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Hamilton

SummaryBrief history of Hamilton, with links to related people, collections, events, and publications, as well as maps, postcards, images, and historic newspaper articles in our archive collections.Main Body

Hamilton (Māori: Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, Hamilton is the country's fourth most-populous city. The settlement was named by Colonel William Moule after Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, the commander of HMS Esk, who was killed in the battle of Gate Pā, Tauranga, in 1864.

The area now covered by the city was originally the site of several Māori villages, including Kirikiriroa, from which the city takes its Māori name. By the time English settlers arrived, most of these villages, which sat beside the Waikato River, were abandoned as a result of the Invasion of Waikato and land confiscation (Raupatu) by the Crown.

After the Invasion of the Waikato and confiscation of the invaded land, militia-settlers were recruited in Melbourne and Sydney. On 10 August 1864 the government advertised for tenders to build 10 huts and a hospital at Kirikiriroa. Hamilton was settled by the 4th Waikato Regiment Militia, led by Captain William Steele.

The road from Auckland reached Hamilton in 1867 and the railway in December 1877. That same month, the towns of Hamilton West and Hamilton East merged under a single borough council. The first traffic bridge between Hamilton West and Hamilton East, known as the Union Bridge, opened in 1879. It was replaced by the Victoria Bridge in 1910. The first railway bridge, the Claudelands Bridge, was opened in 1884 and was converted to a road traffic bridge in 1965.

Initially an agricultural service centre, Hamilton now has a diverse economy and is the third fastest growing urban area in New Zealand, behind Pukekohe and Auckland. Hamilton Gardens is the region's most popular tourist attraction. Education and research and development play an important part in Hamilton's economy, as the city is home to approximately 40,000 tertiary students and 1,000 PhD-qualified scientists.

SourcesWikipedia: Hamilton, New Zealand » Wikipedia contributors. (2025, September 10). Hamilton, New Zealand. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:03, September 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamilton,_New_Zealand&oldid=1310587353

Map

Plan of the military settlements in the upper Waikato District

Township of Claudelands; Hamilton East: cadastral map

Hamilton West: cadastral map

Part Hamilton Borough and Frankton Borough: cadastral map

Town of Hamilton East: cadastral map

The Jolly Estate [Frankton]: sale by Public Trustee in estate of M. R. Jolly deceased

Plan of Hamilton Borough: cadastral map

Hamilton: topographical map

Hamilton and environs: street map

Stages of growth in City of Hamilton

Hamilton: topographical map

Hamilton: geological map

Hamilton: topographical map

Hamilton: geological map

Hamilton: topographical map

Melville: cadastral map

Tuhikaramea: cadastral map

Hamilton east: cadastral map

Frankton: cadastral map

Te Rapa: cadastral map

Hamilton; Ngaruawahia; Te Awamutu; Cambridge; Huntly: street map.

Hamilton: topographical map

Hamilton; Ngaruawahia; Te Awamutu; Cambridge; Huntly: street map.

Collection (Archive)

Herbert John Taylor Collection

University of Waikato Art Collection

United Women's Convention Archive

Evelyn Stokes Collection

Publications

The University of Waikato: Twenty-five Years (1964-1989)

Bond's Waikato, Te Aroha and Rotorua almanac and diary for 1892

NZIA - New Zealand Institute of Architects Journal 32 (7) - Hamilton Architecture

Collotype views of Hamilton, Waikato

Series (Archive)

Series 23 Reel tapes

Series 61 Correspondence etc with Society for Research on Women

Series 15 - Whakapapa - Genealogy

Stories (Person)

Herbert John (Jack) Taylor

Richard Seccombe Grant

Douglas Seymour

Stories (Events)

United Women's Convention 1979

1959 Lions rugby union football tour, match against Waikato in Hamilton

1956 Springbok rugby union football tour, match against Waikato in Hamilton

Collection (Publication)

Paewae - Prospect

Nexus - Student Magazine of the University of Waikato 1965-2020

Collection (Photograph)

Historical Photos of Waikato Rugby

Collection (Audio-visual)

University of Waikato Sculpture Trail

Stories (Organisation)

University of Waikato

Collection (Exhibition)

Archive of Past Exhibitions

Stereoscopic view showing a bridge over the Waikato River at Hamilton, a man seated on a tree trunk (foreground)From Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 741-9266Stereoscopic view showing a bridge over the Waikato River at Hamilton, a man seated on a tree trunk (foreground)From Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 741-9266

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Subject (keywords)Hamilton (N.Z.) -- HistoryHamilton -- Maps

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