Whitmore Street is at the boundary of the central business district and the government buildings area of Wellington, New Zealand's capital.

[17] However, by 1878[18] the street had been named after another politician, the Colonial Secretary, Colonel George Stoddart Whitmore,[19] who was much involved in negotiations about the land.

[21] However that conduct was controversial at the time,[22] and Waitangi Tribunal reports suggest that, in retaliation for alleged sheep stealing from his Hawke's Bay station, he led Napier Military District Defence Force to attack Pai Mārire at Omarunui in 1866, killing 21, or 23, wounding about 30 and taking 58 prisoners.

[24] In July and August 1868 he pursued Te Kooti inland from Poverty Bay and was promoted to colonel on 21 October 1868.

He was defeated by Tītokowaru at Moturoa on 7 November, but took Te Kooti's stronghold of Ngātapa on 5 January 1869 with great slaughter.

[28] Other streets in the area, such as Molesworth, were named after supporters of the New Zealand Company and English politician, William Wolryche-Whitmore, was one of them.

[29] However, the nearby streets formed in 1879 were, like Whitmore St, named after contemporary politicians, Ballance, Featherston and Stout.

It was close to a busy hub, opposite the entrance to the ferry wharf,[31] which had up to 5,000 passengers a day,[32] as well as having the activity of government administration at the other end.

The 1876 Old Government Buildings by William H Clayton are at the north end of the street,[50] on an 1875 reclamation of about 2.5 acres (1.0 ha),[37] and the 1981 Beehive is across Lambton Quay.

The court is on piles 20 m (66 ft) deep and it is surrounded by a bronze sun-protection screen, with red glass, representing intertwined pōhutukawa and rata.

It was designed by Pierre Finch Martineau Burrows, an English architect, who arrived in 1865 and later became Chief Draughtsman in the Public Works Department.

Isolation bearings with a lead core were added to the foundations of the old Supreme Court during restoration to protect it from earthquakes.

The architects, Crichton and McKay, designed the building in an Edwardian style, including two stained glass windows with sea themes.

After a public campaign it was listed as a Grade 1 building by Heritage NZ on 11 July 1986, but much altered internally on conversion to 10 apartments in 1994.

[100] MOW On the corner of Featherston St, the 17-storey, 280 room Rydges Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn) opened on 25 January 2007.

[105] From 1880[106] to 1885 the hotel site was Wellington's railway station,[107] with a siding running beyond, across the foot of Whitmore St.[108][109] At that time the street was described as useless and unnecessary, but was said to have been built due to "strong private and personal influence".

[110] Te Aro Extension railway crossed Whitmore St to reach Customhouse Quay[111] between 25 March 1893[112] and 6 May 1917.

[121] The Marine Department's shipping branch moved to the corner of Whitmore Street and Waterloo Quay, in the old railway publicity sheds, in 1933.

[127] It had previously been part of the railway and was then sold for a petrol station in 1926,[128] which the British International Oil Company opened in 1932.

[129] It was an expanding, price cutting company,[130] owned by sons of BNZ's general manager,[131] but was sold to Gilmore Oil in 1932.

[132] In 1888 NZ Loan & Mercantile Agency started a 21 year lease of the northern part of the site,[133] where their 3-storey grain and wool warehouse was built in 1889.

[137] In 1938 it had been planned to put an 8,[138] or 9-storey building on the site for the Government Printer[139] and work continued in 1940,[140] but stopped in 1941, due to the war,[141] and never resumed.