(1810–90).

Founder of the eight-hour day.

A new biography of Parnell, Samuel Duncan appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Samuel Duncan Parnell was born in London on 19 February 1810. He was apprenticed to the carpentry and joinery trade and, in 1834, when he had finished his apprenticeship, he worked in a joinery shop in Theobald's Road, London. This was a period of much social agitation. Inspired by Robert Owen, a Grand National Consolidated Trades Union was being formed. Parnell refused to join the new union unless it fought for shortening the hours of labour. Taunted by his workmates, he left the shop to set up his own business. As soon as he had saved up the money, he paid £126 for an intermediate passage to New Zealand for himself and his wife and for the right to select 100 acres of country land and 1 town acre in the new settlement at Port Nicholson, Wellington, which was being planned by the New Zealand Company.

The Parnells took passage in the Duke of Roxburgh which reached the infant settlement of Britannia (now Petone) on 7 February 1840. Parnell had brought out his own house in precut sections which he erected on the banks of the Hutt River. A fellow passenger, G. Hunter (sen.), then asked him to build a store at Korokoro. Parnell seized the opportunity to put his ideas of shorter working hours into practice. “I must make this condition, Mr Hunter,” he replied, “that on the job the hours shall be only eight for the day.” “Ridiculous, preposterous,” demurred Hunter. “There are twenty-four hours per day given us,” Parnell insisted: “eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want to do for themselves”.

Hunter accepted under protest. A wage of 5s. per day of eight hours was agreed on. Parnell began work on the store but he soon had a quarrel with Hunter and did not complete the job. The eight-hour system caught on, however, despite several attempts to stop it. Incoming ships were met and new arrivals told not to accept any other conditions. Although wages fell to 3s. 6d. for a time, the eight-hour day remained the standard working day for most classes of labour.

From Wellington, the movement spread to other parts of New Zealand and to Australia. In later years, provincial rivalries caused Parnell's claim to priority to be questioned but, although contemporary evidence is lacking, there is no reason to doubt Parnell's own account of the introduction of the eight-hour day in 1840.

On 28 October 1890 Parnell, who had lived all these years in Wellington following his trade as carpenter and builder, was guest of honour at the first Eight-hour Demonstration. He was presented with an illuminated address on behalf of the labouring classes of Wellington and New Zealand and, in his reply, he expressed his pleasure that “the chord struck at Petone fifty years ago is vibrating round the world”. A fortnight later Parnell fell ill. He died at his home in Cambridge Terrace on 17 December 1890 and was accorded a public funeral. Relays of working men carried his body all the way to the cemetery where a socialist ceremony was performed at the graveside.

Labour Day, a statutory holiday since 1899, commemorates the introduction of the eight-hour day in New Zealand by Parnell in Wellington, Samuel Shaw in Dunedin (1849), William Griffin in Auckland (1857), and others. A bust of Parnell stands in the council room of the Wellington Trades Hall.

by Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.

• Samuel Duncan Parnell, Potter, H. W. (1891).

(Tulip growing is carried out mainly in the South Island from Christchurch southwards; the tulip fields are worth a visit in late September and early October.)

Blenheim

Waterlea Park is a well-laid-out recreation ground with a good selection of ornamentals. Seymour Square and Pollard Park feature displays of bedding plants. Blenheim is a centre of flower-seed production produced on specialised holdings.

The Grove Road from Picton to Havelock runs through native bush along the edge of the Sounds. Past Havelock, the main highway from Blenheim to Nelson goes through the Pelorus Bridge Reserve, an area of native bush preserved intact, including many fine specimen trees, especially totara. From Rai Valley a very difficult road leads through magnificent native bush to the Croisilles and the outlying points of Pelorus Sound.

Nelson

Queen's Gardens have a wide range of trees and shrubs, including several rare and unusual species. Britannia Park, and other smaller public parks, provide extensive views across Tasman Bay. Isel Park has many labelled specimens of introduced trees and, further afield, at Wakefield, there are old specimen trees in gardens.

