featherston

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Featherston incident

  • Featherston incident

    Two kilometres north of the quiet little Wairarapa town of Featherston a small memorial garden marks the site of a riot that resulted in the deaths of 48 Japanese prisoners of war and one guard.

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  • Page 1 - Incident at FeatherstonTwo kilometres north of the quiet little Wairarapa town of Featherston a small memorial garden marks the site of a riot that resulted in the deaths of 48 Japanese prisoners of war

Featherston camp

Township at the southern gateway to Wairarapa, 34 km south-west of Masterton at the foot of the Rimutaka Range. The town’s initial development was hindered by high land prices, but after the railway came through in the 1870s it became an important service town.

Meaning of place name
Featherston was first known as Burlings, after Henry Burling, who opened an accommodation house near the Māori settlement of Pae-O-Tu-Mokai in 1847. In 1856 the provincial government surveyed the spot for a town, naming it after its superintendent, Isaac Featherston.