Initially, a New Zealand Company party exploring the head of Te Hoiere/Pelorus Sound in 1838 dismissed Havelock as having little promise of a seaport.

But in 1854 another Company surveyor saw potential and asked the Kurahaupo chief, Hura Kopapa from Kaituna, to sell the land to allow for the development of a port and town. Having seen the results of other other iwi land sales he was reluctant, and also peacefully opposed the surveying of a road through his lands in 1851, but eventually relinquished to the sale. The people of Ngāti Kuia shifted to Canvastown, where Te Hora Marae remains today.

In 1863 prospectors struck gold in the nearby Wakamarina River, and Havelock quickly became an extensive service centre for thousands of miners.

The gold rush ended a year later, and settlers found work at sawmills locally and in the Marlborough Sounds.

In the 1930s a mailboat service began operating out of Havelock, providing a vital link to isolated Marlborough Sounds farms. The Pelorus Mail Boat continues that tradition today and offers tours to take visitors along for the mail run.

Havelock was home to two of the world’s greatest scientific minds – Ernest Rutherford and Sir William Pickering both grew up in the town.

Havelock is now a thriving township on the main road between Blenheim and Nelson, known for its local seafood. It has a variety of eateries and accommodation, along with a busy marina from where the mail boat, Greenshell Mussel Cruise and other local tours depart.