Story: Culture and recreation in the city

Ball, Government House, 1864

Ball, Government House, 1864

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Williams served in the Taranaki and Waikato campaigns of the New Zealand wars. He also enjoyed a ball at Government House in Auckland in October 1864. He entitled his sketch of the occasion 'The horrors of war', and attached it to his dance card from the evening. Formal balls were fairly common events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch during the 1850s and 1860s.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: A-284-027
Watercolour by Edward Arthur Williams

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Culture and recreation in the city - Organised culture before 1900', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/25667/ball-government-house-1864 (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 11 Mar 2010