Story: Memorials and monuments

This memorial to Sir John McKenzie, the minister of lands in the Liberal government of the 1890s, was put up in 1929 on Puketapu, just south of Palmerston in Otago. McKenzie had worked there soon after his arrival from the Scottish Highlands in 1860, and subsequently bought his first farm in the area. He won fame and the affection of many small farmers for his efforts in unlocking both the large estates and Māori land. Soon after McKenzie died, two memorials were erected to his name. One was a cairn on top of Pukehiwitahi, overlooking his first farm, and the second was at Cheviot in North Canterbury, recognising his role in breaking up 'Ready Money' Robinson's large Cheviot Hills estate. The cairn collapsed and the memorial on Puketapu was initiated by Sir Joseph Ward as a replacement.