Electricity was not commonly used in New Zealand until late in the 19^th Century, with some cities and towns using electricity for street lighting and trams from 1888. Many businesses and industrial enterprises and some farms set up their own generators, but few households used electricity. In the 1920s the use of electricity for home lighting increased. By the mid-1930s electrical appliances were standard in the homes of the better-off.¹

 “The latest technological marvel” was displayed in Nelson in 1881 when the Soho Foundry displayed a flood light which lit up various areas of  Nelson town.² But it wasn’t until 1926, that Hardy and Trafalgar Streets were lit by electric lights between dusk and 9.30pm six evenings a week.³

Brightwater was the first town in the Nelson region to be supplied with electricity for lighting and ironing in 1911.⁴  Brightwater’s electricity was generated and supplied by Robert Ellis, a Kohatu flour miller who brought a small hydro-generator back from England in 1908, which he installed on his property by the Motueka River.⁵ He obtained a licence and set up the Waimea Electric Supply and Manufacturing Company in 1911 and supplied electricity to Brightwater, followed by Richmond and Wakefield.⁴

Turning on Electric Power for Nelson (1923)  Nelson Provincial Museum. FN Jones collection

In 1912, the Kirkpatrick Jam Factory installed electric dynamos (placed on brackets above the heads of the workers) to provide lighting and electricity for the factory. “Every portion of the building is profusely lighted by hundreds of lights…. Even such fine work as grading and sorting can be done as accurately at night as during the ordinary working hours.”⁶

But there were no light bulb moments for the rest of the region until the 1920s. In 1919, The Nelson Evening Mail noted there was “nothing that so quickly gave visitors to Nelson the impression that the town is out of date than the absence of electric light.”⁷

The city gasworks located halfway between the town and the Port, produced about 30 million feet of gas per year from carbonising  3000 tons of coal. Gas was mainly used for cooking, heating and lighting in homes. Nelson’s streets were lit by 132 street gas lamps.⁸

Nelson and Marlborough were far from the Government’s dams and relied on local electricity generation for many years after the rest of New Zealand was plugged into the national grid.⁹

Opening of the Electric Power Station at Port Nelson. Nelson Provincial Museum. FN Jones collection

By 1920, the Nelson City Council began looking into electricity generation proposals, but a scheme to use the waters of the Wairoa Gorge was deemed too expensive at an estimated cost of £138,000.¹⁰ In 1920 some of the city’s business and professional men formed a syndicate to buy a number of surplus boilers from a Coromandel goldmine.¹¹ This new coal-powered steam plant, costing £85,000 pounds, was located at Wakefield Quay and was switched on in 1923.  By 1928, there were 2186 electricity consumers and it was clear the power station at the Port would not keep pace with demand.¹²

There was a piecemeal electricity generation network in the rest of the province. As well as Ellis’s operation, there was a suction gas plant at Motueka (1921), Murchison’s Six-Mile hydroelectric scheme was commissioned in 1922 and the Pupu hydroelectric scheme was commissioned in Golden Bay in 1929.¹³

In 1934, the Nelson City Council was told its existing generation would not be able to meet demand by the winter of 1937.¹⁴  The Government prevaricated, the councils in the region couldn’t agree and the situation was becoming desperate for Nelson. But it wasn’t until 1935 when the Nelson City Council and the Waimea and Golden Bay Electric Power Boards got behind a bid by the privately owned Hume Pipe Company, that a Government licence was issued  for the construction of a hydro-electric power scheme on the Cobb River.¹⁵

The Cobb

Cobb partially built powerhouse. Kingsford Collection/Nelson Provincial Museum Collection

The Cobb has the highest hydraulic head in New Zealand - an almost 600 metre fall from dam to turbines.¹⁶  The power scheme is situated in beautiful but difficult country and was to take 22 years to fully complete. The access road was tortuous, the work sites were isolated, and snow and wet weather caused many delays. Many workers were injured on the Cobb and nine men died: three travelling on the road and six at their work.¹⁷

Cobb Valley Power House Upper Takaka. Te Ara Flickr Collection.

Progress was affected by the outbreak of World War II and the resulting shortage of labour and imported raw materials. In May 1940, the Government made ‘a liberal offer’ to the Hume Company and took over the project. Electricity began to flow in May 1944 and Nelson’s power problems seemed to be solved.¹⁸ The Cobb was only able to meet Nelson’s full electricity requirements, with supply to Marlborough, for a few years. But it did save the districts from power shortages experienced elsewhere and bolstered development.¹⁹   Major relief did not come for the province until it was connected to the national grid in 1958.²⁰

The fascinating story of the Cobb and the people who worked on it is comprehensively covered in The Cobb by A.K. Blair.

 2016

Nelson’s early Europeans

Who were the first European colonists to Nelson? What kind of people were they?

They were tough and inventive.  Nelson’s first European houses were often built from little more than fern branches. One writer commented: ‘I was passing one of this description…situated on low land near the river, and ventured to express an opinion that fern thatch could not afford much protection from rain, and that I thought some danger was to be apprehended from the rising of the river, when the matron of the house replied: “Oh! the river often rises, and the rain pours through the roof, and then we stand on top of a big box, and hold up an umbrella all night.”’¹

The town and part of the harbour of Nelson in 1842, about a year after its first foundation / drawn by John Saxton Esqr; Day & Haghe lithrs. London, Smith Elder & Co., [1845]. Alexander Turnbull Library Manuscripts & Pictorial

Alfred Saunders described the rats which plagued the early settlers. "The native rats were an intolerable nuisance. They appeared not to have the slightest fear of man, but as soon as it was dark, ran about the house in swarms, walked deliberately over our feet, climbed on the table and would drop like flies from the thatch. At night we had to keep a stick in hand to thrash them away from the candle, but, worst of all, they ran over us all night, and would come creeping up the blankets to smell our ears and chin, so that we never felt sure they would not want to taste them too.²

Frederick Tuckett (1807-1876) The Nelson Provincial Museum, OP 295095

Some of the first Europeans were Quakers from Bristol - intelligent, honourable people who enjoyed mutually respectful relationships with local Māori. Three of the first Quakers were surveyors Frederick Tuckett, Samuel Stephens and John Cotterell.

Tuckett was known for his hospitality. One settler wrote: “The best dinner I have had since I landed was one I ate with Mr Tuckett, the chief surveyor; he overtook me on my road home and insisted upon my going to him – sack trousers and all. We had some New Zealand quail and I thought I had never eaten anything so nice.”

Stephens often described warm and friendly relations with Māori neighbours, Mary and Etani at Riwaka. In January 1843, he noted :“Oh! How do I blush for my countrymen, when I write that our fears for the safety of ourselves and property are not from the natives, but from the gangs of bad white men who now infest the country.”

Surveyor, John Barnicoat also noted the natural dignity of Māori when he sailed into Nelson Harbour in February, 1842.  Two days later he noted that a public ‘grog shop’ was very popular with drunken sailors. “This evening one of them was purposely annoying one of the natives by bawling in his ear and swearing at him…..The native at last quietly got up and knocked the sailor down then gave him two or three tremendous blows on the head and walked off in their usual dignified manner.”

[Coates, Isaac] 1808-1878 :Piki Warsa. Chief of Motuwaka. [1843?] Alexander Turnbull Library: A-286-007

On a visit to the Motueka Pa in 1842, Cotterell met a chief  known as Atopikiwara:“He saw no good in being paid for the land…but the best way would be for the white people to pay whenever they cut down a tree, built a house, or made a garden thus establishing a perpetual rent.  This will, I think, be found the general idea of the New Zealand chiefs, as regards utu (payment).”

The early Europeans were productive.  William Fox noted: “A little further north-west is Mr Redwood, formerly a Staffordshire farmer.  His attention has been chiefly turned to grazing and dairy pursuits.  He supplies a considerable quantity of meat consumed in Nelson, both beef and mutton and sends between 40 and 50 pounds of butter to market weekly…(He) has built the best farm house of the settlement,” he wrote.

While they tried to create a little England, the first Europeans quickly came to enjoy the benefits of the landscape and climate.  Cotterell described his new lifestyle to his mother: “You would smile at our independence, when on these excursions, only making a large fire, roasting pigeons or ducks….then rolling up in a blanket and lying on the bare ground or grass.”  27 March, 1842.

Samuel and Sarah Stephens lived at a beach camp at Stephens Bay near Kaiteriteri for several months each summer. “We have just returned from a three months residence at the seashore….living a kind of bush life under a tent, supplied with the usual necessaries of life in the eating way from my farm at Riwaka,” he wrote on 28 April, 1849.

Sarah Greenwood The Nelson Provincial Museum, Davis Collection 1102/1

Sarah Greenwood took to pioneering life like a duck to water and her letters show she was optimistic and indomitable. On  first arriving in Nelson in April 1843, she described the Nelson climate as ‘delicious': "We have now been lying at anchor for some days in this lovely haven surrounded on three sides by picturesque mountain scenery, and shut in by a natural breakwater that renders the harbour perfectly secure." She took to housekeeping with gusto: “ I am now quite expert in household work, which I like well enough, and in cooking which I really enjoy. I only wish you could taste my stewed pigeons, my pea soup, and my light plain puddings; and then Danforth [her husband] is such a good admirer, he finds all so well done. In truth….I never was happier or better in my life.” August 1843.

Nelson’s resident agent, Francis Dillon Bellnoted in 1849 that Nelson was virtually crime-free and attributed this lack of crime to the climate: “ I deny any man, unless he is superlatively cross, to be long out of temper in the perpetual sunshine….he can’t but be cheerful and good humoured, when he and everybody else around him are in robust health and share together the bracing and delightful air that prevails nearly all the year around.”  While Bell acknowledged that the New Zealand Company‘experiment’ had been seriously flawed, he wrote: “A colony is truly the place for a poor man: and comparing a labourer’s previous life in England with that…in a new settlement, he has incomparably the best of it.”

For more stories about early colonial life in Nelson, check out the People section of this website.

2016

Married and Gone to New Zealand - John and Anne Batt seek a new life in Nelson in 1842

My great grandparents lived in two small adjacent villages in Hampshire:  Barton Stacey and Chilbolton – just three and a half miles apart.  Chilbolton, lies 18 miles north of Southampton and 11 miles from Winchester- a picturesque village with thatch-roofed houses.  John, an agricultural labourer, was 26 and Ann 21 years old at the date of their marriage.

John Batt. Image supplied by author

While we know much about general conditions in England in the 1840’s we know little about the particular circumstances of the Batts or the Anthony’s. However, we know something of the background of Mary Knight (Ann’s sister-in-law) who accompanied them to New Zealand.  Her assisted passage with the New Zealand Company was only possible because as a “single woman without her parents” she had to be under the immediate care of some “near married relatives or are under engagement as Domestic Servants to Ladies going out as Cabin Passengers in the same ship.”

Mary gave her address as “New Street, Andover.”  This was a tough neighbourhood.  It is said that, during the 1840’s, the police would only venture down there in pairs.  The decision to emigrate was due to a number of factors.  One was the unsettling effect of the Industrial Revolution which, with increased mechanisation, forced many out of traditional work.  Conditions in the mills could also be dangerous and unhealthy.  In 1830 some 300 workers had assembled in protest at the conditions at the Tasker Mill and the Riot Act had to be read when they failed to disperse. 

Ann Batt. Image supplied by author

Another reason for emigration was the enticing picture that the New Zealand Company’s agents painted of New Zealand as a South Sea island paradise with plenty of cheap, fertile land where you planted your seeds and then stood clear!  A free passage, even to the other side of the world, must have been irresistible to anyone wanting to escape to a better life. 

The agents, located in 52 strategic towns and cities of the British Isles, each received a commission of 40 shillings for every married couple and 10 shillings for every unmarried adult whom they managed to enrol in the Company’s books.  But it was still hard work.  There were other countries in the Empire competing for immigrants, so any disquieting information from New Zealand was suppressed.  In any case, if you could not read or write and were unlikely to meet up with any returned, disgruntled emigrants your source of trustworthy information was severely restricted.  If the Batts knew of any such misrepresentation it did not deter them.  John was a rural labourer whose skills would be valued in pioneering a new country.  While reluctant to leave his native soil during summer and harvest he found it easier to sign up during an English winter.

In the winter of 1841/42 John and Ann made contact with an agent of the New Zealand Company – Mr Gillingham. In the Company’s U.K. register of applications for free passage to New Zealand they were assigned numbers 5212 & 5213 (23^rd February 1842), with a note that they “will be married if approved”.  They had less than a month to wait for that to happen and they were married on Saturday 12^th March in the Church of England parish church in Chilbolton, Ann’s home village. It was only three months prior to their departure for New Zealand.

Before that happened there were many vital preparations to be made. All the necessary clothing and items required to live life in a new country had to be purchased (only the shipboard passage was free).  In total a married couple would require a minimum of ten pounds plus the cost of the fare from their village to Gravesend.  Vaccination was compulsory for all who had never contracted smallpox. 

John and Ann were fortunate to be travelling on the Olympus– one of the vessels which had acquired a good reputation.  She was British built with a height between decks of six feet six inches – unlike some vessels which were only five feet eight inches high. Numerous books were taken on board as part of the provision and supplies.  With 134 emigrants, five paying passengers and 62 children there was a range of reading material:  some of the early explorers, two or three books on arithmetic, an encyclopaedia, some magazines and religious books – and six backgammon boards.  The ship’s surgeon was assisted by someone qualified to act as schoolmaster for the children and to also teach adults who wanted to learn to read.  A matron was appointed to help in the hospital. Sleeping, eating and below-deck recreation all took place in the one main area - unless you were a cabin passenger.

The Olympus left on time for Gravesend; the short journey from Deptford - the first step towards the open sea - providing a period for the passengers to settle and meet each other and a last opportunity to discover and correct any deficiencies.  She left Gravesend on 16^th June 1842 carrying her precious cargo of emigrants in search of a better life-- most of whom had resigned themselves to the thought that they would never see the “old folks” or home again. It would have been like a journey to the moon but without sight of the earth hanging in the sky. 

Landowners at last 

We have no specific idea of what happened to the Batts when they stepped ashore in Nelson on the 28^th October, 1842, after a sea journey via the Cape of Good Hope of 13, 321 nautical miles taking approximately five months.  We know what the New Zealand Company said would happen as stated in their regulations.  They would be met by a company officer who would be “ready at all times to advise them in case of difficulty…and at all times to give them employment in the service of the Company, if for any cause they should be unable to obtain it elsewhere.”  From the experience of other immigrants whose actions were recorded we can only surmise that their experience would have been very similar. 

Immigrants from the Thomas Harrison arriving in Nelson a few days earlier were housed immediately in marquees and barracks, and some families from this ship were very soon establishing small-holdings.  Some became squatters – often because of the delay in surveying legal titles.  It is very likely that John was employed by the Company, like many others, building the first roads in the district which were so badly needed.

Of course the intention of the company was not to make it too easy for everyone to own land or there would be no labourers for employment.  What became known later as a “sufficient price” for land determined this.  However, in Nelson things did not go “according to plan”.  At first there was a shortage of land to legally occupy because the surveying of the district was incomplete.  So even if purchases had been made in England, the ability to occupy was not possible and this compounded the unemployment problem for the growing number of labourers in an overcrowded settlement.  Then the Company found itself in financial difficulties and by 1844 had collapsed.  The death of Captain Wakefield and others in the Wairau threw everyone into great fear and alarm.  Eventually, when the panic had subsided, William Fox, who had assumed leadership of the settlement, was able to give labourers part time employment of at least two days a week.  He also allowed them to squat on vacant land.  Poormans Valley (Marsden Valley) in Stoke was settled in this way as the 1845 census indicates. 

Ann Batt in her nineties. Image supplied by author

Food shortages at this time were common among the settlers.  Mr William Wadsworth of Wai-iti later told of the hardships caused by the collapse of the NZ Company:  “…We had to live as best we could for some time.  Our provisions were chiefly potatoes and salt, relieved occasionally by fish or pigeons.” Tea, sugar and flour were in very short supply

Somehow the Batts survived.  The 1849 census shows John Batt as a tenant farmer leasing four acres: one to produce oats and one each for wheat, barley and potatoes.  They had obtained one cow and two pigs and had constructed a thatch roofed earth house.  Their family now included Mary Ann, Freda and Henry (Harry) – all born at two yearly intervals from 1845.

Saving for land of their own was a long and tedious business but by 1861, 19 years after their arrival in Nelson, they achieved their goal and were able to purchase 33 acres and two roods of land at Wai-iti about two miles south of Wakefield from the Rev. Charles Waring Saxton (brother of John) for 134 pounds. (In today’s values just under NZ$261,265). Charles, with his wife Mary and baby son, had accompanied John on the Clifford, landing in Nelson in May 1842,  but soon after their arrival Mary died and Charles returned to England taking his son with him.  The land which he had bought in England apparently remained unsettled until its purchase by the Batts. The block ran from the foot of the hills on the east across the valley to the Wai-iti river in the west.

Gravestone of John and Anne Batt

Farming 33 acres was never going to be hugely profitable.  Many of the properties in this area were of similar size.  Some who later made a comfortable living grew hops and tobacco.  The Sheep Owners’ Returns of 1879 show that John ran 24 sheep on his property and this number was maintained for several years.  The annual lamb drop would have supplemented the family income.

Gradually the size of the farm grew with land acquisitions to the east and north.  Most of this was unprofitable hill country but, with hard work and powerful machinery in the 1960’s, was developed into pasture allowing more sheep to be run.  Some of the flat land was turned into a stone and pip fruit orchard before World War I.  During this time Burbank plums were planted and the farm adopted their name.  A small herd of dairy cows (about 10-11) were later introduced – initially milked by hand, the cream separated off and sent to the Brightwater butter factory, the milk fed to the household pigs.  When John’s sons William and George invested in some leasehold land at Glenhope, cattle were run on this back-country block, mainly covered in manuka and scrub, which later all added to the family income.

And increased income was needed for, as the years passed, the family had grown in size.  John, Emma, George, William, Ellen, Arthur, Laura and Alfred were born between 1851 and 1862 making a total of 11 children in all – a not untypical family size for this era.

John Batt died in 1885 aged 70 but Ann lived another 31 years reaching the grand age of 95 in 1916.  She is buried in the Foxhill Cemetery not far from her son George. 

It had been a long and hard life in a new country far from home.  Did she ever miss her old friends and family?  No diaries or letters that we know of indicate how she felt.  We do not know if she or John ever regretted the decision to come to New Zealand.  They had been faced with an exciting opportunity and they had the courage to take it.  As one of their many descendants brought up with all the opportunities that life in New Zealand offers, we can only thank them for that.

