Early settlers in Nelson

In my blog about Nelson I forgot to include the photograph of the memorial to the early settlers of Nelson. The memorial is on Wakefield Quay, and beside the sculpture in the photograph below, there is a wall which has much information written on it.  The names of the ships which arrived between 1842 and 1846, as well as the names and occupations of the passengers are written on the wall.

The first ship that arrived included only men, who had trades that were suitable for starting a new Colony.   Interestingly both Gordon, and Jackie, had ancestors on this ship.

The wives and children arrived on a later ship.  On this journey 86 children died due to a whooping cough epidemic, poor food and little medicine.  A tragic journey. And for Jackie' s ancestors, the wife arrived, with only two children as two others had died on the journey, to find her husband had returned to England.  A very hard beginning to a new country. But it did end well for this woman, as she remarried and had many more children.

The names on the wall were often familiar as streets were named after them, and some of their shops and businesses still exist in Nelson.