page_title: William Mein Smith
section_title: Art
hierarchical_section_title: William Mein Smith / Art
context_page_description: William Mein Smith was a key figure in the European settlement of Wellington, New Zealand. As the Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company at Port Nicholson from 1840 to 1843, he and his team surveyed the town of Wellington, after finding the land on the Petone foreshore unsuitable, laying out the town belt and other features and making provision for the much debated "tenth" share of the land for local Māori.
context_section_description: Smith produced water colours and sketches of early Wellington and Wairarapa, many of which are held by Wellington's Alexander Turnbull Library.
caption: Sketch from the South Bank of the Rangitiki, 1841 by William Mein Smith
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