GREYTOWN is a town in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It lies in the Wairarapa, in the lower North Island. It is 80 km north-west of Wellington and 25 kilometres southwest of Masterton

Greytown was first settled on 27 March, 1854 under the Small Farms Association Settlement Scheme and was named after Governor Sir George Grey, who arranged for the land to be bought from local Māori. It became a Borough in 1878 and a ward of the South Wairarapa District Council in 1989.

The first Arbor Day celebration in New Zealand was held in Greytown on 3 July 1890. Greytown Beautification Society has done a lot to keep the spirit alive for many years, especially Stella Bull and the park bench in the park dedicated to her, which states, "Only God can make a Tree". Today the town has many beautiful trees and a register is kept to help protect them.

In the 1870s, when the Public Works Department announced plans that the Wairarapa Line railway between Featherston and Masterton was not going to pass through Greytown, local protests were successful in attaining approval for a branch line to the town. It ran to Greytown Railway Station from a junction with the Wairarapa Line in Woodside and opened on 14 May 1880. For a few months, it acted as the terminus of the Wairarapa Line itself before the extension to Masterton opened, but once it was relegated to branch line status, it was one of the quietest railway lines in the country. It was closed on 24 December 1953, and at the time of closure, its revenues were only a tenth of its operating costs. Greytown travellers are now serviced by Woodside Railway Station on the Wairarapa Line.


the GREYTOWN DIRECTORY of 1885

ARMSTRONG Walter, saddler

BAILLIE James, sawmills
BARNARD Joseph, cabinetmaker
BEARD Charles & James, plumbers
BEARD & GRAY (WG & Alex) solicitors
BEY William, surgeon
BISHOP Charles
BLACK RC, postmaster and telegraphist
BOYS Jas EJ, registrar
BRIGH Richard, blacksmith
BROOKS William, gardener
BURCH Miss E, native schoolteacher

CAMPBELL AE, law clerk
CASSELBERG Meyer & Co, storekeepers
COTTER Pierce, sheepfarmer
CUFF Walter C, banker

DOCKERY Patrick, brickmaker
DOOLEY James, stationmaster
DORRELL John, river inspector
DUNN Henry William & E, farmers

FABIAN Bros (A & C) storekeepers
FULLER John, brewer

GALLAGHER Bernard, shoemaker
GALLON E (Udy & Gallon)
GRAY Alexander (Beard & Gray)
Greytown Butter & Cheese Factory
GRIGG Alexander, baker

HAIGH S. butcher
HAINES William Henry Welch, settler
HALL John, settler
HAMMERICH W, hotelkeeper
HAWKE Harry, farmer
HEBLEY JR, shoemaker
HILLIER James, watchmaker
HIRSCHBERG Alexander, farmer
HODGE J, publican, Morrisons Bush
HOLLARD John, Morrisons Bush
HORNBLOW Charles W, carpenter
HUMPHRIES Frank, carpenter

INGLEY Thomas, butcher

JACKSON H Farmer
JACKSON Samuel, veterinary surgeon
JONES George, Foresters Arms
JUDD John, farmer

KEEDWELL James, manager
KEMPTON Harry butcher
KEMPTON Thomas E, storekeeper
KEMPTON Thomas, farmer
KING Thomas Frederick, bootmaker
KNELL Rev Amos

LEWIS James, hairdresser
LOASBY DP, shoemaker
LUNDGVIST Wm, music teacher

McMASTER Angus, farmer
MAGUIRE G, bricklayer
MANSELL E, native agent
MAXTON F, baker
MEADES Joseph, settler
MITCHELL W, farmer
MOFFATT T, farmer
MORRIS William, farmer
MORRISON D, farmer
MUIR Frederick, draper

NATION Brothers (Wm C & Edwd J) props of Wairarapa Standard
NATION William, senior.

O'CONNOR Hugh, settler
OLSEN A, machinist
ORDISH A & K settlers

PHILLIPS George, carrier
PORRITT Rev Thos, private school
PYE Samuel, settler

REVANS S, settler

ST. GEORGE Leonard, chemist
SAYER George
SAYWELL William, settler
SCALE Mrs William, schoolmistress
SCALE William, bailiff
SHAW S, manager cheese factory
SKEET W, surveyor
SOMERVLLE Walter, bank clerk
SPRATT Henry Thomas, surgeon

TAYLOR Henry, surgeon
TERRY Joseph, sawmill
THOMPSON E farmer
THOMPSON R storekeeper
TICEHURST Edwin, settler
TOCKER John, blacksmith
TROTTER Patrick
TULLY John, runholder

UDY & GALLON, sawmills
UDY Hart jun. blacksmith

WAKELIN & HAWKINS (Richard A & Edward B Hawkins) sash factory
WAKELIN George, carpenter
WAKELIN RA (Wakelin & Hawkins)
WAKELIN Tom, schoolmaster
WARD Hugh P, schoolmaster
WEBSTER Alexander L, town clerk & comm agent
WESTERN Rev Wm Thos (eng)
WILKIE John farmer
WILKIE William
WITTON J, blacksmith
WOOD FH, auctioneer
WYETT G, sec Investment Society.

YOUNG Andrew, tailor