Events In History
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12 August 1895Baby-farmer Minnie Dean hangedIn 1895 Minnie Dean became the first (and only) woman to be hanged by law in New Zealand. Known as the 'Winton baby farmer', she had been convicted of the murder of baby Dorothy Edith Carter after a sensational trial in Invercargill. Read more...
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5 February 1867Opening of railway from Invercargill to BluffThe 27-km line between Invercargill and Bluff was the third public railway in New Zealand. Southland's railway ambitions helped drive the province into bankruptcy. Read more...
William Cargill
Often seen out in his blue bonnet and tartan plaid in early colonial Dunedin, Captain William Cargill was the first leader of the Free Church of Scotland’s settlement in Dunedin.
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Regional rugby
The passion and parochialism of provincial rugby has helped give the game a special place in New Zealand’s social and sporting history. Read brief histories, highlights and quirky facts about each of New Zealand's 26 regional rugby teams.
- Page 29 - Southland rugbyHistory and highlights of rugby in the Southland
Invercargill is New Zealand’s southernmost city. Mostly flat, Invercargill stretches over an open plain beside the Waihopai River estuary. John Turnbull Thomson, chief surveyor for the Otago province, selected the site for the new town, and laid out the streets in 1856. After Southland briefly separated from Otago province in 1861, Invercargill became the centre of the new province. The gold rush in Otago’s Wakatipu district, closer to Invercargill than to Dunedin, boosted the town in 1863 but was not repeated. Immigration, promoted by the government during the 1870s, saw the population increase. Invercargill was marked by its Presbyterianism. Its churches were substantial constructions. Presbyterians were a strong force in voting the town ‘dry’ in 1905; it stayed that way until 1943. Between the world wars (1918–39), Invercargill rivalled Whanganui for the rank of largest town after the four main centres. It acquired city status in 1930.