West Coast

Roads to the West Coast pass through Golden Downs State Forest, which includes plantations of labelled specimens of exotics. The road through the Buller Gorge and from Hokitika southwards to the Haast runs through magnificent scenery, with many good stands of native timber. The southern rata is a lovely sight in January.

Christchurch

With its tree-lined Avon and its many large parks and reserves, Christchurch is rightly termed the “Garden City”. Hagley Park has magnificent trees and the Botanic Gardens have a large collection of all types of ornamental plants, well labelled, with a rose garden and display house. The Cockayne Memorial Garden has native plants. Other public parks or reserves have the following notable features: Avon Park, ericaceous plants; Elmwood Park, herbaceous borders; Rising Holme, fine specimen trees; Victoria Park, two rock gardens, one of native alpines, the other of exotic plants; and Deans Bush, Riccarton, a remnant of the once widespread kahikatea swamp forest. “Ilam”, now owned by the University of Canterbury, contains an extensive collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. Throughout the Christchurch area there are many nurseries and attractive factory and private gardens.

Lincoln College is a centre for agricultural and horticultural teaching and research. The Botany Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (research into native plants) has headquarters at Lincoln.

Arthur's Pass National Park, between Canterbury and the West Coast, has comprehensive collections of native plants. There are tracks leading to alpine flower fields.

Mid and South Canterbury

Many of the towns in this district, such as Ashburton, Temuka, Geraldine, and Winchester, have extensive domains planted in exotics and shrubs. Victoria Park at Waimate has bedding displays and Nottingly Park contains many fine specimens of 80-year-old exotics. The Timaru Public Gardens feature roses, herbaceous borders, and conservatories, while Caroline Bay has marine gardens, of special interest being the she-oaks planted for decoration.

Otago and Southland

Oamaru has extensive public gardens with display house, fernery, roses, and beautiful exotic trees. The wide, tree-planted streets are an attractive feature of the town.

Dunedin

The beautifully situated Botanical Gardens include a rose garden, a large rock garden, and a Shakespeare Garden, where plants, referred to in the plays, have been planted. Rhododendrons, in a setting of native bush, and azaleas are a magnificent sight from September until December. Many private gardens contain a considerable number of good specimen plants. Around the city are many parks planted in exotic trees (Jubilee, Chingford) or with remnants of indigenous (Woodhaugh), and there are large municipal exotic plantations on the slopes of Flagstaff. At Whare Flat the flowering kowhais are an attraction in the spring.

Glenfalloch, at Colinswood, near Dunedin, was developed privately and planted with a wide range of trees and shrubs, including flowering cherries, lilies, azaleas, and rhododendrons; it is a garden both for general and for horticultural interests.

Central Otago is rich in deciduous trees, notably poplars and willows, which have superb colouring in the autumn. There is fruit blossom in the spring. Commercial flower seeds, tulips, and gladioli are produced at the Moa Seed Farm, Ettrick. “Daffodil Hill”, Lawrence, is a feature when the narcissus are in flower. The Government Public Gardens at Queenstown, with water lily ponds, bedding displays, and magnificent exotic trees, are set against Lake Wakatipu and a most beautiful backdrop of the Remarkables.

Invercargill has Queen's Park, the principal park of Southland, an area of 200 acres which includes rose, rock, and water gardens and a fine conservatory. There are several nurseries here and in Gore which produce hardier plants.

Stewart Island is noted for its wide range of native flora and fauna.

by John Paiba Salinger, B.SC.(HORT.)(READING), N.D.H., Horticultural Advisory Officer (Ornamentals), Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

Northland

Waipoua State Forest is a beautiful reserve of kauri trees on the road between Dargaville and Kaikohe. The road from Mangamuka to Kaitaia passes through magnificent native bush. Mair Park at Whangarei has native trees and a rose garden. Trounson Park is another reserve of kauri trees, of about 75 acres. It is at Aranga, 7 miles south from Waipoua.

