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Croucher's Flour Mill and Bakehouse
In 1873 the view across Queen Street was very different from what you see today. A large flour mill stood where the Richmond Mall is now. In front of the mill was a bakehouse. In its heyday the...
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Nelson Hospital
The development of health servicesNelson’s first hospital was a lean-to attached to the barracks built on Church Hill in the 1840s. Various private cottage hospitals provided rudimentary medical...
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The Tetley Affair
Joseph Tetley, a swindler and a gentlemanMarlborough was shaken by a scandal in the 1860s, when a Member of Parliament ran off to South America with £40,000 of investors’ money, and never returned.When...
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Nile Street Walk
Nine Near NileThis walk takes you through a slice of Nelson's history. Take an actual or virtual walk around the streets using the GPS and audio links below. The audio guide gives you additional...
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Nelson Literary Ramble
This walk takes you on a literary tour of Nelson. Take a real or virtual stroll around the streets and find out more about the places you pass on the audio guide, or map the walk using the Everytrail...
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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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John Ribet of Hope Junction
John Ribet 1835-1890. From France to Kawatiri : Mine Host of the Hope Junction HotelRibet was born in France in 1835, and baptised into the Roman Catholic Church as Jacques-François. He was a man of...
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George Fairweather Moonlight 1832-1884
Good as GoldLegends clung around George Moonlight, from the provenance of his unusual names- it was rumoured he was born on a fine night (Fairweather), abandoned and found in the moonlight; to his...
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Newman Brothers
Running a transport service in the days when unformed roads wormed their ways through virgin bush up steep hillsides and across rivers and mountain creeks tested man and beast. Nelson's Newman brothers...
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Murchison
Emerging from the bushThe discovery of gold and the search for grazing land were the initial driving forces behind the establishment of the township of Hampden, which later became known as Murchison.1...
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Glenhope Pioneers
The pioneers of the Hope Valley are commemorated by a memorial at Glenhope.The small rock cairn was originially erected by the Owen Women’s Institute in 1935, close to Korere on the Nelson-Murchison...
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St Marys Catholic Church Nelson
The first Catholic Mass in Nelson was held in May 1844. The Church’s first chapel was built on Sion Hill (now Shelbourne Street) at a cost of £40.In 1850 the Catholic Church became a Parish in its own...
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George Batt
George Batt, Drover and Bullocky, 1854- 1931George Batt was born in 1854 in the Waimea Plains area near Nelson, the sixth child of John and Ann Batt who had emigrated from Hampshire in 1842.When he was...
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Wakapuaka Cemetery
WakapuakaOver the years the spelling of this area has altered between Whakapuaka and Wakapuaka, as has the pronunciation, depending upon changing dialects. The name originates from the legendary...
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Early Nelson College
Fire, earthquake and a Nobel laureateNelson College was established in 1856 with high hopes that Nelson would become the ‘Eton of the South’.Nelson College. Principal's Residence on the left. Copy of...
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Father Antoine Marie Garin (1810-1889)
On May 9, 1850, Father Antoine Marie Garin arrived in Nelson. During the next 40 years Father Garin would contribute hugely to the development of education in the area as well as the establishment of...
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Anzac Old boys - World War II
Grenville McFarland with the College Rugby teamClick image to enlargeThree of the young men from Nelson College who lost their lives in World War II, as recorded in the Nelsonian, the Nelson College...
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Theodore Rigg and World War One
Theodore Rigg (KBE, 1888-1972) was highly regarded as Director of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson from 1934-1956. During World War One, as a Quaker, he devoted himself to philanthropic...
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Dun Mountain Railway (1862-1907)
The Dun Mountain Railway was officially opened amidst great fanfare on Monday 3 February, 1862. From the port, across the city, the horse-drawn tramway then climbed from Brook Street to a height of...
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The Native Tenths Reserves
The New Zealand Company, a private company formed in Britain and supported by the British Government, established a colonisation scheme for New Zealand in the 1840's.The Company wanted to avoid some of...
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