• Preamble

  WHEREAS during the Taranaki war of one thousand eight hundred and sixty the wives and children of certain of the settlers there (hereinafter called the refugees) were removed from New Plymouth to Nelson, and in order to defray the expense of their support public subscriptions were collected and paid to a committee of management for that purpose elected:

  And whereas shortly thereafter the support of the refugees was undertaken by the Nelson Provincial Government, and afterwards by the Colonial Government, and a sum of fifty thousand dollars was voted by the General Assembly of New Zealand by way of compensation for the losses incurred by the Taranaki settlers through the said war: And whereas after the close of the said war free passages were offered to the refugees from Nelson to Taranaki, of which the great majority took advantage, but some few thereof elected to remain and settle in Nelson:

  And whereas the immediate wants of the refugees being provided for, the Taranaki settlers who thereafter returned to Taranaki took compensation for losses incurred, and those who remained at Nelson became Nelson settlers by election, so that of the sum so subscribed as aforesaid a balance of one thousand dollars remained unexpended, and not required for the purposes for which it had been subscribed; and the same was placed upon deposit in the Union Bank of Australia (Limited), at Nelson, at interest, and has been re-deposited from time to time, and on the sixth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, amounted to three thousand three hundred and thirty five dollars 97¹/₂ cents:

  And whereas the members of the said committee surviving and remaining in New Zealand are Oswald Curtis, William Wells, Edward Everett, and William Thomas Locke Travers:

  And whereas it is desirable that the said sum of three thousand three hundred and thirty-six dollars should be applied for some purpose of public advantage, and for this purpose that it should be expended in the purchase of a certain parcel of land situated in the City of Nelson, known as Trafalgar Park, containing fifteen acres, more or less, and described in the Schedule hereto, to be vested in the Mayor and Corporation of the said city, and to be used as a recreation-ground and for other purposes connected with the athletic sports and other recreations of the inhabitants of the City of Nelson and the surrounding districts; and which parcel of land is now the property of the Nelson Savings Bank, and has been offered by the said Savings Bank to the said Corporation for the sum of three thousand three hundred and thirty-six dollars, less the costs and charges of and incidental to procuring the same to be so vested in the said Corporation:

  The references to “fifty thousand dollars”, “one thousand dollars”, and “three thousand three hundred and thirty five dollars 97¹/₂ cents” were substituted, as from 10 July 1967, for references to “twenty-five thousand pounds”, “five hundred pounds”, and “one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven pounds nineteen shillings and ninepence” pursuant to section 7(1) Decimal Currency Act 1964 (1964 No 27).

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: