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Nelson's power struggle
Electricity was not commonly used in New Zealand until late in the 19th Century, with some cities and towns using electricity for street lighting and trams from 1888. Many businesses and industrial...
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The Murchison Earthquake
Shaky GroundFor centuries before Europeans arrived, Māori had experienced rū whenua - ‘the shaking of the land'. According to Māori tradition, earthquakes are caused by the god Rūaumoko (or Rūamoko),...
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Te Rangi Recollections
This document of Nelson's Te Rangi maternity hospital recollections was gathered at a meeting at Elma Turner Library in December 2014.The mothers and childrenMargaret GoodmanMargaret was one of four...
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A communal lifestyle
During the 1970s, many alternative lifestylers established communes to escape materialism and the pressures of society. They were attracted to rural Tasman and Golden Bay by the beautiful environment,...
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Havelock
Havelock was a goldrush town which, for a short time, nurtured two of New Zealand’s greatest scientists: Sir Ernest Rutherford and Sir William Pickering.The SS Manaroa leaving Havelock. [The Manaroa...
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Wairau Valley
This story will cover an area on the south side of the Wairau River from the Waihopai Valley to the Wash and across the river to Northbank. A cob house near the Wairau Valley Hotel in the township....
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Pearl Creek
Pearl Creek is a rare and precious wetland, once found right around the Waimea Inlet; habitats like this have been lost over the years to grazing, drainage and reclamation. Today Pearl Creek and its...
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William Harkness
The ideal settlerWhen William Harkness, and his older brother John disembarked from the Thomas Sparks at Nelson on 26th February 1843, it was to be the beginning of a productive and profitable...
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Sarau
Growing Sarau from the German Roots upThe 12,000 mile voyage of the St. Pauli from Hamburg, Germany to Nelson, New Zealand, in 1843 resulted in the eventual establishment of the village of Sarau in the...
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New and altered geographic names of Te Tau ihu
On 1 August 2014 a number of new or altered geographic names took effect as a result of the following Treaty Claims settlements:Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kuia and Rangitāne o Wairau Claims Treaty of...
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Graves of Fairfield Park
Fairfield Park, one of Nelson’s first cemeteries, was created in 1851 and over 78 people were buried here before it closed in 1910. It had various names, including Old Trafalgar Street Cemetery, or...
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John and Anne Batt
Married and Gone to New Zealand - John and Anne Batt seek a new life in Nelson in 1842My great grandparents lived in two small adjacent villages in Hampshire: Barton Stacey and Chilbolton – just three...
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Blick Cloth
Blick Cloth is reputed to be the first woven cloth in New Zealand. It was also known as Nelson Cloth or Nelson Tweed, and was 'described as 'good rough woollen cloth' (Anon,1845:5).1 It was...
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Searching for Matapere
It is now more than 15 years since Kate Mitchell published an account of the search for a Māori tupuna in the family, who turned out to be Metapere Kawhe, the wife of John O’Brian/O’Brien. Since then,...
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Ferdinand Hochstetter (1829-1884)
Just how did a German geologist come to survey the Nelson region's mineral resources, gift a major mineral and fossil collection to the Nelson Institute and lay the foundation of what would become The...
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Endeavour Inlet and the Antimony Mine
Endeavour Inlet was so named by Captain James Cook after his ship Endeavour, which anchored in Queen Charlotte Sound in 1770. At the time this, and other bays near the entrance to the Sound, were...
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Sir Stanley Whitehead
Sir Stanley Austin Whitehead (1907-1976), Knight Bachelor of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and Speaker of the NZ House of Representatives from 1972-1976, is best known locally for...
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Kate Edger
After pressure from local women and governors, Nelson College for Girls opened its gates on Friday, February 2, 1883. At the time there were only two other state funded secondary schools for girls in...
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Paturau
Paturau - a legacy in the making It is hard to believe Harry Richards will turn 80 in December, as he is still very much in the saddle. The rangy character with the boyish grin admits he is slowing...
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Waimea Plains
From Grain and Cows... to Vegetables and WineOver the years land use on the Waimea Plains has changed to meet changing markets and lifestyles. In the early days of Pakeha settlement, grains,...
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