Writing Mr Ward’s map

On Wednesday 3rd December 2025 at the National Library, historian Elizabeth Cox spoke about her new book Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street. In 1891, a remarkable map of Wellington was made by surveyor Thomas Ward. It recorded the footprint of every building, from Thorndon in the north, across the teeming, inner-city slums of Te Aro, to Berhampore in the south. Updated regularly over the next 10 years, it detailed hotels, theatres, oyster saloons, brothels, shops, stables, Parliament, Māori kāinga, the Town Belt, the prisons, the ‘lunatic asylum’, and the hospital. The map is incredibly detailed — it even includes the location of street lights. Elizabeth Cox is a Wellington historian who specialises in New Zealand’s social and architectural history. Her previous book, Making Space: A history of New Zealand women in architecture, was published in 2022. Download transcript of this talk (PDF)