Roger Batt 2016

‘Bright pure water’ and sewage

New Zealand’s early cities reeked of rotting rubbish, dead animals and excrement, and water sources were often contaminated. By contrast, Māori settlements were hygienic, with special sites for toilets and for dumping rubbish, and storehouses which kept food clean. Their used water was disposed of on land, not in waterways.¹

Nelson City Council, workers and carts. View of a street cleaning gang on the corner of Trafalgar and Hardy Streets. Nelson Provincial Museum. 180151 Tyree Studio Collection

As in other parts of the country, providing clean water and dealing with sewage was a challenge for the early European settlers. When the Nelson Provincial Council met on 22 November 1854, they discussed draining the town. ‘It was pointed out that like most newly-formed towns, Nelson began with open drains and cesspools, pigsties, dung heaps, slaughter houses and other pestilential hot beds’, which were polluting air and soil.  The need for a water supply was also first mooted at this meeting.²

Clean water

In 1861, a reservoir in the Brook Valley containing two months supply of fresh water for a population of 7000 people was proposed.  This was intended to supply the 388 houses in the Nelson township and along Haven Road to the Port.³

Nelson's Water Supply. The old Brook reservoir is in the background. 323209 Nelson Provincial Museum. F N Jones Collection

The Nelson water works were opened to much acclaim in 1867, but before long,  demand exceeded supply and by the turn of the century there were some serious problems.

The 1906 Cyclopedia described the ‘bright and pure water…suitable for all domestic purposes without filtering’ and went on to say that extensive additions had been made by the Nelson City Council including a new concrete storage dam to contain about 20 million gallons of water.⁴

By 1920, it was evident that the city’s water reticulation was inadequate again. Residents were constantly complaining that, while gallons of water were flowing over the top of the dam, they couldn’t extract a single drop from their taps.⁵

Water shortage. Distributing water from the back of a water truck. Nelson Provincial Museum. 160600 Kingsford Collection

New ancillary mains and pipes were installed in 1922, improving the situation.  But a series of long hot summers in the late 1920s saw Nelson’s water supply hover between inadequate and desperate.  Bore holes were put down in various places.  A bore hole near the Normanby Bridge resulted in such a good supply of water that the Council invested in a larger pump to link this supply into the City’s mains. By 1933, the city’s population had reached 12,000 and it was again difficult to maintain the water supply during the summer.⁵

Roding River. View of a man with measuring stick Nelson Provincial Museum 311077 F N Jones collection

The Hume Pipe Company proposed a regional scheme tapping the Roding River and supplying Nelson, Richmond and parts of the Waimea (Tasman) County. This was rejected by the Nelson City Council, but they agreed when the Government made a grant of £25,000 towards the scheme which meant Nelson did not have to share control with Waimea County. The Roding Valley Waterworks has supplied  water to Nelson and Richmond residents since 1941.⁵

The Maitai Dam and water scheme, a project discussed since the 1930s, was completed in 1987 and is now Nelson's main source of water, and the water is treated at the Tantragee Water treatment plant.

Sewage  and Sewerage

The first meeting of the Nelson City Council was held in April 1874 and responsibility for providing and maintaining the facilities of a civilised city passed on to this body.⁶  In 1877, Nelson’s system of sewers had improved but by 1879, the sanitation of the city was far from perfect.⁷

Trafalgar Street, Nelson, [ca 1860], Alexander Turnbull Library, PAColl-8964-01. http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=51716 Click image to enlarge

Funds were low, the Council didn’t want to borrow money and ratepayers didn’t want money spent. In 1890, the neglect of proper sanitation resulted in a severe typhoid epidemic with many cases traced to Hardy Street where the sewer was known to be defective.⁸ 

In 1894, Councillor Akersten suggested that the city be drained by a ‘separate system’ where sewage was dealt with separately from surface water, but nothing was done for another ten years.⁹ The Harbour Board objected to the proposal of draining effluent into the harbour’s tidal waters.¹⁰

“How any sane man can advocate the discharge of sewage on the mudflat is beyond my comprehension,” wrote a newspaper letter writer in 1903, describing what had happened in Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin where ‘the odor of putrid festering sewage is a constant menace to life and health.”¹¹

An earlier letter writer in 1884 had idealistically described a ‘sewage farm’  from which  tons of dairy produce, splendid orchards and a fine public garden would benefit.¹²

The 1906 Cyclopedia described a city ‘drained by brick main sewers through the principal streets…with the main outfall into the sea.’ Households not connected to  the sewers used a night soil service. 

The Cyclopedia  noted that a loan of £55,000 had recently been authorised by ratepayers for a complete up-to-date system of sewers designed by Mr R.L. Mestayer.¹³  By 1907 a septic tank, powerhouse, outfall sewer and ejector chamber were under construction.¹⁴

Bells Island sewage treatment works. Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit

But problems still remained. In 1909 a petition was circulated, drawing attention to ‘the insanitary state of the foreshore at Halifax Street caused by the filth from the sewer being discharged from the overflow at the junction of Waimea and Halifax Streets……We feel justified in urging the Council to take immediate steps to remedy the evil and so save the spreading of diphtheria, scarlet fever and other complaints.”¹⁵

Water pollution in New Zealand increased throughout the 19^th Century but it was slow to gain national attention and action.  In the 1950s, 27% of the population was not connected to a sewer and about 40% of sewage was going untreated into the sea.¹⁶ Today, all of Nelson’s effluent is treated before being discharged out to sea at the Nelson wastewater treatment plant.¹⁷  Nelson's sewage is treated at the Bell's Island Sewage Treatment Plant.

2016

Percy Adams Memorial Gates, Wakapuaka Cemetery

Percy Bolland Adams was born in Marlborough on 5 March 1854.  His father William Adams, owner of Langley Dale¹ station, was a Lawyer, was briefly the Marlborough Provence Superintendant and eventually moved from Marlborough to Nelson.  William's practice in Nelson was Adams and Kingdon.  Percy attended Bishops School in Nile Street, then spent five years at Nelson College, 1867-1871.  He did well at Nelson College winning competitions, scholarships and top honours in his year.

Percy Adams. Tyree Collection 65653 Nelson Provincial Museum

In 1872 he travelled to Trinity College in Cambridge, England, where he graduated with first class in maths and second class in classics.  Percy studied at Temple Bar in London, earning a degree of Barrister at Law in 1877.  Upon return to Nelson in 1878 he entered his father's legal firm which had been run by his brother Acton Adams, following the retirement of the senior partners.  His practice eventually became Adams and Harley.

In 1881 Percy married Frances Elizabeth McGregor Watts who had inherited Melrose house from her father Charles Fowell Willets Watts, who had it built around 1879.²  They had one son Noel Percy Adams.  Frances died in Nelson on 31 August 1905,³ at the age of 45.

Percy was well known for his interest in local politics, philanthropy, hunting, gardening, especially exotic trees, and was involved in many clubs and societies.

Percy Adams memorial gates at the southern entrance to Wakapuaka Cemetery, Ken Wright photo

In November 1919⁴ Percy remarried.  His second wife was Julia Sarsfield Murray, a matron of Nelson Hospital.  Julia was responsible for erecting Memorial gates, in Percy's memory at the southern entrance to Wakapuaka Cemetery.⁵

"These Gates Were
Erected To The Memory Of
Percy Bolland Adams
Born Marlborough 5th March 1854
Died Nelson 26th December 1930"

The gates display two identical shields featuring a cat and the motto,"Touch Not The Cat Bot A Glove". Bot means without.  This is a Macpherson Clan motto that serves as a warning that one should beware when the wildcat's claws are without a glove.  It is a reference to the historically violent nature of the clan.⁶

2016

A well-used landmark of Nelson is the modest building beside the Trafalgar bridge with floor to ceiling windows  overlooking the Maitai River. Constructed in the 1956, the hall was the brain child of Robert King-Turner who established the Nelson Senior Citizens Old Folks Association in 1951. He was the group’s continuous president until his death in 1966. The community group decided there was not much on offer for senior citizens and got together to raise funds to purchase “ a property to house the activities of our Association which are in short to provide economic and social facilities which will enable the aged, invalid, widowed and lonely to grow old gracefully in the happy environment of the love and affectionate help and society of their fellow men.”

Officers who built the Old Folks Hall. Back row (L. to R.) RA Heslop, J Goldie, AA Kirby, Mrs FE Kirby, Mrs NS Sherwood, Mrs ME Thomas, O Lees, A Bowman. Front - Mrs M Lough, Mrs A Ward, Miss A Colman, RJ King-Turner, J Crossan, Mrs C Lester, Mrs EE Blincoe, Mrs E Rouse. Inset Mrs J. Rodger.

The Club formed a building committee who moved from an original plan for a simple rest room to a larger structure with a social Hall.  The facility was for sole use of senior citizens during the day but could be let out at night to raise revenue to make the club debt free. Club notes record that the Service club, the JayCees, provided enthusiastic support raising $2400 with an Industrial fair.  A “Granny Carnival” raised $1678.  Concerts were held throughout the district and collection boxes were strategically sited.  Shop days were supported by orchardists and other country folk and substantial donations were given by business firms and private citizens, as the facilities were there for country people too.

Old Folks Association. Increased bowling space, 1967. Nelson Photonews

The facility, funded by the Senior Citizens and Old Folks Association, was built at 67 Trafalgar Street on land leased them by Council at a peppercorn rental. The Old Folks Assiciation became an incorporated society in 1959.  Membership of the the Association rapidly grew, with about 330 members and 22 life members listed in 1976. Various side clubs developed, such as the Senior Citizens Friendship Club providing organised entertainment and outings , including day trips and a longer annual coach tour. Regular shop days and other fund raisers continued to assist club finances. The Old Folks Association Indoor Bowls Club was one of a number of side clubs that paid rental for space, helping share expenses of the facility to keep it well cared for and maintained.

