The suburb sits on an exposed promontory close to Barrett Reef, a dangerous area of rocky shallows upon which many ships have foundered.

Seatoun as a suburb looks out on to Steeple Rock/Te Aroaro-o-Kupe, a large rock at the west of the Wellington Harbour entrance, rising 7 metres (23 ft) above sea level.

Kupe is also said to have named the foreshore Kirikiritatangi, after the rattling and rumbling caused by the waves disturbing gravel on the beach.

[5] Much of what now comprises Seatoun did not exist as accessible land when first settled by Māori, which along with defense helps to explain why early pā in the area occupy hillside or hilltop sites.

[7] Tradition records that it was built by Te Rerewa of the Rangitane iwi, and that it was once attacked by Māori from Whanganui with some 500 being routed and killed at nearby Worser Bay.

[9] The modern name Seatoun, originally Seatown, comes from a settlement in Forfarshire, Scotland, linked with the family history of James Coutts Crawford, the suburb's founder.

The area between Nevay and Karaka Bay roads and the old hilltop pa site was first called the Township of Overton.

[13] European settlement properly began in Seatoun around 1899, although still constrained at that point by the fact that the area was accessible only by boat.

[15] In 1911, shortly after the suburb became accessible by tunnel, Fort Dorset, a military base, was built to protect the entrance to Wellington Harbour.

What remained was used in 1999 as the set for the town of ‘Bree’ and ‘The Prancing Pony Inn’ for the several night shots in The Lord of the Rings before final redevelopment as Seatoun Primary School in 2002.

Six miles southeast by daily ferry steamer (8 pence return) or by electric car (tram) from Welington [sic].

Residents complained about open drains, said the streets had not been maintained since they were built and pointed out a third of the houses in were without proper roads or footpaths.

This continued until 1913 when a group of 14 local residents raised funds for the construction of a Presbyterian church on Ventnor Street.

It was replaced in 1932 by a new church, St Christopher's, designed by William Fielding, which was opened by the Governor General, Lord Bledisloe.

The Anglican church of St George was established on Ferry Street in 1946, with the current building, containing striking floral stained-glass windows, constructed in 1957.

The suburb played an important role in the sinking of the inter-island ferry TEV Wahine in 1968, when the ship foundered off the shoreline.

The area also contains replica ship ventilators and visible to the east is Steeple Rock, only a few hundred metres from shore, where the Wahine capsized and sank.