Auckland City

Special features are the Domain and Winter Gardens; the Museum (park land, playing fields, and subtropical-plant houses); the Parnell Rose Garden; the Research Station of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (plant pathology and fruit research); the well-landscaped Ellerslie Racecourse; and the Waitakere Scenic Drive through native bush, with extensive views of the Auckland area.

In and around the city there are many private and commercial growers of lilies, orchids, gerberas, and carnations.

Waikato

Among Hamilton's many reserves and sports grounds is Parara Park and outdoor theatre. Cambridge has tree-lined streets (early street planting) and an extensive domain of native trees and shrubs, with Lake Te Koutu in the centre. At Rukuhia there is the Department of Agriculture's Soil Research Station, and at Te Kauwhata a Horticultural Research Station (viticulture and wine making). Along the Waikato River, which has been transformed in sections by hydro-electric schemes, extensive planting of trees and native plants has been carried out.

Rotorua

There is a wealth of natural and man-made beauty in this district – Lake Okataina; Hongi's Track; Lake Rotoiti; the Government Gardens, with fine examples of Azalea indica and a display house with many subtropical plants; and the Kaingaroa State Forest, which is a huge area of exotic trees.

Bay of Plenty

Tauranga has many private and public gardens with tropical and subtropical plants, some of unusual types. The coastal road from Tauranga to Gisborne, via East Cape, passes through fine scenery, with pohutukawa in flower at Christmas time. The Coromandel Peninsula has native bush, with good kauris.

Gisborne

The Botanical Gardens, with river running through, are very attractive, with plantings of trees, shrubs, and palms. There is an extensive private collection of trees and shrubs at Eastwoodhill, Ngatapa, and at Morere which has mineral baths and is a scenic reserve.

Hawke's Bay

The Marine Parade at Napier, with its avenue of Norfolk Island pines, the Beach Gardens, Clive Square, with roses and palms, and Palm Avenue, Nelson Park, with a fine avenue of mature Phoenix palms, are features of the city. Hastings has the Tomoana Show Grounds, with impressive specimen trees, and Cornwall Park (ornamental plants and a large aviary); and at Twyford, Ormonds Road, there is an oak avenue over a mile long. There are many fine farm homesteads in Hawke's Bay with good collections of ornamental trees and shrubs and, in the higher altitudes, rhododendrons and azaleas. In the gardens around Havelock North there are numerous South African and Australian trees and shrubs.

New Plymouth

At Pukekura and Brooklands Parks there are large collections of trees and shrubs and a fern grotto. The Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust contains an area of 600 acres of native trees and is being extensively planted with rhododendrons, azaleas, and other similar plants. Burgess Park, Main Highway south, has native bush. There are many nurseries in the district.

North Egmont, Dawson Falls, and Stratford Mountain Houses give access to Mount Egmont, with easy tracks through bush to subalpine scrub and alpine meadow. Inglewood, Stratford, and Hawera all have good public parks, and at Waverley there is a large private collection of roses.

Wanganui

The large public park at Virginia Lake has trees, shrubs, and a display house; at Kowhai Park there are specimen trees. Wanganui City streets are planted with many ornamental trees, especially the scarlet gum (Eucalyptus ficifolia), which flowers in January and February. At Bastia Hill there are nurseries specialising in rhizomatous iris and South African and Australian plants. Many private gardens have good collections of camellias, roses, irises, and the like.

Palmerston North

Focal points are the City Square, widely planted with many kinds of flowering plants; Esplanade Gardens, which feature flowering cherries in October and rhododendrons and azaleas to December; Memorial Park, established as a war memorial and laid out for sports and suitably landscaped; and Bledisloe Park, with trees and shrubs. Massey University of Manawatu set in well planted, landscaped grounds, is a centre of horticultural teaching and research. (At present it is the headquarters nursery of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association.) At Milson the Department of Agriculture has a research area on turf and sports-fields management, and a seed testing station. At Long Milford there is a notable private collection of lilies, rhododendrons, and azaleas. In the district are several nurseries specialising in all types of horticultural and ornamental plants.

