The memorial in c1986:
South African War memorial in Nelson's Queen's Gardens.
The unveiling of Nelson’s monument to its South African war dead in Queen’s Gardens on 4 June 1906 was marked by a general holiday, rugby and hockey tournaments and a parade of six hundred volunteers.
In perfect weather, the Hon. Colonel Pitt unveiled the 4.9-m marble memorial depicting a soldier with a rifle in his hands atop a platform on four pedestals. Pitt spoke of the need for a navy and military training for citizens.
The memorial lists soldiers from the province who made the ultimate sacrifice: Sergeants J. Hawkesworth and W.A Jennings, and Troopers L.M. Tarrant, G. Hyde, P.C. Best, E.G. Emms, F.E. Pahl, J.H. Lunn, G.C.D. Fowler, J.P. Roberts and R.V. James.
Further information
- ‘Nelson News’, Wanganui Herald, 5 June 1906, p. 5
- Chris Maclean and Jock Phillips, The Sorrow and the Pride: New Zealand War Memorials, GP Books, Wellington, 1990
Images: Gretchen Howard, 2010; Jock Phillips and Chirs Maclean, c1986
Find out more about the people listed on this memorial on the Auckland Museum's Cenotaph website