Manners Street

Manners Street is located in Te Aro, stretching from Taranaki Street to Willis Street and running parallel between Dixon and Wakefield Streets. 

It is thought to be named for Charles Manners-Sutton, Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1817-1835, first Viscount Canterbury and eldest son of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

It appears on the 1840 plan by W M Smith, Surveyor General: Plan of the town of Wellington.

An important street in Wellington's artistic and cultural heritage, Manners Street is home to the Wellington Opera House. The first Opera House in Wellington was built in 1878 by the Te Aro Theatre and Public Hall Company at 71-77 Manners Street. At the time of its construction, the stage was one of the largest in Australasia. The original structure and its 1886 replacement were both destroyed by fires. The current Opera House was opened in 1914, and has subsequently gone through multiple restoration and strengthening projects. In 2005 it was used for the theatre scenes in Peter Jackson’s film, ‘King Kong’. The Opera House continues to host events for major local and international acts. 

On the evening of Saturday 3 April 1943, the infamous 'Battle of Manners Street' broke out between New Zealand and American servicemen, after soldiers from the southern United States allegedly refused to let Māori servicemen drink at the Allied Servicemen's Club. An estimated 1,000 American and New Zealand troops were involved, plus several hundred civilians, in a riot that lasted approximately four hours. Many American soldiers were injured, and at least two were killed. 

In 1979, Manners Mall was opened in the section of Manners Street that runs between Cuba Street and Victoria Street. Manners Mall was pedestrian-only access, and remained so until bus lanes were introduced in 2009. 

Manners Street forms part of Wellington's 'Golden Mile', the city's main commercial and retail strip, which runs from the Parliament end of Lambton Quay to the entertainment hub of Courtenay Place. Photographs of some of Manners Street's notable demolished buildings were featured in Mike Aamodt's 2022 exhibition, 'Gone but not Forgotten, The demolished buildings on Wellington’s Golden Mile'.