South Island
The South Island officially named Te Waipounamu, is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean; the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres. It has a temperate climate, it has a 32 percent larger landmass than the North Island, as a result is nicknamed the "mainland" of New Zealand by South Island residents, but only 23 percent of New Zealand's 4.9 million inhabitants live there. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population and wealth due to the 1860s gold rushes; the North Island population overtook the South in the early 20th century, with 56 percent of the population living in the North in 1911, the drift north of people and businesses continued throughout the century. In the 19th century, some maps named the South Island as Middle Island or New Munster, the name South Island or New Leinster was used for today's Stewart Island/Rakiura.
In 1907 the Minister for Lands gave instructions to the Land and Survey Department that the name Middle Island was not to be used in future. "South Island will be adhered to in all cases". Although the island had been known as the South Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the North Island, the South Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board named the island South Island or Te Waipounamu in October 2013. Said to mean "the Water of Greenstone", this name evolved from Te Wāhi Pounamu "the Place Of Greenstone"; the island is known as Te Waka a Māui which means "Māui's Canoe". In some Māori legends, the South Island existed first, as the boat of Maui, while the North Island was the fish that he caught. In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article, it is normal to use the preposition in rather than on, for example "Christchurch is in the South Island", "my mother lives in the South Island".
Maps, headings and adjectival expressions use South Island without "the". Charcoal drawings can be found on limestone rock shelters in the centre of the South Island, with over 500 sites stretching from Kaikoura to North Otago; the drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, portray animals and fantastic creatures stylised reptiles. Some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including Haast's eagles, they were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, local Māori did not know the origins of the drawings. Early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha, they were absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Māmoe in the 16th century. Kāti Māmoe were in turn absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Māmoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Māmoe links in their whakapapa and in the far south of the island. Around the same time a group of Māori migrated to Rekohu, where, in adapting to the local climate and the availability of resources, they evolved into a separate people known as the Moriori with its own distinct language — related to the parent culture and language in mainland New Zealand.
One notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, began migrating to the northern part of the South Island. There they and Kāti Māmoe fought Ngāi Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu. Kāi Tahu continued conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled including Banks Peninsula. From there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura. Ngāti Toa visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade; when they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha. Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. In November 1830 Te Rauparaha persuaded Captain John Stewart of the brig Elizabeth to carry him and his warriors in secret to Akaroa, where by subterfuge they captured the leading Kāi Tahu chief, Te Maiharanui, his wife and daughter.
After destroying Te Maiharanui's village they killed them. John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā. Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men sapped the pā, they attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe. In 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped. Fighting continued with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made a major incursion into Kāi Tahu territory. By 1839 Kāi Tahu and Ngāti Toa established peace and Te Rauparaha released the Kāi Tahu captives he held. Formal marriages between the leading families in the two tribes sealed the peace; the first Europeans known to reach the South Island were the crew o
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists; some wicket-keepers have the skills of a specialist batsman and have been referred to as all-rounders, but the term wicketkeeper-batsman is more applied to them if they are substitute wicketkeepers who bowl. There is no precise qualification for a player to be considered an all-rounder and use of the term tends to be subjective; the accepted criterion is that a "genuine all-rounder" is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win him/her a place in the team. Another definition of a "genuine all-rounder" is a player who can through both batting and bowling "win matches for the team". By either definition, a genuine all-rounder is quite rare and valuable to a team operating as two players. Confusion sometimes arises. For example, West Indies pace bowler Malcolm Marshall achieved ten scores of 50 or above in 107 Test innings between 1978 and 1991, but had a batting average of less than 19.
He would be termed a "useful lower-order batsman", or indeed "a bowler who bats a bit". A specialist batsman/woman may be termed a "useful change bowler" and a good example of this is Australian Allan Border, who in a Test match against the West Indies in Sydney in January 1989 took 11 wickets for 96 runs as the conditions suited his used left-arm spin. One of the main constraints to becoming a recognised all-rounder is that batsmen/women and bowlers "peak" at different ages. Batsmen/women tend to reach their peak in their late twenties after their technique has matured through experience. Conversely, fast bowlers peak in their early to mid twenties at the height of their physical prowess. Other bowlers spinners but fast bowlers who can "swing" the ball, are most effective in their careers. In 2013, Ali Bacher used statistical analysis to argue that there had only been 42 genuine all-rounders in the history of Test cricket, he rated Garry Sobers as the best, followed by Jacques Kallis. One used statistical rule of thumb is that a player's batting average should be greater than his/her bowling average.
In Test cricket, only three players have batting averages that are 20 greater than their bowling average over their entire careers (with: Garfield Sobers, Jacques Kallis and Wally Hammond. However, some other players have achieved such a differential over significant parts of their careers, such as Imran Khan. Doug Walters achieved the 20-run average differential with a batting average of 48.26 and a bowling average of 29.08, however he was regarded as an occasional bowler who could break partnerships rather than a genuine all-rounder. In overall first-class cricket, there are several players with higher batting averages. Statistically, few can challenge Frank Woolley who had a batting average of 40.77 and a bowling average of 19.87. Woolley took over 2000 wickets in his career, scored more runs than anyone except Jack Hobbs and is the only non-wicketkeeper to have taken more than 1000 catches. Many all-rounders are better at bowling than vice versa. Few are good at both and hardly any have been outstanding at both.
