Tuamarina Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the

Marlborough Region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a distric ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The cemetery predates Omaka Cemetery and has been open to the public for burials since 1866, notwithstanding the burials of twenty two men there in 1843.

History

The site of Tuamarina Cemetery was first used for burials in 1843, when the Rev. Samuel Ironside interred most of the twenty two men who were killed during the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

, the first clash of arms between British settlers and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

in New Zealand after the signing of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

. After fighting began, many of the surviving party of British settlers retreated to the top of the hill, where they surrendered and were subsequently killed as

utu Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

Felix Wakefield Felix Wakefield (30 November 1807 – 23 December 1875) was an English colonist. Early life Felix Wakefield was born in 1807, the seventh child and sixth son of Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susa ...

designated the area as a cemetery and was instrumental in the installation of a monument to the deceased. On 9 March 1866 the monument was unveiled by

William Henry Eyes William Henry Eyes (1819 – 12 April 1907) was a British-born, New Zealand politician who was the fifth Superintendent of the Marlborough Province, and who represented the electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives for many years. ...

and Wakefield in a large ceremony. The original monument face was updated in 1869 after multiple spelling errors were noted. Inside the cemetery is also a memorial to the soldiers from the Marlborough region killed during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. The memorial was unveiled on 3 June 1904 in the presence of a large audience. Also present is a 1917 75 mm Skoda Howitzer, brought back to New Zealand in the 1920s, which acts as a memorial to all servicemen and women buried in the cemetery. Below the cemetery is also the Eileen Duggan Green, a small park with a memorial in memory of poet

Eileen Duggan Eileen May Duggan (21 May 1894 – 10 December 1972) was a New Zealand poet and journalist, from an Irish Roman Catholic family. She worked in Wellington as a journalist, and wrote a weekly article for the Catholic weekly '' The New Zealand ...

who was born and raised in the district. The memorial was unveiled on the 7 October 2009 by then-Deputy Mayor Jenny Andrews as part of Marlborough's 150th Anniversary Celebrations. File:Tuamarina MRD 13.jpg, Wairau Affray Memorial File:Tuamarina MRD 11.jpg, Wairau Affray plaque File:Tuamarina MRD 05.jpg, South African War Memorial File:Skoda Cannon at Tuamarina Cemetery - panoramio.jpg, Skoda Howitzer File:Tuamarina MRD 04.jpg, Plaque beside Howitzer

Notable burials

*John Clervaux Chaytor (1836–1920), Farmer and businessman. Father of Sir Edward Walter Clervaux Chaytor. *

Arthur Wakefield Captain Arthur Wakefield (19 November 1799 – 17 June 1843) served with the Royal Navy, before joining his brother, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in founding the new settlement at Nelson, New Zealand. Early life Arthur Wakefield was born in Essex, a ...

(1799–1843), Royal Navy Captain and a New Zealand Company Official who was killed during the

References

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External links

Official website and internment records
Cemeteries in New Zealand