Club records show a caring and inclusive organisation, that held regular afternoon teas at the rooms, and provided thoughtful services such as hospital visits to members

Frank Sharland. Nelson Photonews

The original facility was extended by the Association in 1967¹ to cater for increased demand for space for their activities. Under the leadership of club president Frank Sharland an additional 690ft of floor space in the hall and 145ft in the committee room was added. Much of the work, costing about £3000, was done by members. The Association believed in helping themselves as far as their limitations permitted them to do so. Again they raised funds through donations and shop days.

The hall was a lively place for seniors with the Nelson Old Folks Association Bowling Club enjoying much competitive action. In 1967, with increased space, six bowling mats were in use as members enjoyed competing for the Club cups presented at the annual prize giving.

Membership of the association gradually dwindled to around 20 members who were primarily involved with indoor bowls. Nelson City Council eventually purchased the building. The facility was leased to Age Concern for their activities for a number of years. Nelson City Council then took over care of the property.  Today the hall is for hire and used by all ages. The building now also houses the Ancestors Attic, the archival resource library of the Nelson Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists.

Nelson Jaycees repainting the Hall. Nelson Mail, Sep 14, 1974

Robert King Turner

Robert King-Turner was born in 1886 at Portage in Kenepuru Sound. He was 18 months old when the family moved to Waitata Bay, where his parents were among the first settlers. The area was isolated and there was no school to attend. It was nearly 16 years, following private study at night with borrowed books, before he was able to read and write. A friend assisted him to improve his education and he also studied in England for about nine months shortly after the turn of the century.

He sheared sheep, cleared bush, and for eight months was working manager at Port Hardy, D’Urville Island. The property there was spread over 8660 acres and the pay was £2 a week and keep. At one stage he was responsible for the successful farming of about 12,000 acres.

From 1920 Mr King-Turner worked as commercial fisherman for three years and then returned to the land, this time to Hamilton Bay where he farmed until 1938. He moved to Waiua in that year on to another farm and came to Nelson in 1950.

For 12 years he was a member of the French Pass Road Board, and had a term as chairman. For five years he was a member of the Marlborough Hospital Board as the Pelorus Sound representative.

Mr King-Turner was a keen and energetic leader of the association, and saw his ambition of a new hall for the old folks realised in 1956. He was assisted by his wife, Rose, who was the secretary-treasurer for several years.

He died in January 1966.²

2016

Croquet was introduced to the Nelson area by the German immigrants who arrived on the Saint Pauli and settled in the Moutere district. Croquet became the accepted pastime of colonists and Sunday afternoon croquet parties became popular on the many private lawns attached to the early estates, particularly the property of Mrs Amelia Sixtus and her mother at Neudorf, near Moutere.

Hinemoa Croquet Club Opening 18 December 1946 on Halifax Street grounds. Photo courtesy of Nelson Hinemoa Croquet Club

Women players had a number of challenges when playing the game in the warmer climate of Nelson, dressed for sport in the bombazines and black alpaca frocks of the day. A female croquet player of the 19^th century wore a   “sports robe” which was a voluminous dress weighing 11Ibs, lined from neck to hem, well boned. The only part of the body visible was the face and hands. It took up to thirty yards of material to make a dress which swept the ground all around. The six inch hem and at least two rows of flounces kept the base well anchored. The bodice was hooked or buttoned from chin to waist, with a thumb-nail's width between each fastening. The minimum number of petticoats was three. The early hoops on the croquet green were widely spaced or female players would not be able to see them.

Nelson Croquet Club claims to be the oldest established croquet Club in New Zealand.  It had very early croquet lawns behind Marsden Hall in the Bishops School (Nile Street).  This venue was played on for some time, before a Miss Gibbs called a meeting early in 1901 of the regular Sunday afternoon players, with a view to forming a croquet club for “genteel people of breeding”. The plan was to have several lawns gathered in the one situation instead of the piecemeal arrangement of single lawns in private gardens. The Nelson Croquet Club was officially recognised when land was leased from Mrs. Renwick, of Renwick House in Manuka Street.

Miss Gibbs, the secretary of the club, raised debentures as early as 1917 in an effort to provide working capital for the club. In 1920 a fund raising dance was held in a hall loaned by Mrs Rutherford.  Subscriptions were raised from ten shillings to twelve shillings and sixpence. Garden parties and card evenings, including a memorable progressive Euchre party in the Haerimai tearooms, were successful fundraisers.

Formal application was made to the Nelson City Council for Municipal Lawns in 1927. There was much heated negotiation before the Council made available lawns at the present headquarters in Rutherford Park. In 1928 the club applied to the council for use of a portion of the Old Cemetery in Trafalgar Street (now Fairfield Park). In 1933 Council decided to go ahead and construct croquet lawns on this site, but a petition was drawn up protesting against the “desecration of graves” (in fact, the lawns would not have covered any old graves) and against the proposed “large expenditure”. As the Nelson Evening Mail reported on 22 February 1934, The Club withdrew its application.

The club finally gave up possession of the old lawns in Manuka St held on lease from Mrs Renwick, in 1938, in preparation for taking over the long awaited new courts at Rutherford Park.  

A pavilion was built costing £150, and a cleaner was employed at £2 an hour, and primrose crockery purchased for the enjoyment of members.

The Hinemoa Croquet Club was formed in 1908 commencing play on Mrs Brockman’s property on Bridge Street. In 1913 the club moved to a lawn in Grove Street. In 1933 this lawn was too small for increasing membership so an application was made to Nelson City Council for four municipal lawns.  This was granted in 1941 and the Hinemoa and Nelson Croquet clubs became neighbours on the present Halifax street site, and managed to share the existing Pavilion without difficulty.

Sports Scene. Nelson Photonews No 146 : December 9, 1972

With the advent of war most of the money raising ventures were channelled into patriotic funds. Mrs Lemmer, the new President, urged all players to bring all their troop knitting to the lawns, and many times the lawns gave the appearance of knitting bees rather than croquet matches. In 1941 a fund was opened for members to subscribe sixpence per month towards parcels for sons of croquet players serving in overseas forces. Closing day that year was “Patriotic Day”, threepence per entry being charged on all competitions. A £10 donation was also made to the sick and wounded fund. In 1945 the groundsman was given a Christmas bonus of £1 to celebrate the end of the war. Armistice was signed, but the local war with the City Council over possession of the Rutherford property still raged, with the Council endeavouring to repossess the lawns for a site on which to construct a Tobacco factory. (A tobacco Factory was built where the Refinery Artspace now stands) However the Nelson Association staging the South Island Championships in 1946 helped to offset the Council's attempts.

The two clubs have held numerous successful tournaments. In 2000 the New Zealand croquet Council staged the New Zealand Open Championships, attracted by the nine full sized lawns and a new Bert Scheib croquet pavilion. This and other tournaments continue to attract national and international players to Nelson.

2016

Daring to be Different

Stoke’s co-educational Nayland College was established in 1966 in the shadow of the long and highly respected history and traditions of the Nelson’ city’s single sex schools. 

Bill Kane addresses pupils on the first day. Courtesy Nayland College.

But Nayland’s founding principal Bill Kane was not one to be daunted by tradition. He was determined Nayland would develop its own way and quickly introduced a number of firsts. There would be no cadets, no houses, no dux, and no prefect system in which prefects administered corporal punishment. Instead there was a school council with members elected by fellow students, and the school’s few rules would be simple but strictly enforced.

Aerial of Nayland College 1967 surrounded by orchards and farmland, and with Nelson Airport in the background. Courtesy Nayland College

The most radical and noticeable change was the introduction of mufti for seventh formers (year 13) in 1973. This was part of a strategy to transition students into the workforce by allowing them to wear clothing appropriate in an office or workplace situation. In 1975 mufti was extended to the sixth form and eventually to the fifth form (year 11).

Bill Kane retired in 1978, replaced in succession by Ras Zachariassen (1979-1994), Charles Newton (1995-2009), Rex Smith (2009-2014), and Daniel Wilson (2015-present). Each took responsibility for further developing and redefining unique school values which cemented Nayland’s reputation as a school reflective of its community while still proudly forging its own path. 

Traditional ways of doing things continue to be constantly questioned and fresh, non-traditional approaches designed to meet the changing needs of students.  As part of this process, in 1985, Nayland become the first school in the region to remove corporal punishment.

The 1989 Radio Nayland team. Courtesy Nayland College

Innovative projects, included launching the school’s own community newspaper, Circuit, in 1979 (which went on to become an award winning publication) and the launch in 1984 of 16 years of Radio Nayland.

Sofie Eich, Rosie Manins and Sven Adam, part of the winning 2003 Circuit team. Nelson Mail

The college’s biennial stage productions became known for their slick production and nurturing of raw student talent, with sell-out seasons of world-renowned shows like Grease, Chess, Cabaret and Little Shop of Horrors, and successes in Stage Challenge, Rock Quest and the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival.

The College production of Chess. 2010. Courtesy Nayland College

Early on, Nayland embraced the role of computers and technology in education, becoming a leader in the introduction and use of information technology in schools. There was no better endorsement of the path chosen by Nayland than being named the Goodman Fielder New Zealand Secondary School of the Year in 2002.

