Māori name for Wellington, Pōneke, is said to be a transliteration of Port Nick (Port Nicholson).