South Manawatu

At Levin the Department of Agriculture's Horticultural Research Station carries out research in all horticultural crops, including ornamentals. Commercial cut-flower production, especially in flowers such as narcissi, Iceland poppies, violets, and carnations is concentrated around Otaki.

Wairarapa

Masterton has its attractive Queen's Park, with an adjacent modern sports stadium and an interesting children's play area. On the roads near Greytown there are good specimen trees, including oaks and gums. Many farm homesteads have attractive gardens planted up with a wide range of trees and shrubs.

Wellington

The city has many scenic coastal drives, showing a varied vegetation of indigenous and exotic trees, interspersed with areas of gorse. The Botanical Gardens have fine bedding displays, ornamental plantings, and bush walks. The Lady Norwood Rose Garden has a large display house for begonias and other glasshouse plants; and the Otari Gardens, Wilton Road, contain a comprehensive collection of native plants. The coastal Waikanae-Paraparaumu district enjoys a mild climate and many modern gardens have a wide range of subtropical plants.

The Civic Centre at Lower Hutt is an effective illustration of the harmonising of architecture and horticulture. In the vicinity are Jubilee Park, with many native trees, and Percy Scenic Reserve, Petone, with ornamental plants and bush walks.

New Zealand is well-endowed with natural and man-made parks and gardens; there are also many private gardens, but few of these are open to inspection at set hours, as is often the case overseas.

The following list sets out the main parks and gardens, by district or city.

(1850–97).

Zoologist.

A new biography of Parker, Thomas Jeffery appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Thomas Jeffery Parker was born on 17 October 1850, in London, the eldest son of Professor William Kitchen Parker, a noted zoologist and naturalist. The family background was cultural and intellectual, for the father's interests naturally brought the children into direct contact with movements which ultimately led to the establishment of many younger universities throughout the British world. Both he and his younger brother, William Newton Parker, became zoologists and university professors, though his earlier inclination seems to have been towards the field of literature and art. The family ties remained close, even after the brothers were separated by half the world, and it is significant that Parker's first published work was undertaken in collaboration with his father, whilst at the time of his death he was engaged upon a joint book with his brother, who was then professor of zoology at Cardiff.

Parker was educated at Clarendon House School, in London, at the Royal College of Chemistry, and the Royal School of Mines. Here he came under the influence of Thomas Henry Huxley, whose exposition of the “type-method” and the evolution theory made an indelible imprint upon his subsequent outlook. Recognising Parker's unusual talents, Huxley in 1872 invited him to accept the position of demonstrator to his classes at the institution which subsequently was to become the Royal College of Science. During this period, which Parker afterwards regarded as the most significant in his life, he developed his special skills as a teacher, and also collaborated with Huxley in his work on the crayfish.

In 1880 Parker was appointed to the chair of biology at the young University of Otago. For the next 17 years (ending with his untimely death) he was to bring great distinction to his university and to the country of his adoption, partly through his researches, but mainly through the media of a notable series of textbooks which remain standard references after 60 years, and are still widely used in the universities of the world. The first of these was Instruction in Zootomy, published three years after his arrival in New Zealand, though conceived during his apprenticeship with Huxley. It is regarded as the first such work specifically directed towards the laboratory teaching of zoology. This manual was widely used and ran through several editions, including a German translation. When H. B. Kirk established the Biology Department at the future Victoria University of Wellington he introduced Parker's system of instruction, and in later years liked to recall that he had received his own copy of the manual from Parker's hands.

In 1892 Parker began collaborating with a former colleague, W. A. Haswell, by then Challis Professor of Zoology at Sydney, in writing their famous Text-book of Zoology. The task involved five years of laborious correspondence, since the publishers were in London and the authors had no direct contact. Immediately after its publication, in 1897, universities throughout the world recognised what was – for those days – an achievement far in advance of its predecessors. Another colleague (in Britain) was afterwards to record “…the original plan of this beautifully illustrated book …”, and the clarity of the well-balanced descriptions placed it in the front rank of texts, not only in English-speaking countries, but also in Europe. The book, after 60 years, is still prescribed reading in many leading universities.