NAGS 2008 with the Diversity tree. courtesy Nayland College

Pride in being different and catering for all students is something Nayland has always encouraged. In 1969 the college provided ‘experience’ classes for students with mental or physical disabilities.  This developed into the Learner Support Centre which, in 2001, was rewarded with national recognition as a best practice model of excellence in special education. In 2002 it became the first South Island school to establish a group for gay students.  The Nayland Alliance of Gays and Straights (NAGS) was one of only five such groups in the country. By the 2010s the scope of NAGS had extended to encompass students who identified not only as lesbian or gay but also bisexual or transgender (LGBT). In 2012, it became the lead provider for the region’s first trades training academy.

Never afraid to make changes that benefit students, school houses, one of the traditions eschewed by foundation principal Bill Kane, were introduced in 2012 to enhance students’ sense of belonging and school unity. But these are houses unlike those in more traditional schools. Named for Southern Sky constellations, representing a motto adopted by the school – reach for the stars, and incorporating another original Nayland feature – the vertical form, the four houses are fronted by giant mascots representing an eagle (Aquila), a dragon (Draco), a horse (Pegasus) and a phoenix (Phoenix).

Nayland Junior students in uniform. Courtesy Nayland College

Even Nayland’s announcement in 2015 that year 11 students would return to wearing a uniform from 2017 and year 12 from 2018 reflected the wishes of the wider school community while promising to look very different from traditional school uniforms. 

As Nayland entered its second half century, following its 50^th jubilee in 2016, it harked back to its roots and the school crest for the inspiration for a new way forward. As principal Daniel Wilson said, Nayland students aim for Success, taking every Opportunity to reach their goals. They do this through Ako – learning, and Manaaki – Respect, which inspires students to rise to new heights, achieve their dreams, and SOAR. This ideology is represented by a new logo incorporating the symbol of the kuaka (godwit), taken from the school crest.

“Kuaka fly non-stop for 11,500km from New Zealand to Alaska in a matter of days,” Mr Wilson said. “Their resilience, persistence and local connection provide a rich metaphor for the values we aspire to at Nayland College.”

2016

Trathen’s – department store shopping in Nelson

The sophistication of department store shopping was introduced to Nelson by the Trathen family, whose flagship building with high, art deco windows stood tall in central Trafalgar Street from 1922 until its demolition in 2016.

Benjamin Trathen, founder of Trathen's. 1874-1942. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

The family-run store was established in 1904 by Benjamin Trathen (born 1874), whose draper and department store experience in his home country Australia, convinced him to open his own department store. Moving to New Zealand and settling in Nelson in 1904 Ben opened a drapery store, Messers Trathen and Co., in Richmond. Less than a month later he relocated to Bridge Street, Nelson, later extending into a neighbouring store.

Trathen & Co., first opened in Bridge Street. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

Disaster struck in May 1907 when a fire destroyed one of the two Trathen’s shops and badly damaged the other.¹ In 1915 Trathen & Co. moved to premises at 191 Trafalgar Street, a site previously occupied by the Bird Butchery.

A disastrous fire in 1917. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

There, in April 1917, Trathen’s narrowly missed being badly damaged by a fire which destroyed a neighbouring business.²   However, a third fire, in January 1920, completely destroyed the wooden Trathen’s building and another two businesses.³

Another fire in 1920. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

Ben Trathen worked with Nelson architect Arthur Griffin, who had designed the granite Church Steps and numerous commercial buildings and homes still standing in the city today, to design a three storey department store on his Trafalgar Street site. 

Opening day, 5 April 1922. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

The brick building, with a modern, spacious and uncluttered interior designed to encourage shopping and leisure, opened two years later on 5 April 1922.⁴  Finally the entire Trathen’s business was contained under one roof.  On the ground floor were six departments (Manchester, Dress, Ladies’ Underwear, Men’s, Showroom and Haberdashery), and on the second floor a dressmaker, milliner and tailor.  In time an elegant tearoom opened on the street-side of the second floor.  Situated behind the building’s magnificent column-flanked arched window, the tearoom was run for many years by Ben’s wife, a former staff member, Ellen (Nell) Voss Smith. The building’s top floor was used for storage and workspace for window dressing and display staff. 

The Trathen's tearooms. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

In 1929 the building was damaged in the 7.8 magnitude Murchison earthquake.  The front façade shook and leaned one metre out into the street, breaking off the top decorative concrete parapet.  Fortunately another shock shook the façade back into place before it could collapse onto the street. Expensive repairs were required: the remaining damaged parapet was removed and the frontage was tied to a concrete wall eight metres back inside the building.  Further repairs were carried out following the Inangahua earthquake in 1968.

Fred Jones and his first Pixie Cave at Trathen's in 1933. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

From 1933 no Christmas at Trathen’s was complete without the appearance of Father Christmas and the intricate Magic Caves and Pixie Towns of photographer F.N. Jones. The store and its staff also made regular appearances at city events and parades, and staff formed sports teams, including cricket and hockey.

Trathen's Fashion Fair, 1964. Image supplied by Michelle Ahnfeldt

The Trathen’s business passed from father to sons Geoff and Ron in 1942 following Ben Trathen’s death. The brothers bought the business and upon Ron’s death in 1950, Geoff and Esther Trathen bought the Trathen’s building and introduced their three sons, Ben (jnr), John and David, into the business.

The modern interior of Trathen's with mezzanine floor, following the 1962 alterations. Image supplied by Michelle Ahnfeldt

The next major upgrade and redevelopment of the store was in 1962.⁵  The new-look shop boasted several innovations for Nelson, including infrared heating and a pre-stress, pre-cast mezzanine floor, perfect for showcasing fashion parades through the 1960s-1980s. The second floor was opened up for a showroom and millinery department, offices, powder room and staff cafeteria.

When Geoff Trathen died in 1974 the business and other Trathen-owned premises continued to be run by his sons. But in 1988 the brothers’ made the difficult decision to close Trathen’s, although the name lived on for several years in other family businesses, including Trathen’s Fabrics.

One of the major considerations was the building’s failure to meet building standards. Extensive strengthening with steel beams in 1989 saw the ground floor developed into three retail spaces.  However, the second and third floors were closed off and never used again.

The Trathen's Building in 2012. Credit Michelle Ahnfeldt

In 1991 the building was bought by Ben and Margaret Trathen. However, following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, concerns were again raised about its seismic safety, which was deemed to be just six percent of the required code.⁶  The concerns included the danger of its unreinforced masonry over three storeys, its connection to two smaller buildings by party walls, and that it not only towered over surrounding buildings but also sat in the middle of one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

Trathen's. The iconic windows. Nelson Mail

After much consideration and consultation,⁷  the family announced in 2015 that work to bring the building up to current seismic standards was not financially or commercially feasible and that it intended to demolish the category B heritage building.⁸ In its place would be built a two-storey building incorporating retail spaces and a second floor café/restaurant.⁹

The iconic Trathen’s windows were offered for sale¹⁰ but as demolition work began in June 2016,¹¹  it was announced that some of the stained glass window panes  had been donated to the Nelson Provincial Museum.¹²

2016

Read the full story: Trathen, B. & Trathen-Ahnfeldt, M. (2015) Trathen’s – The Building, The Family & The Business [PDF]

The story of Tahunanui School mirrors the rapid development its seaside location and the nearby beach into an established community and popular summer holiday destination.¹

View of Tahuna from Paddy's knob. Nelson Provincial Museum collection. 320595

It began in a tiny lean-to shed in Muritai Street in 1908. Designated a temporary side school for Stoke School, it initially accommodated 13 junior pupils so they did not have the long walk to and from Stoke each day that the senior pupils made. 

Situated in then sparsely populated area around the beach, the Nelson Education Board never expected the small school, originally called Tatahi School, to become permanent or, for the community it served, to grow much larger than it already was.

Opening of the Tahuna State School, 9 November 1910. Nelson Provincial Museum, FN Jones Collection. 3212422

But the school quickly became the focal point for its community and its more modern motto “I can, I will” can be seen to reflect the attitude of those early parents and residents who fought for its continued existence and expansion, just as they did for the development of Tahuna(nui) and its safe swimming beach. 

A rapidly rising roll saw the opening of the first purpose built classroom in 1910² on land purchased for the school in Rawhiti Street. This coincided with the Tahunanui population reaching a large enough mass to call for “a post office, a store, refreshment rooms, a regular coach and a parcel delivery service”.³ By 1920 the population of Tahuna reached 500, allowing the formation of a town board.

Now known as Tahuna (and, from 1922, Tahunanui) the school, with a roll of more than 60, became independent of Stoke School in late 1913.  For the next 80 years it grew steadily in roll and size, reflecting the growth in the population of Tahunanui itself, until reaching its peak of more than 400 pupils in the mid-1990s.

Sheryl Kerwin, 6, paddles through storm water at Tahunanui School. Nelson Provincial Museum. Geoffrey C Wood Collection. 132_fr8

Reminders in the early years that the school was surrounded by farms and rural activities were frequent.  Offensive smells from a neighbouring rendering plant saw some parents  remove their children from the school and, more than once, animals trespassed onto the school grounds. Goats ate school trees, pigeons fouled the drinking water, and various animals escaped into the grounds from nearby slaughter houses.

Tahunanui School. View of a large group of boys performing physical training at Tahunanui Beach. Nelson Provincial Museum. Kingsford collection 160516

The school quickly developed a close relationship with Tahunanui Beach. In fact a lot of the beach ended up at the school.  On a number of occasions tons of sand were moved from the beach and, with “spoil”, gravel, “fill” and earth, spread across the low lying school grounds to build them up and provide better drainage. Unfortunately flooding at the school remained a constant issue for successive school committees and boards of trustees well into the opening years of the 21^st century.

