New Zealand's oldest memorial to a Pakeha has been registered as a Category I historic place by the country's lead heritage agency, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Arthur's Stone - named after 10-year-old Arthur Taylor who died after falling off his horse 168 years ago - marks the exact spot between Kerikeri and Waimate North where the boy died.
It is also New Zealand's first memorial to a road accident victim, and a direct forerunner of the white wooden crosses commemorating road accident victims at the place of death that happens today.
"Arthur was one of missionary Richard Taylor's children. From Taylor's diary, we know that on October 12 1840, he and Arthur were riding to Te Puna to accompany Caroline Taylor - the wife of Richard and mother of Arthur - on a return trip from the mission station there," says the Historic Places Trust's Northland manager Stuart Park. "Not long into the trip, Arthur whipped his horse and it sped off. Arthur was ... shaken off, though his foot was caught in a stirrup and he was dragged for about a hundred metres receiving several kicks in the process - including one to the head."
Arthur was buried at Te Waimate, his cloak and cap placed on the coffin along with his Bible and prayer book. His father preached the funeral sermon choosing as his text the words written in Arthur's Bible, "in the midst of life we are in death".
"Within a few weeks of this tragic event, Richard Taylor had erected a large basalt column on the spot where Arthur had died, and then cleared a circle around the stone and sowed clover seeds," says Mr Park.
"The finishing touch to his son's memorial was to whitewash the stone."
In 1843 the Taylor family left for Wanganui. The man who had signed the Treaty of Waitangi as a witness - first at Waitangi and later at Te Waimate - was to play a significant role in mission activity, education and community life in Wanganui.
NZ's oldest Pakeha memorial recognised
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