Story: Memorials and monuments

The Scottish poet Robert Burns was highly popular in colonial New Zealand, especially among the Scots community. As an expression of Scottish heritage, there were four statues of Burns put up in New Zealand. The first was a large bronze figure in Dunedin's Octagon in 1887, which was a second casting of a bronze statue by Sir John Steell on London's Embankment. It was followed by statues in the Timaru Botanic Gardens in 1913, the Auckland Domain in 1921, and Cass Square in Hokitika in 1923. Click on the locations to see images of the monuments.