Health Camp, 1937. Nelson Provincial Museum, Kingsford Collection. 162145

The curative values of the seaside saw a children’s health camp established at the school over the summers of 1936-37 and 1937-38.

Before a school pool was built in 1945, aquatic carnivals were held at the beach and classes went swimming there. Pupils were also known to run down to the beach at lunchtimes for a quick swim before afternoon classes.  From 1996 the senior school has headed to the beach each year for an annual mid-winter swim.

Tahuna School's Golden Jubilee, 1964. Nelson PhotoNews, 4 Apr 1964 p.34

During World War II the school’s proximity, not only to the beach but also to the Nelson Aerodrome,  taken over by the Royal New Zealand Air Force for the war’s duration, required an action plan to ensure the children’s safety in the event of a Japanese attack. Two air raid shelters were built into the front playing field.

In the 1960s the school held fundraising dances at the beach and sold fresh fruit and vegetables from a roadside stall to those staying at the Tahunanui campground.  Pupils were involved in planting trees in beach picnic areas and the Hounsell Circle (where Natureland now is) and from the 1990s collected rubbish from the beach.

Pupils with rubbish collected from the Tahunanui back beach, 21 April 1990. Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson Mail Collection. C3119

Celebrating 100 years - Room 2 pupils surround principal Paul Drummond with the number 100 as they start to prepare for the school’s centennial celebrations. Nelson Mail, taken in 2007, in preparation for 2008.

The school’s connections with its community were strong.  With no hall of its own, the school used the Tahunanui Town Hall from at least the 1920s for productions, concerts and fundraising dances for many years, and a scout troop established by headmaster R.J. Marston during World War II was connected to the school, as was the Nelson Amateur Roller Skating Club in the 1950s. 

By 1944 the population of Tahunanui had reached 1,000 but it was the post-war baby boom that saw the suburb really grow, resulting in many new school and community amenities, and the construction of holiday accommodation for beach visitors.

The school celebrated a century of education at Tahunanui in 2008 and remains at the heart of its community. This can be seen in the Muritai Centre, developed in 2003 from a former open plan classroom block into a large multi-purpose building used as a school hall and shared community centre. 

2016

The diaries of a Nelson Evening Mail journalist provide some of the most compelling accounts of World War I to be written by a Nelson soldier.

Cyril Saunderson Spear (born 7 August 1878) was employed at the Nelson Evening Mail for most of his working life.  As one of the paper’s “literary staff” (a journalist) he covered various news rounds, including reporting Nelson City Council meetings.

C.S. Spear, Nelson Provincial Museum: 282541

He enlisted for war service in May 1915¹ and left Nelson in June to train at the Trentham Military Camp. The Artillery Reserve Corps presented Cyril with a Bayard automatic pocket pistol² and his newspaper workmates gave him a “sleeping suit”.³ Referring to Cyril as a “pressman,” former mayor Cr Jesse Piper farewelled Cyril at a council meeting, wishing him every success and a safe return.⁴

Cyril sailed from Wellington with the Eighth Reinforcements, Field Artillery, on the Willochra on 13 November 1915.  He also made the initial entry in the first of his four war diaries, recording his war experiences until his return home in 1919.

Cyril’s diaries are held by the Nelson Provincial Museum and were fully transcribed as part of the centennial of World War I.  His journalistic skills were put to good use in vivid descriptions which bring to life his experiences on the Western Front.

Cyril Spear's war diary, dated 13 Nov 1915 until 31 March 1917. The diary covers the voyage, life in Egypt, and experiences on the Western Front. Nelson Provincial Museum collection A2047.2

Cyril saw his first aerial duel on 16 May 1916 near Armientieres in France: “While at breakfast saw three aeroplanes high up; one shining almost pure white in sun. Soon saw it was being chased by other two. When almost overhead, rat! Rat! Rat! Went the machine guns of the pursuers (allies)…”

His 3 July entry describes heavy bombardment by the Germans: “…the guns on both sides were making the night hideous. Fires were seen in Armentieres, and the whole place was enveloped in smoke from guns. Flashes, explosions, crashes. One shell came along with a deep sort of groan, as if it needed some oil. Lasted till about mid-making the night hideous. Biggest yet experienced. An awful grandeur about the whole thing.”

Descriptions of the complete destruction of towns, villages and the French landscape are vivid.  Marching through Delville Wood during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916, Cyril described seeing: “…what were once villages quite demolished... Trees bare of all leaves etc, just dead looking; many cut off short. All along the roadside wounded were walking and being carried down. Shells bursting all about…, horses killed, wagons knocked out, dead men everywhere, some ghastly sight…”

Cyril Spear. Nelson Evening Mail, 4 Mar 1916

Rain made life in the trenches wet and miserable. On 18 September Cyril wrote:  “Rain continued all day.  We had to evacuate our trench and tried to make it watertight. The cooks’ galley caved in at dinner time so we had bully and bread and butter. Tea ditto. At night we tried to make ourselves comfortable amid the mud and slush.  Overcast, wet through and most of us covered with mud.  During (the night) we managed to boil dixie and nearly suffocated with smoke.”

Mud was also experienced during the Battle of Passchendaele. In October 1917: “It took us seven and eight to a stretcher to bring in our [injured] man over two or three miles of mud and shell holes.   The mud at times was knee–deep and the going was awfully rough and hard on the chaps. Coming down, salvos of shells [simultaneous discharge of artillery]…seemed to follow us…one salvo dropping very close to us…The hardest work I have done; never knew a man could feel so heavy.” 

Mrs Ethel, Sister Barnes, later Mrs Cyril Spear, Nelson Provincial Museum: 283324

Soldiers encountered poison gases as Cyril recorded on 23 September 1916:  “We were awakened by the cry of ‘gas!’ and at once put on our helmets, shells falling in the vicinity in the meantime. Two fell just alongside our trench, covered us with mud… It was tear gas that the Huns were putting over and our eyes commenced to smart and run, and our throats became parched.”

Letters and parcels from home provided much needed relief for soldiers. Cyril received and replied to a constant supply of mail from his mother, sisters, cousins and friends at home.  On 3 January 1917 he recorded receiving a parcel containing: “cake, biscuits, duff, cigarettes, sardines, sweets – great joy when opening up parcel.” 

By November 1918 Cyril was in Belgium where rumours the war was close to ending had been circulating for some weeks. The ceasefire finally came on 11 November, Armistice Day, but was not immediately confirmed to those at the front, as Cyril recorded that night: “In view of vagueness of news no enthusiasm shown, but I think most of us are hoping that such is really so.”

It was true. Cyril arrived back in New Zealand in May 1919⁵ and was discharged from the army. He rejoined the staff of the Nelson Evening Mail and in 1920 married a former war nurse, Ethel Barnes.⁶ Sadly Ethel’s health had suffered as a result of her war service and she died aged 39 on 31 July 1923. Cyril died on 13 April 1958 aged 79.  Both he and Ethel are buried at Wakapuaka Cemetery in Nelson.

2016

George Lawrence and the elephants of Wakefield

The Waimea South Historical Society was recently gifted two intriguing photographs, of elephants bathing in the Wai-iti River and penned beside the Methodist Church on the corner of Arrow and Edward Street, Wakefield.

Elephants bathing in the River Waiiti. George Lawrence Collection Tasman District Libraries

The photographs were taken by George Taylor Lawrence, grandfather of the donors, Doug and Sally Lawrence. This is George’s story, and the story behind the images.

George Taylor Lawrence was born in Invercargill in 1859, after his father, William Taylor Lawrence emigrated with his wife from Herefordshire, England in the 1850’s.  As a relatively well-to-do settler William was able to purchase 300 acres of land on the outskirts of Invercargill, 13 acres of which became devoted to fruit growing that provided the raw ingredients for jam making. His jam became well known throughout the South Island.

Here William raised a family of three daughters and five sons, one of whom was George. George was a religious man and a keen amateur astronomer.  In the sprawling farm house he built on the Maple Grove estate, behind his father’s house, he constructed a central tower - a place to meditate and pray but also to see the stars.

In 1881, when he was 22 years of age, George was a passenger on the steamship Tararua which ran aground on a reef at Waipapa Point while on a regular journey between Port Chalmers and Invercargill and later sank with a large loss of life.  After two unsuccessful attempts to get passengers off the ship it was decided to try once more to send a boat, with a strong swimmer with a rope to reach the shore.  George volunteered.¹ 

Wreck of the Tararua 1881 from Illustrated N Z Herald

Despite George’s efforts, 131 people perished in this shipwreck.  George was one of the 20 fortunate survivors.   He had risked his life in getting a rope to shore and raising the alarm, yet ironically it was that act of courage which ultimately saved him.

George continued on with his life at Maple Grove, working in the family industry which he and his brothers had established.  Although a very sociable person he did not talk much about his dramatic swim on that autumn night in April.  As he neared retirement the warmer weather of the north beckoned and, when the opportunity arose, he moved to Wakefield in 1919, aged 60.

Laurel Bank Wakefield. George Lawrence Waimea South Collection

George’s first wife - a daughter of Samuel Evans, draper, of Dunedin -  and two of their three children had died in the influenza epidemic of 1919.  His second wife, Emily - who was 27 years his junior and aged 33 at this time - had originally been the housekeeper at Maple Grove. As a baby she had narrowly escaped death during the Tarawera earthquake of 1886 when a falling brick from a chimney top just missed her pram which was parked outside. Her connection with the family began when she started work in their jam factory.  Together George and Emily had three children: George (Bruce), William (Victor) and Elsie.  Bruce joined the RNZAF, trained in Canada but was shot down over Amiens in January 1945.  Victor (Vic) went to work in the Post Office.

