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Story: Hawke’s Bay region

Alexander Alexander’s store, 1850s

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Alexander Alexander’s store, 1850s

Scotsman Alexander Alexander opened a trading post at Ahuriri (Napier) in 1846. It was the first European building in the future town. Alexander went on to open a number of stores in the district and married Hārata, a Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri woman of mana. Unlike most traders he stayed in Hawke’s Bay, dying at his farm near Napier in 1873.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-159-031

by Joseph Rhodes

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Kerryn Pollock, Hawke’s Bay region – European contact, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/23893/alexander-alexanders-store-1850s (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Kerryn Pollock, published 22 January 2010, updated 1 July 2015.