Skip to main content

Westland Explorer's Monument

 


In the nearby town of Hokitka (half an hour away) is the cemetery with this monument near the entranceway. It commemorates 4 men who lost their lives between 1863 and 1866 ;
  • George Dobson - road engineer, murdered in 1866
  • Charlton Howitt - explorer, drowned in Lake Brunner 1863
  • Charles Townsend - drowned at Greymouth (probably in the Grey River) 1863
  • Henry Whitcombe - surveyor, drowned in the Taramakau River in 1863
Construction of the memorial started 1868 and the railings were added in 1869.

Linking up with Mosaic Monday.

Labels:

Comments

DB Stewart said…
Monuments for everyday heroes seem so rare now.
7 September 2025 at 09:04
roentare said…
It really captures the hardships and risks faced by those early explorers and settlers of the West Coast
7 September 2025 at 09:42
Bill said…
That's a nice monument honouring those four men.
7 September 2025 at 11:17
magiceye said…
Good to be honoured.
7 September 2025 at 13:11
Tigger's Mum said…
Those early surveyors and engineers performed near miracles with the most basic of equipment. A recent survey on my place turned up an original survey witness mark (we had to dig down about a foot to find the iron rod driven in) and it was precisely where the survey with modern laser equipment said it should be. The old timers put that in using a compass for direction, dragging a brass 'chain' through the bush to measure distance, and siting through a level (theodolyte) to calculate angles of incline. Much respect and they ALL deserve a memorial.
7 September 2025 at 13:13
Jan K. alias Afanja said…
It's nice that those early pioneers are honored with that beautiful monument.
7 September 2025 at 19:54
Tom said…
...a tragic time.
8 September 2025 at 00:43
local alien said…
A monument that differs from the usual... For war heroes or disaster victims. Thank you for showing it. As Tigger says, there are many more that deserve a memorial
8 September 2025 at 00:56
s.c said…
Must have been important members of society to justify such a monument.
8 September 2025 at 02:48
Iris Flavia said…
Sad when you cannot swim.
8 September 2025 at 22:50
EricaSta said…
There are certainly tragic stories behind this memorial. However, I still need to find out more about the men mentioned.

Thank you for sharing at MosaicMonday
9 September 2025 at 19:09
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Auckland Metropolis Museum

In amongt the modern new highrise buildings in Auckland City is this smaller vintage building that is currently for sale (I'd buy it if I had the money).   My research found that:  "It was designed by English-born architect Charles Towle and erected in the early 1930s as the Church of Christ, Scientist, the building's Graeco-Roman facade has towering columns that frame its impressive entranceway, with three ornate timber doors decorated with leadlight inserts providing access to the expansive foyer. Arched ceilings dominate the former congregational high stud space beyond the foyer and numerous picturesque windows provide a light, airy feel and an ambience many office buildings lack. The building housed congregational and Sunday school services for 70 years until it was sold and converted into office space in 2003. A significant refurbishment was also carried out with care taken to ensure that the building's distinctive character remained intact. Special architectural ...
16 comments
Read more

Family

  Photo taken Spring 2024 in Auckland We have been invited to a family reunion in June 2026 which will be held in Auckland so I'm looking forward to catching up with relatives that I haven't seen in over 10 years.  This week we have: Had a good chat with a friend who has also adopted a rescue dog - must arrange a play date. I've bought some non alcoholic liqueurs to mix up for mocktails which have been very nice as I don't really drink. We had a massive wind storm 2 days ago, we were ok but a good friend who lives 20 minutes away had a bolt of lightning strike her house, the result was a blown up power box inside and part of her kitchen got burned, she had to call out the fire brigade to put it out. And I have a question for you; when you add your blog post to a blog meme or a blog link up, do you expect the owner of that blog to at least come back and comment on the other blogs that have linked up to it including yours even if it's only occasionally?  I actually th...
16 comments
Read more

Hail

  Spring is throwing out some strange weather right now. We don't get snow where we live but it is visible on some of the mountains around us over Winter. Last week around 4.30am we had a very loud thunderstorm with hail. It wasn't until an hour or so later my daughter said this is what she saw out on our deck.  Clumps of hail all over the deck and on her hand. Apparently various other suburbs around town got it too. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .
14 comments
Read more