Laurel Bank Wakefield1924. George Lawrence Waimea South Collection

Having sold his share of the jam making business in Invercargill, George purchased an Edwardian villa on two and a half acres of land situated on a terrace at the entrance to Wakefield Village, which was named Laurel Bank.  Here he developed an interest in poultry farming and lived the life of a retired country gentleman with an interest in croquet, garden parties and photography.

Croquet on the lawn at Laurel Bank Wakefield. George Lawrence, Tasman District Library

When Perry Brothers' Circus made one of its periodic tours of the country, in the summer of 1928-29, George found plenty of subject material for his growing photo collection. The circus began its tour in the south and worked its way slowly northwards.  On 4 December 1928 The Lake Wakitip Mail reported on the impressive circus of “60 people, 20 horses and ponies, 10 cages of wild animals comprising lions, tigers, leopards, hyena, wolves, Tasmanian Tiger, and many other rare animals, including Jumbo the huge elephant and his pal, Tommy, the midget” ² coming to Queenstown.

Elephants visiting the Methodist Church. George Lawrence Tasman District Library

By the 3^rd of January, 1929, they had reached Christchurch.  On the 17^th January the New Zealand Herald reported what could have been a disastrous incident.³ En route from Westport to Murchison, near Hawkes Craig, a cage containing a lion, lioness and a tiger slipped off a trailer and rolled down a steep bank.  Fortunately a gang of railway workers was on hand and, with the aid of an elephant which had to be brought back six miles to the scene, the animals were eventually recovered without significant damage.

Sometime between the 17^th and 29^th of January, when they were reported performing in Wellington, they must have passed through Wakefield, where the elephants were photographed by George beside the Methodist Church in Edward Street and bathing in the Wai-iti River – no doubt by the Pigeon Valley Bridge. 

George enjoyed a comfortable 26 years of retirement in Wakefield as a “man of means” able to entertain, and even own a car during the depression years.  George, hero of the Tararua, was 86 years old when he died at home in 1946.

This story was first published in "Windows on Wakefield" a community newsletter for the town of Wakefield, Nelson.

 Roger Batt 2016

Te Rae o Karaka Historic Reserve occupies a narrow headland that juts out into Totaranui (Queen Charlotte Sound), between Waikawa and Whatamango Bays. It is situated on what is now known as Karaka Point, which lies approximately 5 to 6 miles north-east of Picton.

Karaka Point. Photo supplied by Picton Historical Society

A substantial pa was built on this promontory by early Ngāti Mamoe residents, and succeeding tribes took ownership, peacefully or otherwise, until North Island iwi gained possession of gun power and began their movements and raids to the south. It was Te Atiawa who swept into Totaranui (Queen Charlotte Sound) in the summer of 1829-30, to attack the resident tribes who had never before met with guns. As news of the disastrous attacks in East Bay and Endeavour Inlet was received from lucky escapees, large numbers of Rangitane and some of their Ngāti Apa allies retreated to the pa at Karaka Point, believing it to be impregnable.

Karaka Point. The information board. Image supplied by Picton Historical Society

Researcher and writer on the history of the region, William John Elvy, described the action as told to him by Tuiti Makitanara: “As the invaders approached, the stockade was manned and the warriors on the fighting towers prepared to hurl spears and big stones at the enemy below. As they approached, the attackers singled out the principal chiefs of the defenders by name and insultingly called out that they would be cooked and eaten on the morrow. The defenders replied in similar vein. “Whilst these compliments were being bandied about, some of the attackers landed and took up positions in the manuka scrub on the landward side of the pa. When these were in position, the attackers drew near in their canoes and started picking off the defending chiefs and warriors with their muskets. This death from a distance caused a panic amongst the defenders, who opened the gates on the landward neck of the headland and tried to escape up the hill. But the hidden assailants in the scrub then joined in the attack, and the occupants of the pa were effectively ambushed and totally annihilated.”

Karaka Point. The pou whenua. Image supplied by Picton Historical Society

For some years the land on the deserted headland was cleared and farmed, but was later gifted to the nation and the site became a Scenic and Historic Reserve in August 1953; the site is also recorded on the Archaeological Society’s file as number 516/198. While it is a beautiful site, with regenerating bush and lovely views, it deserves to be respected as a place where terrible events occurred. Rangitane have erected a beautiful carved pou representing the story of Kupe’s successful battle with the giant wheke, and interpretive boards are present to describe the visible landscape features. The once impregnable cliff-face now bears a safe, fenced pathway from shore to lookout.

This story by Loreen Brehaut was first published in the Seaport Scene, Picton.

Ropoama Te One, a rangitira of Te Atiawa, was one of the signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi, and one of the main signatories to the Waitohi Purchase, by the New Zealand Company, in 1850.

After the latter the Maori people resident in Waitohi (Picton) moved to Waikawa, and it was soon after this that typhoid broke out amongst them. Maori oral history tells that Ropoama found a spring of fresh water and encouraged his people to use it, so ending the spread of disease. We do not have a date for this particular epidemic, as there were few written records of the Maori population at the time, and the Marlborough newspapers did not start publication until the 1860s.

Ropoama's well. The plaque. Image supplied by Picton Historical Society

Ropoama himself died in 1868, so we know the typhoid outbreak was before this time. However, an event does not have to be written down to have occurred, and it remained strong in the memories of the kaumatua and was passed down to their children and grandchildren.

In 1978, when there was a strong Maori presence in Picton Historical Society and its President was Meteria (May) Horrey née Tonga Awhikau, the Society decided to mark this unscripted past event with a monument. At that time most people knew from their elders what had occurred, and the Society Minutes of 2 May 1978 record: "After a discussion in Committee it was decided that subject to the approval of the land owner and the Elders of Waikawa the Society would erect a plaque on or near the site of Ropoama’s well in Waikawa where fresh water was discovered and broke the Typhoid epidemic that occurred when the Maoris shifted to Waikawa after the Waitohi purchase." This plaque cost the Society $257 that year, a considerable sum for a small voluntary organisation.

It is believed that the actual site of the spring was on the other side of Waikawa Road from where the plaque was placed. The monument remains as the only solid reminder of the episode.

This story by Loreen Brehaut was first published in Picton in the Seaport Scene.

It has been suggested that the Māori name for this bay should perhaps be O-Tapu, (a sacred place) or Ata-po (early dawn). Captain Cook named it Shag Cove, but later explorers gave it the present name to celebrate Cook’s second vessel, Resolution.

Resolution Bay. Postcard. Courtesy Picton Museum and Historical Society

There were no Māori reserves set up in this bay with the Waitohi Purchase in 1850, and very soon the land was taken over by farmers. As early as 1869, James Boon bought 10 acres in the bay from William Keenan (for £5.7.6d), and it was said to be William Woodgate, who settled in the bay and whose later history was both sad and scandalous, who first found stibnite, the ore of antimony, on the Resolution beach. Mining this was eventually to become a thriving local industry around the corner in Endeavour Inlet.

When the land was being cleared, there was a thriving timber mill in the bay, and several farms were established, the early names being Turner, Ewing, Vipond and Adams. The Pullmans were there early, engaged at first in milling, and still there during World War I when two of them were called up and one was wounded.

Early photo of Resolution Bay. Picton Museum and Historical Society

An aided school operated on and off (depending on the number of children) from 1904 onwards, and  the teacher would board in a local farmer’s house. In the 1905 election there were 17 voters in the bay, which suggests quite a community. By the late 1920s, when the McManaway family moved there, the school was still running and the Annear family were living on the next farm. The two families, plus children from Endeavour Inlet, made up the 12 or so pupils in the little school.

It was there that they experienced the Murchison earthquake quite dramatically in June 1929: ‘You couldn’t stand up, and the noise was just deafening. We thought the end of the world had come! Oh, it was terrific – you’d swear the hills were coming down! ‘ recalled John McManaway. Reg McManaway said that, years later, the school was washed away when a flood brought a huge slip down through the bay.

In those days the farmers sent large amounts of their butter up to Picton to be credited against their orders from the local grocers, according to Eric McIsaac up to 130 pounds of butter a week.

Most of the land in the Bay has now gone back to the Crown. Eventually a holiday camp was established, and from the 1960s Douglas and Libby Brown owned and ran this – a big change from an architecture business in Wellington. Today, walkers on the Queen Charlotte Track are pleased to find the Resolution Bay lodge serving coffee at the first stop after Ship Cove.

This story was first written by Loreen Brehaut for the Picton paper Seaport Scene

It has been suggested that the Māori name for this bay should perhaps be O-Tapu, (a sacred place) or Ata-po (early dawn). Captain Cook named it Shag Cove, but later explorers gave it the present name to celebrate Cook’s second vessel, Resolution.

Resolution Bay. Postcard. Courtesy Picton Museum and Historical Society

There were no Māori reserves set up in this bay with the Waitohi Purchase in 1850, and very soon the land was taken over by farmers. As early as 1869, James Boon bought 10 acres in the bay from William Keenan (for £5.7.6d), and it was said to be William Woodgate, who settled in the bay and whose later history was both sad and scandalous, who first found stibnite, the ore of antimony, on the Resolution beach. Mining this was eventually to become a thriving local industry around the corner in Endeavour Inlet.