Thus the terms "bowling all-rounder" and "batting all-rounder" have come into use. For example, Richard Hadlee had an excellent bowling average of 22.29 in Tests and a solid batting average of 27.16, leading him to be termed a "bowling all-rounder". Meanwhile, a player like Jacques Kallis is known as a "batting all-rounder". Batting all-rounders may not bowl much due to injury concerns, or their batting skills are far better than their bowling to begin with to the point they revert to being known as a batsman. V. E. Walker of Middlesex, playing for All-England versus Surrey at The Oval on 21, 22 & 23 July 1859, took all ten wickets in the Surrey first innings and followed this by scoring 108 in the England second innings, having been the not out batsman in the first, he took a further four wickets in Surrey's second innings. All-England won by 392 runs. On 15 August 1862, E. M. Grace carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. Bowling underarm, he took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs.
However, this is not an official record. The first player to perform the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in an English season was W. G. Grace in 1873, he scored 2139 runs at 71.30 and took 106 wickets at 12.94. Grace completed eight doubles to 1886 and it was not until 1882 that another player accomplished the feat. In the 1906 English cricket season, George Herbert Hirst achieved the unique feat of scoring over 2000 runs and taking over 200 wickets, he scored 2385 runs including six centuries at 45.86 with a highest score of 169. He took 208 wickets at 16.50 with a best analysis of 7/18
Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 180 km north of Christchurch. Kaikoura became the first local authority in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve recognition by the EarthCheck Community Standard; the town has an estimated permanent resident population of 2,150. The town is the governmental seat of the territorial authority of the Kaikoura District, politically a part of the Canterbury region; the infrastructure of Kaikoura was damaged in the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, which caused two deaths in the area. The bay and surrounding region was uplifted by as much as 2 metres. From 1853 to 1876, Kaikoura was administrated as part of the Nelson Province. In 1876 the Kaikoura County was formed. On 14 November 2016 a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the South Island just after midnight. It triggered a small tsunami. One thousand tourists and hundreds of residents were stranded in Kaikoura after the earthquake cut off train and vehicle access.
The Kaikoura Peninsula extends into the sea south of the town, the resulting upwelling currents bring an abundance of marine life from the depths of the nearby Hikurangi Trench. The town owes its origin to this effect; the name Kaikōura means'meal of crayfish' and the crayfish industry still plays a role in the economy of the region. However Kaikoura has now become a popular tourist destination for whale watching and swimming with or near dolphins. There is a large and observed colony of southern fur seals at the eastern edge of the town. At low tide, better viewing of the seals can be had as the ocean gives way to a rocky base, navigable by foot for quite some distance, it is one of the best reasonably accessible places in the world to see open ocean seabirds such as albatrosses and shearwaters, including the Hutton's shearwater which nests high in Kaikoura mountains. A strategic plan for the future of the Kaikoura coast is being developed by Te Korowai o te Tai o Marokura, the Kaikoura Coastal Guardians.
The town has a beautiful setting, as the Seaward Kaikoura mountains, a branch of the Southern Alps, come nearly to the sea at this point on the coast. Because of this, there are many walking tracks through the mountains. A common one for tourists is the Mt. Fyffe track, which winds up Mt. Fyffe, gives a panoramic view of the Kaikoura peninsula from the summit. Mt. Fyffe owes its name to the first European family to settle in the Fyffe family; the cottage that they lived in, built in 1842, still stands, is now a tourist attraction operated by Heritage New Zealand. The construction of the cottage is unusual in that the supporting foundations of the house are made of whalebone. At the 2013 census, the largest employment industries in the Kaikoura District were accommodation and food services, agriculture and fishing and retail trade. Takahanga Marae, a marae of Ngāi Tahu and its Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura branch, is located in Kaikoura, it includes the Maru Kaitatea wharenui. At a provincial level, the area of Kaikoura belonged to the Nelson Province.
When the Marlborough Province split off from the Nelson Province, Kaikoura became part of that new province, with the Conway River the new southern boundary. Provincial government was abolished at the end of 1876, counties were formed instead. Kaikoura was from 1877 governed by Kaikoura County; the county's boundary was adjusted northwards in 1940 to take over most of the East Coast Riding of Awatere County. There were desires for land from Cheviot County to transfer to Kaikoura County, but the petition lapsed. In 1952, there were moves for a borough to be formed for Kaikoura township, but the underlying concerns from which the initiative resulted were addressed in different ways and no borough was formed. A 1971 scheme to form a Hurunui County would have seen Kaikoura County lose the area south of the Hundalee Hills, but this did not proceed; the 1989 local government reforms disestablished all counties, district and regional councils were formed instead. Kaikoura District was formed in the process, with the land south of the Hundalee Hills transferred to Hurunui District as per the 1971 proposal.
