The Board managed goods and passengers passing through the port from domestic and international locations and was responsible for the safe movement of vessels within the harbour.

Wellington city was settled by British colonists in 1840 and quickly became an important port and business centre.

Continuing expansion of the city and shipping trade led the Chamber of Commerce to push for a separate entity to manage the business of the port.

[14] As of 2023 the Wharf Office Building houses apartments and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.A patent slip for hauling up ships for repair was built at Evans Bay in 1873.

One of the triggers of the 1913 Great Strike was a demand by Wellington shipwrights that they be paid travelling time when they had to go to Evans Bay to work at the patent slip.

[15] In 1898 local yachtsmen complained that reclamation at Te Aro and other work around Railway Wharf was displacing moorings for small boats.

[17] Some land was reclaimed so that the board could build a row of 24 reinforced concrete boatsheds in two sections, with stairs leading down from the footpath.

The dredge, named Whakarire ('to deepen water'), was built by Lobnitz and Co. in Renfrew, Scotland and sailed to New Zealand via the Suez Canal and Torres Strait.

In 1925 Wellington Harbour Board acquired a purpose-built deep water salvage tug, which it named Toia ('to pull'), on loan from the British Admiralty.

The Board also commissioned construction of a floating crane, HIkitia ('to lift') and a new harbourmaster's launch, Arahina ('to lead').

[35] Arahina rescued many people from the passenger ferry Wahine when it ran aground at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in 1968.

[40][41] Responding to the disaster, the Harbour Board bought new, bigger tugs: Kupe, which went into service in 1971,[42] Toia (1972) and Ngahue (1977).

[45][46][47] In 1930, Wellington was the main trans-shipping port in New Zealand, with over 3000 trading vessels visiting in the previous year.

[50]: 69  In October 1943, the 2nd Division of the United States Marine Corps embarked at Aotea Quay on their way to the Battle of Tarawa.

[50]: 72  The marina and boatsheds at Clyde Quay were also made available to the United States as a base for repairs and maintenance of their small craft and landing barges.

[53] As Harbour Board employees refused to work, the government called in hundreds of army and navy servicemen to unload ships.

[54] At the end of March, Harbour Board employees voted to return to work,[55] but other workers on the wharves remained on strike.

Between 1950 and 1960 the board built bulk-handling facilities for coal and wheat at Aotea Quay and began development for a roll on/roll off road and rail ferry at Interisland Wharf.

Development of Wellington Airport, which opened in 1959, required land, foreshore and harbour areas controlled by the Harbour Board, so in an arrangement with the Government the board ceded these areas to the airport development and received land near the Hutt River estuary in exchange.

Imports coming through Wellington included cars, tractors, iron and steel, cotton and synthetic piece goods, petrol and tobacco.

[57][58] Construction of the Wellington container handling terminal was underway by 1971, including a 49 ha (120 acres) reclamation at the end of Aotea and Fryatt Quays.

Two new tugs, Kupe and Toia, were purchased to handle the larger ships expected, and a 40 tonne container crane was ordered.

[61] A second container crane was ordered for the port and delivered in 1975,[62] but an industrial dispute with the boilermakers union caused delay to the construction.

[63] A separate industrial dispute involving demarcation issues caused a 3 year delay to the commissioning of a crane intended to load containers onto railway wagons at the port.

[65] Industrial disputes involving the Wellington boilermakers and the Federation of Labour caused a delay of almost 12 months in the construction and commissioning of the crane.

In 1986 the Lambton Harbour Group – a collection of architects, urban designers and town planners – was formed to develop concept plans for 22 hectares of the waterfront between Wellington Railway Station / Waterloo Quay and the Overseas Passenger Terminal (formerly Clyde Quay Wharf).

When the port company was formed, it owned approximately 72 hectares (180 acres) of Wellington waterfront property including wharves.

[79]: 13  In 1988, Australia was New Zealand's biggest trading partner but most of the new Port of Wellington's business was with Europe and Japan.

From this time, Lambton Harbour Management was wholly owned by Wellington City Council but operated separately.