When the land was being cleared, there was a thriving timber mill in the bay, and several farms were established, the early names being Turner, Ewing, Vipond and Adams. The Pullmans were there early, engaged at first in milling, and still there during World War I when two of them were called up and one was wounded.

Early photo of Resolution Bay. Picton Museum and Historical Society

An aided school operated on and off (depending on the number of children) from 1904 onwards, and  the teacher would board in a local farmer’s house. In the 1905 election there were 17 voters in the bay, which suggests quite a community. By the late 1920s, when the McManaway family moved there, the school was still running and the Annear family were living on the next farm. The two families, plus children from Endeavour Inlet, made up the 12 or so pupils in the little school.

It was there that they experienced the Murchison earthquake quite dramatically in June 1929: ‘You couldn’t stand up, and the noise was just deafening. We thought the end of the world had come! Oh, it was terrific – you’d swear the hills were coming down! ‘ recalled John McManaway. Reg McManaway said that, years later, the school was washed away when a flood brought a huge slip down through the bay.

In those days the farmers sent large amounts of their butter up to Picton to be credited against their orders from the local grocers, according to Eric McIsaac up to 130 pounds of butter a week.

Most of the land in the Bay has now gone back to the Crown. Eventually a holiday camp was established, and from the 1960s Douglas and Libby Brown owned and ran this – a big change from an architecture business in Wellington. Today, walkers on the Queen Charlotte Track are pleased to find the Resolution Bay lodge serving coffee at the first stop after Ship Cove.

This story was first written by Loreen Brehaut for the Picton paper Seaport Scene

Kahikatea Bay is named for the giant trees which once grew there, down to the shoreline.

Aerial view of RNZAF recreation camp in Curious Cove. Defence Department image

The land was first offered for sale to settlers in 1859, and was probably bought then by Donald McCormick, who had arrived with his family from Scotland in 1855 and first settled in Maraetai (Tory Channel). Over the next few years he gradually acquired all the land between there and Karaka Point, which includes Kahikatea Bay.

Once the McCormick family had built their homestead in Whatamango, they sold off their other blocks, first to someone claiming to be an English baronet called Sir Charles Forbes, thought to be a remittance man, and almost certainly a fraud.

By 1880 two men, Wachsmann and Bush, were on the Kahikatea land. Bush was drowned in a boating accident,¹ and the land came on to the market in 1890. It was passed in, eventually going to the Landall family at the upset price of one penny an acre. Later, John Landall was also drowned from his boat,² so there was an unlucky succession of owners.

The first time the name Curious Cove appeared in the press was in 1905, when it was mentioned in the NZ Illustrated Magazine.³ It was not until motor launches came into use that the bay was accessible as a holiday destination.

Mr A.C. Manning collects stores from a boat which is also delivering students, 1961 The accommodation huts can be seen in the background. Picton Historical Society image.

Until the Second World War started it was used for club camps, and when the Americans entered the War they developed it as a potential convalescent base, but never actually used it. The RNZAF then took it over for use as a holiday and recreation site, until it was bought by A.C. Manning who advertised it in December 1945 as a ‘modern, well-equipped Holiday Camp.’

The land from there to Karaka Point was bought at the same time by Fred Musgrove for forestry. During the 1960s Curious Cove was the venue for the annual university students’ summer gathering, with a somewhat riotous reputation. Since then it has changed hands several times, but, still under the name of Kiwi Ranch, it continues to offer youth and family vacation opportunities.

This story was first written by Loreen Brehaut for the Seaport Scene Picton paper

Timothy Millington and George Coward, two Englishmen who came to Marlborough via Australia and Nelson, started the Marlborough Province’s first newspaper in Blenheim, or the Beaver, on 6 January 1860. This was the Marlborough Press and County of Sounds Gazette.

Timothy Millington, the first editor of the Marlborough Press. Picton Historical Society

The following year, when Picton became the capital of the Province and the Provincial Government moved to Picton, the newspaper followed suit and set up an office in upper High Street, on the site now occupied by the Z petrol station. The original building was later replaced by a more modern building.

Millington and Coward’s partnership ended in 1865, and ownership of the paper passed to Alfred Thomas Card (whose memorial is the fated paddle-pool on Picton Foreshore). After him was Richard Hornby – his efforts were described as ‘one of the liveliest specimens of journalism ever issued in Marlborough.’ George W. Nicol and Hans Christian Madsen took over the Press in 1904, and continued to run the paper until 1943. The competing paper, Marlborough Express, began publication in 1866, and made the occasional attack on its rival, which it once described as ‘suffering from a severe bilious attack.’

Marlborough Press building, from an early painting of Picton. Picton Historical Society

On Saturday 6 August 1921, a fire broke out in the Marlborough Press buildings, which were practically destroyed. The shop and residential portion of the building, utilised as offices and storerooms, were totally destroyed, but the machinery departments were saved. Nicol and Madsen continued running the paper until 1943, when Mr S. Davey purchased it; he continued until 1949, when the Marlborough Express purchased the plant.

Unfortunately most copies of the Press were lost in the fire, and many more went to the dump. Mike Taylor, former President of Picton Historical Society, heard at the RSA one evening that, while the old Seymour house was being demolished (on the present Mariners Mall site), the cellar of the old George Hotel was found underneath. In it were bundles of the Marlborough Press, tied up with ribbons, as well as all the Seymour papers and letters. All had been loaded on to a truck and taken to the dump. Mike went up there and broke through the gate with a crowbar, but was able to rescue only a few copies – the rest had been bulldozed into a slurry. Picton Museum has those few copies, some 200 pages of which has been transcribed, and there are a few more in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.

This story was first written by Loreen Brehaut for the Seaport Scene

In early Pakeha settlement, the tradition of a voluntary military service was carried over from England, and a Volunteer Corps was formed in New Zealand, mainly because of the perceived threat from militant Maori. The volunteer groups were active in the North Island during the Land Wars, and a Picton Corps was formed in 1860 as a unit of the Marlborough Rifle Corps. 

Nineteen men were sworn in with Capt. C.W.A.T. Kenny, veteran of the Crimean War, as commander. Their splendid uniforms in scarlet and blue, with black silk lace trimmings, must have been startling! (Later photos show more appropriate military dress.)

William B. Esson in uniform, late 1860s. Picton Historical Society

Shooting matches were often held between different groups, followed by dinner, and there was an annual military ball. Several of Picton’s early mayors took active roles in the corps, which later became known as the Waitohi Rifles.

There was some excitement in 1868, when news came from Havelock that the Pelorus Maori were ‘showing signs of uneasiness’, and ‘a native disturbance was imminent.’ Fifty Volunteers apparently stood ready, but nothing came of it.

In the first days November 1881, 20 Picton Volunteers and the same from Blenheim and Spring Creek boarded the Government vessel Stella to cross the Strait and proceed to the ‘front’, while crowds cheered and the band played God Save the Queen. The ‘front’ was the Government attack by 640 soldiers and nearly 1000 volunteers on the peaceful village of Parihaka on 5 November 1881. They were met by singing children offering them bread. Marlborough needn’t be proud of that contribution.

The main activities were shooting matches and social gatherings, but when the South African War started in 1899 and volunteers were called for (to fight in the British Army), New Zealand sent 6,500 men, mostly from the various Volunteer units around the country. I can remember my grandfather, who was of that vintage, singing, ‘We’re soldiers of the Queen, my lads, we’re here for England’s glory, lads…’

The Picton Khaki Girls, complete with rifles, March 1900. Miss Hallet (Captain), Instructor Arthur Clinch. Picton Historical Society

During this war, women’s volunteer groups were encouraged, mainly to help with fundraising. Members were recruited from leading families, with an emphasis on physical appearance! Picton was an early starter in this, and the Picton Volunteers Women’s Corps was formed, popularly known as ‘Khaki Girls’.

The Waitohi Rifles contested enthusiastically in drilling and shooting events, training camps and Easter manoeuvres with other groups. A solemn church parade was held in Picton when Queen Victoria died in 1901, with the Holy Trinity Church bell tolling, and later attendance at the Proclamation of King Edward VII.

The Volunteer system ended in 1910 with the passing of the Defence Act, 1909. After that, all men between 18 and 25 had to register for Compulsory Military Training, and all schoolboys in cadets, a system which lasted until 1972.

This story was first written by Loreen Brehaut for the Seaport Scene

One of Nelson's older Institutions - the Nelson City Luncheon Club  voted to cease activity at the end of 2016.  The Club had been active for 72 years but in the later years had seen a drop in membership.

The gavel and bell of the Nelson City Luncheon Club

The Club was founded at the end of the Second World War by a group of Nelson men who were missing the comradeship of being in the forces, the National Reserve or the Home Guard. They wanted to continue the fellowship of the war years.

They decided to meet every fortnight for lunch, generally with a speaker. There were no strings attached and it was not intended for the group to become another "service club".

For many years the membership consisted of me and the objectives of "good fellowship, civic pride and an interest in Nelson" have always been paramount.

In more recent years, women have been accepted as members and a first woman first took the chair in 2007.

The membership over the years has been a "who's who" of Nelson business and professional men and women and many of the speakers have been not only local, but national and even international, including the Governor General of the day and various Ambassadors.

With numbers dwindling and age precluding people from taking on the necessary duties it was decided to bring the Club to a close. The assets have been distributed according to the objectives and full and informative archives are held at the Nelson Provincial Museum's archive facility at Isel Park.

December 2016