The Hokitika town clock also serves as the South African War memorial.
The Westland South African War and Coronation Memorial Clock Tower was unveiled by Mrs Seddon, the Premier’s wife, in Hokitika, on 3 June 1903, in front of her husband, General Babington and his staff, and the West Coast Battalion of Volunteers, Cadets and returned troopers.
Over three thousand visitors arrived by train to hear speeches by the Premier, Mayor, Mr Guinness, the Member for Grey, the Hon. Holmes, and General Babington.
The clock tower commemorated the coronation of Edward VII, the dispatch of 130 Westland men to South Africa, and four troopers who lost their lives in the war.
The foundation stone was laid in February 1902 before a crowd of two thousand, in pelting rain by Premier Seddon, who performed a full Masonic ceremony as the 'Acting Grand Master representing the New Zealand Grand Lodge.'
Further information
- Telegrams - Southland Times, 4 June 1903, Page 3
- The Westland War Memorial - Nelson Evening Mail 15 February 1902, Page 2
- 'Sander and Sons’ Eucalypti Extract - Wanganui Chronicle, 4 June 1903, Page 4
- Advertisements - West Coast Times, 20 September 1902, Page 3
- Chris Maclean and Jock Phillips, The Sorrow and the Pride: New Zealand War Memorials, GP Books, Wellington, 1990
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