Butler Point Whaling Museum

A restored whaling boat at Butler Point

Butler Point Whaling Museum is located at Hihi, near Mangonui^[1] in New Zealand's Doubtless Bay, a centre for whaling fleets in the 1820s–1850s.^[2]

The museum comprises the house built in the 1840s by early settler William Butler,^[3] an earlier Church Missionary Society house from the Waimate Mission moved to the site by Butler, both fitted with original furniture, and a recently built whaling museum, with a restored fully equipped whaling boat, tryworks, a collection of harpoons, models, scrimshaw and artefacts from the whalers who called into Doubtless Bay, including Charles W. Morgan. There are also substantial gardens and grounds surrounding the museum, including a 10.9 metre circumference pōhutukawa tree, claimed to be the world's largest.

Butler House is listed as a heritage building by Heritage New Zealand, and the grounds have been formally recognised as a Garden of Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust.^[4][5] The owners and curators who are members of the Ferguson family,^[4] a retired ophthalmologist and his wife, live in the grounds.

The museum sits on historically significant land that tells the story of early Māori settlement and connection to local iwi.^[6]

• Whaling in New Zealand

References

1. "Butler Point Whaling Museum". Radio New Zealand 2017. Country Life. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
2. "Butler Point Whaling Museum". Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet Ltd. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
3. "Pre-1839 foreigners in NZ Capt William Butler". Pre-1839 foreigners in NZ. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
4. Aranui, Amber (19 November 2025). "Butler Point Whaling Museum and archaeological excavation 2025". Te Papa’s Blog. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
5. "Heritage House & Gardens | Butler Point | Northland". Butler Point. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
6. Aranui, Amber (20 November 2025). "Butler Point Whaling Museum and archaeological excavation 2025". Te Papa Blog.

34°59′03″S 173°32′11″E / 34.9841°S 173.5365°E / -34.9841; 173.5365