Nelson Region – founded in 1841, the South Island's oldest city
Nelson, known in Māori as Whakatū, was established in 1841 and became a city by British royal charter in 1858, making it the oldest city in the South Island and the second-oldest settled city in the country. Māori settlement began around seven hundred years ago, and some of New Zealand's earliest settlements were in the Nelson and Marlborough area. Waitaha people are believed to have been the first to quarry argillite here and developed the Waimea Gardens complex of more than 400 hectares on the Waimea Plains. From the early 1600s Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri were the dominant tribe. Eight iwi are mutually recognised in the wider region today. Share your memories and photographs with us.