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Nelson's aviation history
Aviation’s influence on Nelson has been profound. With challenging road access, no outside rail link and the barrier of Cook Strait, Nelson had the reputation of being a ‘sleepy hollow’. A number of...
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Nelson's war memorials
ANZAC Day on 25 April each year is a time to remember those who died in war. Nelson has many memorials, which reveal some of the stories of those who died. To visit the memorials, download either the...
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Suffragists – Mary Ann Muller and Kate Edger
A woman who concealed her true identity under the pen name Femina was New Zealand’s pioneer suffragist. A few years later the founding principal of Nelson College for Girls lent her support to the...
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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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Nelson and Women’s Suffrage
The Women’s Suffrage Petition of 1893, which was a major contributor to the success of the Electoral Act in that same year, giving women the right to vote, is now available online with the original...
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Nelson Pottery
Nelson/ Tasman's ground-breaking potteryThere is some evidence that the use of clay may date back to early Māori settlement, but the history of clay use in the Nelson region is a European one....
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Auckland Point School
Auckland Point School Through the Decades 1927 - 2011Auckland Point School was once one of the largest schools in Nelson, opening in 1927 with a roll call of four hundred children. 84 years on, there...
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Esther Mary White
Esther White, 1883-1959, was a Quaker philanthropist who, as the wife of Theodore Rigg, settled in Nelson.Esther grew up in a Quaker family in the United States of America. Her father died early and...
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Eelco Boswijk
Eelco Boswijk: Never a Dull MomentEelco Boswijk 19 Dec 1992. The Nelson Provincial Museum, The Nelson Mail Collection, C13423 Click to enlargeListen to the 2012 Spectrum broadcast on Eelco ...One-time...
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The Nelson Bank
Nelson led the way with its own moneyA One Pound note of the ‘Nelson Bank' of Morrison and Sclander dated 1 July 1851. The reverse of the note is plain. It was probably printed in Nelson. Click to...
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Settlement in Stoke
Stoke was once a swampy area with numerous small streams. When Maori arrived in this area, it was a wetland with numerous streams draining water from the hills to the sea. Covered with flax and raupo...
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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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St John Ambulance Nelson 1932 -1945
The exact date when the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem first came into being is unknown although it was about 1070, when a hospice - a place of care - was established in Jerusalem by...
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Robinson Bros of Stoke
Robinson Bros in Main Road Stoke was originally an export orchard set up in 1910 by Thomas Robinson. Thomas was born in Clough, Northern Ireland in 1845 and sailed to New Zealand in 1873. He spent...
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Port Nelson timeline
Port Nelson has been integral to the development of Nelson, and has a long and fascinating history in its own right. This timeline highlights significant events in its development to 2001.Nelson Haven...
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Frederick Tuckett 1807-1876
Chief surveyor, explorer, acting NZ Company resident agentFrederick Tuckett (1807-1876) The Nelson Provincial Museum, OP 295095Click to enlargeFrederick Tuckett trained as a civil engineer and was...
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The Philanthropist and the Cawthron Institute
It was a love of science and the foresight of a Nelson philanthropist, Thomas Cawthron, that led to the establishment of an institute that is now a world leader in aquaculture and freshwater and marine...
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Anzac Old Boys - Boer War
Three young Nelson men, who died in the Boer war..William Aubrey Jennings (2 May 1877 - 29 November 1900)1William JenningsPhoto supplied by Cheryl CarnahanClick image to enlargeWilliam Aubrey (Aub)...
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Nelson and Women’s Suffrage
The Women’s Suffrage Petition of 1893, which was a major contributor to the success of the Electoral Act in that same year, giving women the right to vote, is now available online with the original...
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Fellworth House
History of the houseDignitaries, eminent scientists and many more, have passed through the doors of Fellworth House since it was built in 1876. The opulent 620 square metre home was designed for one of...
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