A lesser work, Lessons in Elementary Biology, had appeared in 1891 and had several editions in English and German. Apart from these, Parker interested himself in museum work (he was curator of the Otago Museum) and developed a method of demonstrating cartilaginous skeletons. He also contributed numerous papers to technical journals.

Parker did not live to see the publication of the Text-book, for although he had passed the final proofs, he died before the first dispatch reached New Zealand. Two severe illnesses in 1895 and 1897 had left him frail, and his last years had been saddened by the death of his wife. Whilst on the way to Shag Valley for a holiday, with his three young sons and his sister, he suffered a sudden relapse, and died on 7 November 1897 at Warrington, where he was buried.

Parker's unassuming manner and his artistic and musical talents endeared him to a wide circle of friends, and he was popular with his students and colleagues. He took part in the social life of Dunedin in the eighties and nineties, serving as president of the Savage Club as well as of the Otago branch of the (then) New Zealand Institute. His tastes were catholic, but discriminating; his acquaintances were drawn from many walks of life. Overseas honours came his way; he was elected F.R.S. in 1888, and F.L.S. shortly before his death; he also held foreign memberships in learned societies in Russia and elsewhere. His early death was widely recognised as a severe loss to science, but on the other hand his achievement far exceeded that of most of his contemporaries in the young colony, and his name remains a byword for meticulous and lucid presentation of anatomical data. He was a competent systematist, as many important papers witness, yet in after years the type-system which he so stoutly championed was to be blamed for the decay of systematic studies in the universities. In New Zealand at present there is a strong revival of interest in systematic zoology, with a consequent partial eclipse of the “type-system” of teaching, but few would deny that the good points of Parker's method can be combined with a broad systematic approach, provided that sufficient time be devoted to the laboratory study of zoology.

by Howard Barraclough Fell, M.SC.(N.Z.), PH.D., D.SC.(EDIN.), F.R.S.N.Z., Associate Professor of Zoology, Victoria University of Wellington.

• Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, Vol. 30, 1897 (Obit)
• Otago Daily Times, 8 Nov 1897 (Obit).

(1892– ).

Air Chief Marshal.

A new biography of Park, Keith Rodney appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Sir Keith Park was born at Thames on 15 June 1892, son of Professor J. Park. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and at Oxford University from which he graduated as D.C.L. and M.A. In the First World War he served in the New Zealand Forces till 1917, when he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, rising to the command of 48th Squadron, and winning a D.F.C., M.C. and Bar, and the Croix de Guerre. Later he became chief instructor of the Oxford University Air Squadron. After the war he was Air Attaché at Buenos Aires, held other appointments in the Air Force, and qualified at the Air College and the Imperial Defence College. In the Second World War he was in command of the RAF at the evacuation of Dunkirk, and of No. 11 Fighter Group. He rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal in 1940 and retired in 1947. He was made G.C.B. in 1946, K.C.B. in 1945, and C.B. in 1940.

(1857–1946).

Professor, mining engineer, surveyor, and explorer.

A new biography of Park, James appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

James Park was born in 1857 at Thaneston Hall in the Valley of the Don, near Aberdeen, and was the son and grandson of an engineer. He studied geology and mining at the Royal School of Mines (1873–74) and came to New Zealand in the Soukar in the following year. In 1878 he joined the New Zealand Geological Survey – then under Dr Hector – as a field assistant. Park transferred to the Department of Lands and Survey as a computing draughtsman (1882–84), but returned to the Geological Survey as a mining geologist. At that time much of New Zealand was only partially explored and Park's duties led him into many remote districts. Three of these especially – the King Country, north-west Nelson, and north-west Otago – called forth all his skill as an explorer and mountaineer. In 1888 he began a study of the Hauraki goldfields, and his extensive memoir was published in 1897. In 1890 he became director of the Thames School of Mines and manager of the Government experimental cyanide works. From 1895 to 1900 he was consultant to the Anglo-Continental Syndicate, a London financial organisation with mining interests on the Hauraki goldfield, but in 1901 he gave this up to become director of the Otago University School of Mines and professor of mining and mining geology. He held these positions until his retirement in 1931. He proved himself an able teacher, and some of his students became leading members of the mining profession.

