Whanganui’s South African War Memorial, which was unveiled in December 1906, occupies an elevated position in Cooks Gardens. The monument has historical and social significance for its association with New Zealand’s involvement in that conflict, and for its association with significant individuals, including the Rt Hon Richard Seddon and King Edward VII. It symbolises New Zealand’s commitment to the British Empire, the country’s fledgling national identity, and the community’s desire to commemorate the local volunteers who died during the war.
The Whanganui region, dominated by the river of the same name, has a long history of ahikāroa and kaitiakitanga by tangata whenua. For iwi and hapū, Te Awa o Whanganui, the Whanganui River, is a living being that physically and spiritually nurtures the land and people between Tongariro Maunga and the sea. For centuries it was a major food resource and transport route. In 2017 the fundamental importance of the river was recognised in law when it was declared a legal person, Te Awa Tupua. The Whanganui settlement was established in 1840 and as such is one of the country’s oldest cities, and it expanded to become a regional centre. Cooks Gardens, the setting of the South African War Memorial, gained its name from vegetable gardens at the foot of York Hill, which was the site of a military stockade from the mid-1840s.
The South African War (1899-1902), between Britain and the Boer republics of South Africa (Transvaal and the Orange Free State), was the first overseas war to which New Zealand sent troops. Approximately 6,500 New Zealand soldiers and 35 nurses served, with a total of 230 casualties. Within a month of the war coming to an end, the Wanganui Borough Council proposed a monument ‘to mark the part played by the people of this district…as well as to stand as a perpetual reminder of King Edward’s Coronation’. As part of a local celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII in August 1902, two oak trees were planted in Moutoa Gardens / Pākaitore, one of which was to ‘celebrate the signing of peace in South Africa.’ The South African Memorial Committee was formed that year, and the location, design, and wording of the memorial’s plaques were debated for the next few years, although the inclusion of a captured field gun was signalled from late 1902.
In December 1905, a 30-foot-high Aberdeen granite obelisk was transported to Whanganui, followed in March 1906 by West Coast (Cape Foulwind) granite for the construction of a splayed base of stacked rocks. The memorial included four bronze plaques produced by A & T Burt, which acknowledged: those who died in the conflict (two panels), the coronation of King Edward VII, and the death of the Premier Rt Hon Richard Seddon. The memorial was unveiled by Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward on 10 December 1906, who declared: ‘the nations of the world had been shown that the British people were one in sentiment, one in desire, and one in action when the defence of the Empire was at stake.’
In 1938 or 1939 the memorial was dismantled and mounted on a nearby site as part of the construction of the Golden Gates, which commemorated the city’s centenary and formed the St Hill Street entrance to Cooks Gardens. A German-manufactured field cannon (Krupp gun) that had been captured during the South African War and shipped to New Zealand was mounted alongside the monument until circa 1941 when it was removed due to its deterioration.
Shortly after the monument’s unveiling, concern was expressed that it was a ‘tasteless, tactless mutilation of a memorial’ because it was not solely a war memorial. Despite this, Whanganui’s memorial, one of 49 South African War monuments constructed in this country, has endured for over 120 years. The plaques list each of the 13 troopers who died during the conflict, from a total of 278 men from the district who served, helping establish a pattern that was to be repeated on a much larger scale following the First World War.
The Whanganui region, dominated by the river of the same name, has a long history of ahikāroa and kaitiakitanga by tangata whenua. For iwi and hapū, Te Awa o Whanganui, the Whanganui River, is a living being that physically and spiritually nurtures the land and people between Tongariro Maunga and the sea. For centuries it was a major food resource and transport route. In 2017 the fundamental importance of the river was recognised in law when it was declared a legal person, Te Awa Tupua. The Whanganui settlement was established in 1840 and as such is one of the country’s oldest cities, and it expanded to become a regional centre. Cooks Gardens, the setting of the South African War Memorial, gained its name from vegetable gardens at the foot of York Hill, which was the site of a military stockade from the mid-1840s.
The South African War (1899-1902), between Britain and the Boer republics of South Africa (Transvaal and the Orange Free State), was the first overseas war to which New Zealand sent troops. Approximately 6,500 New Zealand soldiers and 35 nurses served, with a total of 230 casualties. Within a month of the war coming to an end, the Wanganui Borough Council proposed a monument ‘to mark the part played by the people of this district…as well as to stand as a perpetual reminder of King Edward’s Coronation’. As part of a local celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII in August 1902, two oak trees were planted in Moutoa Gardens / Pākaitore, one of which was to ‘celebrate the signing of peace in South Africa.’ The South African Memorial Committee was formed that year, and the location, design, and wording of the memorial’s plaques were debated for the next few years, although the inclusion of a captured field gun was signalled from late 1902.
In December 1905, a 30-foot-high Aberdeen granite obelisk was transported to Whanganui, followed in March 1906 by West Coast (Cape Foulwind) granite for the construction of a splayed base of stacked rocks. The memorial included four bronze plaques produced by A & T Burt, which acknowledged: those who died in the conflict (two panels), the coronation of King Edward VII, and the death of the Premier Rt Hon Richard Seddon. The memorial was unveiled by Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward on 10 December 1906, who declared: ‘the nations of the world had been shown that the British people were one in sentiment, one in desire, and one in action when the defence of the Empire was at stake.’
In 1938 or 1939 the memorial was dismantled and mounted on a nearby site as part of the construction of the Golden Gates, which commemorated the city’s centenary and formed the St Hill Street entrance to Cooks Gardens. A German-manufactured field cannon (Krupp gun) that had been captured during the South African War and shipped to New Zealand was mounted alongside the monument until circa 1941 when it was removed due to its deterioration.
Shortly after the monument’s unveiling, concern was expressed that it was a ‘tasteless, tactless mutilation of a memorial’ because it was not solely a war memorial. Despite this, Whanganui’s memorial, one of 49 South African War monuments constructed in this country, has endured for over 120 years. The plaques list each of the 13 troopers who died during the conflict, from a total of 278 men from the district who served, helping establish a pattern that was to be repeated on a much larger scale following the First World War.
