Karori
Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in The name Karori used to be Kaharore and is from the Māori language. No Māori lived in the area, when the first European settlers came to Karori in the 1840s. The first settler in Karori cleared 20 acres of forest on his section with his younger brother Moses and advertised its sale in December 1841.
Amenities in Karori include, a community garden, a library, a swimming pool, and several church buildings.
History
Origins
The name Karori is a corruption of the Māori phrase te kaha o ngā rore meaning 'the place of many bird snares'. Originally forested, Māori used the Karori area for hunting. It also had tracks crossing it that led to Māori pā on the west coast.No Māori lived in the area when the first European settlers came to Karori in the 1840s. Settlers bought land from the New Zealand Company, the area was included in their Port Nicholson Block deal. The first settler in Karori, John Yule of Glasgow, cleared 20 acres of forest on his section with his younger brother Moses and advertised its sale in December 1841. By 1845, ten 100-acre sections were being taken up and sub-divided, and Karori boasted 215 inhabitants – 109 of them under the age of 14 years.
In 1845 a group of armed police from Wellington constructed a small fortified post that became known as "The Stockade" in response to fears of attacks from nearby Māori insurgents. While there were no attacks, the stockade was used for a church service and to grind grain. The stockade was located on Mr Chapman's land, about halfway along what is now Marsden Avenue.
The first mental hospital in Wellington was built in 1854. By 1871 it had 23 inmates and was run by untrained staff, which resulted in the first matron and her husband being dismissed in 1872 because of cruelty. In 1873 the asylum moved from Karori to the site of present-day Government House in central Wellington. Karori School took over the asylum site in 1875.
Frederick Mackie in his book Traveller under concern described Karori in the 1850s:
Karori gold rush
Karori experienced a gold rush when the valley of the Upper Kaiwharawhara Stream became subject to intensive gold-mining activity between 1869 and 1873. This activity eventually led to the building of the lower Karori Dam in 1873. At the height of the rush, about 200 men worked the claims, driving shafts and drives up to 500 feet in length into the hills.Karori remained isolated from the city due to the rough terrain and lack of transportation.
Growth and subdivision
In 1888 a syndicate purchased section 34, which was the closest to town. The new owners prepared the land for sale by building roads and naming them after the members of the syndicate and their families, and by running a marketing campaign, including providing free buses from Manners Street and writing poems:
In far-famed New Zealand, the evergreen free land
Most favoured and beautiful Queen of the wave,
Where the sun ever smiling, bad weather beguiling,
Brightly shines on the face of the honest and brave.
Tho' for Europe's bold races there are plenty of places
Adapted as homes for the great and the small,
Yet, for onward progressing and bountiful blessing
There is one whose position is far before all.
So haste where kind Nature's arrayed in her glory,
To pleasant, romantic, suburban Karori.
Karori Borough, 1891–1920
Karori was a part of Hutt County from the county's establishment in 1877 to 1891 when Karori was declared a separate borough following a petition in favour of forming a borough with 123 signatories. A counter-petition garnered 41 signatories.List of mayors of Karori Borough
Amalgamation with Wellington, 1920
Both Wellington and Karori expanded towards each other, the two urban areas becoming gradually connected, aided by the construction of the Karori tunnel in 1901, and the Borough of Karori amalgamated with the City of Wellington in 1920.Demographics
Karori, comprising the statistical areas of Karori East, Karori North, Karori Park and Karori South, covers. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.Karori had a population of 15,234 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 555 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,230 people since the 2006 census. There were 5,361 households, comprising 7,479 males and 7,755 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 3,114 people aged under 15 years, 2,937 aged 15 to 29, 7,272 aged 30 to 64, and 1,911 aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 76.0% European/Pākehā, 5.7% Māori, 3.4% Pasifika, 19.5% Asian, and 3.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 35.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.9% had no religion, 33.9% were Christian, 0.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.7% were Hindu, 1.2% were Muslim, 1.7% were Buddhist and 2.5% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 6,231 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 717 people had no formal qualifications. 4,185 people earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 6,549 people were employed full-time, 1,797 were part-time, and 501 were unemployed.
| Name | Area | Population | Density | Households | Median age | Median income |
| Karori Park | 2.03 | 4,566 | 2,249 | 1,659 | 36.0 years | $43,900 |
| Karori North | 1.62 | 2,589 | 1,598 | 933 | 40.4 years | $49,700 |
| Karori South | 1.40 | 4,518 | 3,227 | 1,539 | 37.3 years | $45,300 |
| Karori East | 1.23 | 3,561 | 2,895 | 1,230 | 42.4 years | $47,900 |
| New Zealand | 37.4 years | $31,800 |
Sports teams
association football club founded when Karori Swifts and Waterside merged.- Karori United Tennis Club based in Karori.
- Karori Amateur Athletics Club
- Karori Cricket Club
- Karori Netball Club
- Karori Bowling Club
Karori Historical Society
Notable people
- Katherine Mansfield, novelist
- George Friend, parliamentary official
- Duncan Oughton, football player
- George Hudson
- Tom Young
- Harold Beauchamp, chairman of the Bank of New Zealand, father to Katherine Mansfield
- Daisy Platts-Mills, doctor and community leader
- Colin McLeod
- Samuel Duncan Parnell, activist
- Diana Mason
- Bryan Waddle, sports broadcaster
- E. Mervyn Taylor: artist
Facilities
Parks and reserves
is an enclosed restoration project focusing on the flora and fauna that inhabited the valley before human settlement.Karori Park, on Karori Road features a football and cricket sports ground, all-weather track, changing rooms and play area.
Ben Burn Park, on Campbell Street features a football and cricket sports ground, changing rooms, athletics, play area and artificial cricket surfaces.
Wrights Hill Reserve in southern Karori features mountain bike and walking tracks and the historic Wrights Hill Fortress with a network of tunnels and gun emplacements overlooking the valley.Image: Karori swimming pool.jpg |thumb|220x220px| Interior of Karori swimming pool showing the children's pool in the foreground and the main 25m lane pool at the rear
Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park in southern Karori has over of mountain bike and walking tracks built by the mountain biking community and is recognised as a world-class area dedicated to mountain biking.