Park's versatility, keen insight for essentials, and rapid, clear style of writing are manifest in his series of textbooks on mining, geology, surveying, hydraulics, and assaying, all of which have been published in several editions, his first, The Cyanide Process of Gold Extraction (1894) running to 10. His well-documented Geology of New Zealand (1910) is a milestone in New Zealand geology. Park's judgment in practical matters was valued and his consulting work took him to many parts of the world. His wide experience, geniality, and his interests in the personal concerns of his students – particularly in football – made him a popular member of the University staff.

Park married twice: first, in 1880, to Frances, daughter of Captain W. Rogers; and secondly, in 1918, to Janie, daughter of James Gray of St. Clair, Dunedin. He died in Dunedin on 29 July 1946. Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, G.C.B., K.B.E., M.C. (AND BAR), D.F.C., is a son.

by Alexander Russell Mutch, B.SC., A.O.S.M., New Zealand Geological Survey, Dunedin.

• Otago Daily Times, 30 Jul 1946 (Obit).

Paparoa Range, the name meaning “long place”, extends for 29 miles south-south-west from the lower Buller Gorge, between the Grey and Inanga-hua Valleys and Tasman Sea and the coastal plains, and reaches 4,925 ft at Mount Uriah, with many other peaks exceeding 4,000 ft. Glacial action in the past has produced sharp ridges, steep cliffs, and cirques, and many of the deeply incised rivers and streams have glaciated forms. With an annual rainfall of 150–200 in., the range is clothed in thick podocarp forest up to about 3,500 ft, a thin narrow belt of subalpine scrub giving way to mountain grasses on the tops. On poor soils these grassed areas can be as low as 1,000 ft.

The range is part of a complex, faulted anti-clinorium from which the softer Tertiary and Mesozoic sediments have been mainly stripped, exposing a core of granite and pre-Cambrian greywacke, argillite, and gneiss. Mount Buckley (1,145 ft) is a continuation of the structure south of Grey River. The Papahaua Range north of the Buller Gorge is a geological continuation, the gorge being cut as these ranges were uplifted during the early Pleistocene.

Extensive coal seams in Greymouth Coalfield and the smaller, isolated Pyke River Coalfield are the most important economic deposits on the range. Gold has been worked on a small scale on the southern end and, more recently, uraniferous deposits have been investigated in the Buller River, Fox River, and Bullock Creek catchments.

by Frederick Ernest Bowen, B.Sc.(DURHAM), New Zealand Geological Survey, Otahuhu.

(1898– ).

Bishop of Aotearoa and Maori leader.

A new biography of Panapa, Wiremu Netana appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Wiremu Netena Panapa was born at Dargaville on 7 June 1898, son of Netana Panapa, and educated at St. Stephen's College, Parnell, Te Rau Theological College, Gisborne, and St. John's College, Auckland, where in 1921 he gained his licentiate in theology. Becoming a deacon in the same year, he continued in the service of the Church and the Maori mission till 1940. From 1941 to 1944 he was Chaplain to the Armed Forces, and on his return he became vicar of Ohinemutu till 1947, when he was transferred to the Taupo Maori district. High office was now offered to him, and in 1951 he was consecrated Bishop of Waiapu. He was made a C.B.E. in 1954.

Palmerston North is situated in the Kairanga County on four wide river terraces near the right bank of the Manawatu River. This forms the south-west boundary, while the rest of the city is bounded by the Manawatu Plain. Access to the east is by the Manawatu Gorge, cutting through the Tararua Ranges 15 miles away. The Manawatu Plain lies to the west and south, while to the north the land rises to the hills west of the Ruahine Range. The North Island Main Trunk railway passes through Palmerston North, as do the New Plymouth, Hawke's Bay, and Wairarapa lines. By road the city is 90 miles north-east of Wellington (87 miles by rail), 46 miles south-east of Wanganui (57 miles by rail), and 17 miles east of Woodville by road and rail. It is served by the three ports of Wellington, Auckland (339 miles north), and Wanganui, with Wellington handling 80 per cent of the shipping cargo. Mainly steel is shipped through Wanganui. Milson Airport, 3½ miles north of the city, is used by passenger, freight, and aerial-topdressing aircraft. It also has the Royal New Zealand Air Force jet-engine testing plant, workshops, and an aircraft-assembly factory. There is an emergency airport at Ohakea, 18 miles north-west.

