Collection Stories
Leamington Cemetery Monument
The following is inscribed on a Monument at the Leamington Cemetery. Maori War This memorial marks the last resting place of eleven men of the Colonial Forces who died during the Maori War, and whose…
Read MoreLooking for a Death in NZ
In the Cambridge Cemetery there are already thousands of potted family histories, a garden and an art gallery of headstones and statues. But the unmarked gaps between the headstones are the most tantalizing. The 3rd…
Read MoreMaungakawa
Maori history tells of a chief, Koroki from whom has descended the Ngatihaua tribe which subsequently occupied the Maungakawa hills and fought under Te Waharoa. Following a defeat of the Ngatihaua by the Arawa Tribe,…
Read MoreMotoring in Cambridge
The first motor car in Cambridge arrived in 1905 and was owned by Mr James Sinclair of the Masonic Hotel. It was a White Steam Car, and took an hour to raise sufficient steam to…
Read MoreMystery Creek
By Bernard Johnson © ‘Mystery Creek’ is clearly a place with an intriguing past, and fortunately a classic local history source gives us the background to the name. In ‘Plough of the Pakeha’ (1975) Eric…
Read MoreThe National Hotel
The National Hotel has always been a Landmark in Cambridge. In 1866 in the infant town of Cambridge, the Alpha (now National) was erected for Mr Robert Kirkwood – his name is perpetuated in a…
Read MoreOld Cambridge
(By K L Wilkinson, From ‘The News and Theatre Courier’ 12 August 1936) ‘Cambridge, my birth-place, still my home-town. This Jubilee time [Cambridge Borough Council 50 years Jubilee] naturally sets free a flood of reminiscences…
Read MorePlunket
As reported in the Waikato Independent on 28 September 1917, ‘A large number of ladies (and several babies) assembled in the Council Chambers for the purpose of forming a sub-branch of the Hamilton centre of…
Read MorePost Masters
When the 3rd Waikato Militia arrived in 1864 the Cambridge Post Office was one of 89 new offices established in the colony. The first Post Master – John Henry Wilkinson – was born in Middlewick,…
Read MorePolice Station
On 11 April 1882 the Waikato Times reported :- “The Government is contemplating the erection of a suitable Police Station at Cambridge. As there is no place at present for the convenience of the local…
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