town and port, northeastern South Island, New Zealand. It lies along Waitohi Bay (Picton Harbour), a southwest extension of Queen Charlotte Sound off Davis Strait. In 1848 a Maori settlement on the site was occupied by Governor Sir George Grey (1845–53) and Francis Dillon Bell, of the New Zealand Company. They proceeded to lay out the village of Newton, which was renamed in 1859 to honour Sir Thomas Picton, a commander under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War. In 1864 its population increased for a time as the result of a gold strike to the west on the Wakamarina River. Sir Edward Stafford, prime minister of New Zealand, was then waging an unsuccessful campaign to have the town designated as the national capital. Picton is the northern terminus of the South Island Main Trunk Railway from Christchurch (218 miles 【351 km】 southwest) and has regular ferry service to Wellington, 40 miles (64 km) west across Cook Strait. Its deepwater port exports wool, grain, and fruit. Other industries are meat freezing, fish packing and curing, general engineering, and small boatbuilding. Picton serves as the centre of a holiday resort area based on the many inlets along the coast. Pop. (2001) 3,990.

unincorporated place and administrative centre of Prince Edward county, a municipality in southeastern Ontario, Canada. (Canada) It lies along Lake Ontario's Bay of Quinte, 15 miles (25 km) southeast of Belleville. A former town, Picton amalgamated with nine other communities in the county in 1998. It was founded in 1786 by loyalists (loyalist) led by Andrew and Henry Johnson and was known as Hallowell before being renamed for Sir Thomas Picton, a British major general in the Napoleonic Wars. Picton is the commercial centre of the municipality; its deepwater port on Picton Bay, an arm of the Bay of Quinte, handles iron-ore shipments from mines near Marmora, 40 miles (64 km) northwest. Picton's industries include fruit and vegetable canning, textile and lumber milling, and dairying. A large army base and several provincial parks are nearby. Inc. 1837. Pop. (2006) Prince Edward county, 25,495.