In the early years sawmilling was the chief industry of the district, but today its main rural activities are dairying, sheep farming, mixed cropping, cattle fattening, and market gardening. Kairanga County is one of New Zealand's richest agricultural areas and is well known for its stud and pedigree farms. The functions of Palmerston North are essentially regional. It is a transport, market, and commercial centre, with a growing industrial and administrative sector. Secondary industries include foundries, engineering works, timber mills, the manufacture of concrete products, clothing factories, woollen mills, motor and tractor assembling, and printing and steel works. Fertilisers, bricks and tiles, furniture, brushware, and chemical preparations are also manufactured. Among the food industries are bacon factories, the manufacture of confectionery, ice-cream factories, a brewery, cordial manufacturers, and dairy factories. Industries in the district include a freezing works and breakfast-food factory at Longburn (3 miles south-west), and the manufacture of woolpacks, underfelt, and floor coverings at Foxton.

The importance of Palmerston North as an educational centre has become more pronounced in recent years with the opening of a Teachers' Training College and a branch of the Victoria University of Wellington. In 1963 the College amalgamated with Massey Agricultural College (established in 1926) to become Massey University College of Manawatu. Included in and around the College grounds are the Bernard Chambers Veterinary Clinic, the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute (established in 1927), and the Grasslands Division and Plant Chemistry Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The new veterinary college is now an added facility.

The first white man known to have passed through the Manawatu lands of the Ngati Rangitane was Jack Duff, a trader, who in 1830 went up the Manawatu River in a whaleboat, going through the gorge as far as the site of the town of Woodville. He reported his discoveries to the whaling settlement at Porirua and when Colonel Wakefield arrived in New Zealand and heard of the potentialities of the Manawatu district, he visited it in 1840 and subsequently acquired land from the Maoris there. The present site of the city was not discovered by Europeans until 1846 when Charles Hartley, another trader-explorer, heard about it from the Maoris and pushed his way through dense bush to reach it. The place was a natural clearing in the bush, with an area of about 600 acres. The Maoris called it Papa-e-oia (How beautiful it is). On the completion of the Government surveys in 1866–67 the Ahuaturaga Block, including Papaeoia, was sold at the Land Office in Wellington. But the settlement faced setbacks for many years. In 1868, for instance, there were only 30 Europeans in the whole district. Finally, however, the value of the magnificent totara forest at the northern end of the settlement brought sawmillers to the area, the logs being sent downstream to Foxton for shipping. In 1869-70 the military road between Wellington and Hawke's Bay was constructed, bringing with it Cobb and Company's coaches.

It was not until the 1870s that Palmerston North started to grow with any rapidity. One of the earliest arrivals was a former Prime Minister of Denmark, Bishop Monrad. Later, when he returned to his homeland, the Bishop sent to New Zealand a band of Danish settlers who took up land near Awapuni. During the next 30 years the bush was cleared, and the extensive swamps of the Manawatu provided the basis for a flax industry, centred at first on Foxton and later on Shannon and Tokomaru. A railway line from Palmerston North to Wanganui was opened in 1878. Because Government action on the important line to Wellington was delayed, the Manawatu Railway Co., a private venture, was formed to construct it (the opening was in 1886). Five years later the line through the Manawatu Gorge to Napier was opened. Palmerston North was proclaimed a borough on 12 July 1877 and was raised to the status of a city on 11 August 1930. The town was named after Lord Palmerston.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 32,908; 1956 census, 37,775; 1961 census, 43,185.

by Susan Bailey, B.A., Research Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Wellington.