Around 200 people were on hand at Nelson’s Botanic Reserve to watch a game of football played under Rugby rules.
Nelson City
Events In History
5 October 1866
Burgess, Kelly and Levy were hanged. Joseph Sullivan, the fourth member of the 'Burgess gang', received a life sentence after turning Queen's evidence and helping convict his co-accused.
21 January 1859
Enjoying a cold drink on a hot afternoon was not always as simple as adding ice from the freezer to water from the refrigerator. At one time the ice made a much longer journey.
7 April 1856
The first state secondary school in New Zealand, Nelson College, opened in temporary premises in Trafalgar St with a roll of just eight boys. It eventually attracted boys from around the country as well as the local area. It now has a roll of over 1000 and continues to take both boarders and day pupils.
1 February 1842
The Fifeshire arrived in Nelson with immigrants for the New Zealand Company's first settlement in the South Island.
Articles
Regional rugby
The passion and parochialism of provincial rugby 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. Read the full article
Page 21 - Tasman rugby
History and highlights of rugby in the Tasman
Biographies
Edward Stafford was New Zealand's youngest leader and a stable influence on the early colonial government. He held the post of premier on three different occasions - 1856 - 1861, 1865 - 1869, and 1872.
Nelson-born Charles Monro was credited with introducing rugby to New Zealand.
Thomas Brunner’s exploits in the north and west of the South Island between 1846 and 1848 were the greatest single piece of overland exploration in New Zealand's European history.
Nelson is the largest urban area in the upper South Island, positioned on the shores of Tasman Bay. The site of the city was chosen in 1841 as it had the best harbour in the region – Nelson Haven – and was close to the fertile Waimea Plains. Māori have lived in the region since the 1300s, and knew the area that is now Nelson city as Whakatū. In 1858 Nelson became a city when Queen Victoria made it the seat of an Anglican bishop. Yet it had just over 5,000 people, and cattle still wandered the streets. Nelson grew very slowly from the 1860s until the 1950s, when population growth increased and new suburbs developed.
Meaning of place name
As Wellington had been named on honour of Britain's most famous soldier, the New Zealand Company felt it was fitting to call the settlement across the strait by the name of her most famous sailor - Vice-Admiral The Viscount Nelson.
