The Early Settlers
Memorial Project at Wakefield Quay

Nelson Anniversary Day commemorates the arrival of the first ship carrying 150 immigrant European settlers to Nelson on 1 February, 1842.

The name of the ship was the Fifeshire; she was greeted on her arrival with a gun salute organised by the small group of people who had arrived on the preliminary expedition in November, 1841 to organise the settlement.

On what ship did your family arrive?

The Nelson City Council website hosts an online database of the early ships records gathered by the Nelson 2000 Trust. You can search this database to find information about your ancestors who made the long voyage from Europe to settle in the Nelson region.

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Five thousand settlers

More than 5,800 settlers arrived in the nine years following the Fifeshire's voyage, on a succession of more than 200 ships — some whose names still grace Nelson's geography, such as the Ajax in 1849. She carried 195 passengers from London, with 12 disembarking in Nelson. To recognise these pioneers, the Nelson 2000 Trust is establishing the Early Settlers Memorial at Wakefield Quay — a large granite slab engraved with details of the sailing ships that arrived in Nelson from 1841 to 1850.

Getting underway

The project got started in 2003 with a $30,000 donation from The City of Nelson Civic Trust, acknowledging the memorial as a link between the Trust, the city's past and its future. Additional supporters include The Rotarians of Nelson, Radio Nelson, and the Nelson City Council.

For more information please write to:

Nelson 2000 Trust c/- 544 Waimea Road
Nelson, New Zealand 64 3 547 2314