At a regional level, Kaikoura belonged to the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council. When the regional council was disestablished in 1992 after only three years and its functions went to the unitary authorities of Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, Marlborough District Council, Kaikoura transferred to the Canterbury Regional Council. In 1993, an elector-initiated appeal wanted the northern 59% of Kaikoura District to be transferred to Marlborough District, but this was rejected by the Local Government Commission. There was a further elector-initiated proposal for Kaikoura District to merge with Hurunui District, but the Local Government Commission rejected this in 2009. In terms of its provincial anniversary holiday, Kaikoura observes the anniversary of Marlborough Province due to its historic association; this meant that the public holiday established through the Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Act 2011 did not apply in Kaikoura District as it only applied to the area where the Canterbury Anniversary Day is observed.
Kaikoura District has an estimated population of 3,830 inhabitants.
Interislander
Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off vessels operate the 50 nautical miles route, taking about three hours to complete the crossing; the inter-island rail ferry service began in August 1962 by the New Zealand Railways Department. The service provided a RORO rail link between its North and South Island networks, allowing NZR to compete directly with coastal shipping companies for inter-island freight, it provided the first RORO road link between the two islands, which saw the Wellington to Picton ferries compete with, completely replace, the Union Company's Wellington–Lyttelton ferry service. Today, the Interislander service is still well patronised despite competition on the Wellington–Picton sea route with Bluebridge and from airlines, carrying around one million passengers and 230,000 vehicles per year on 5,500 sailings.
In 2017, Interislander became part of The Great Journeys of New Zealand, a new tourism brand created by KiwiRail to unite their four scenic passenger services: Interislander, Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, TranzAlpine. Before 1962 the North Island and South Island rail networks were not connected, the New Zealand Railways Department struggled to compete with ships for inter-island transport. In the days before containerisation, rail freight between the islands had to be railed in a wagon to Wellington and transferred onto a ship to Picton or Lyttelton loaded into another wagon before being railed the rest of the way; the Union Steam Ship Company ran an overnight ferry between Wellington using steamers. NZR contracted SAFE Air to run its "Rail Air" airfreight service for freight between the islands, from Paraparaumu to Blenheim, but this was limited to aircraft payloads; the decision to start a rail ferry was made in 1958 by the Cook Strait Transport Enquiry Committee. The enquiry was set up following Union Steam Ship's decision to withdraw the unprofitable Tamahine, built in 1925.
It appears NZR was reluctant to compete with USSC for inter-island traffic, but supplied the New Zealand Railway Officers' Institute with information to put to the enquiry. The Cook Strait Inter-Island Rail and Road Service started on 11 August 1962 with the roll-on roll-off ferry GMV Aramoana; the service increased efficiency, since freight could stay in the same wagon the whole journey, reducing time and money. Aramoana took just 3 hours 20 minutes to cross Cook Strait decreasing time between the two islands for cars and passengers - Wellington to Christchurch travel time was reduced from 11 hours on the Union ferry to 9 hours by Railways ferry and road; the initial service was one sailing each way per day, Wellington to Picton in the morning and Picton to Wellington in the afternoon. The new service led to the decline of NZR's Rail Air service, which saw a dramatic drop in airfreight; the service was an immediate success. At NZ£ 9 10s one way for a family of four and a car up to 4.04 m many people thought the service was overpriced for a Railways-operated service.
However, there was a fine line to tread when it came to setting the price - too low, shipping companies and airlines would claim unfair competition. It was a cash cow for the Railways - in the 1963/64 financial year, it contributed £535,000 of the Railways' £538,500 working profit; the service expanded with the addition of Aranui in 1966, MV Arahanga in 1972 and Aratika in 1974. The Union Company responded to the competition by converting TEV Maori to take roll-on roll-off road traffic and ordering a new RORO ship, TEV Wahine. However, the resurgence was short-lived: on 10 April 1968, Wahine foundered at the entrance to Wellington Harbour during a storm, resulting in 53 deaths. By the time replacement ship TEV Rangatira entered service in 1972, competition from the Cook Strait ferries and increased competition from air travel following the National Airways Corporation's introduction of the Boeing 737 in 1968, saw the Wellington-Lyttelton service become uneconomic; the Union Company withdrew in 1974, after two years under the Ministry of Transport, the service was cancelled in September 1976.
In 1982 Arahura joined the fleet to replace Aranui. The faster Arahura reduced the time across Cook Strait by 20 minutes to three hours; when the New Zealand Railways Corporation was restructured in 1982, the service was renamed "SeaRail". In 1989, it was renamed the Interisland Line, the service became known as The Interislander; the fleet was upgraded with a new livery including Pelorus Jack. In 1991, New Zealand Rail Ltd, including the Interisland Line, was spun off from the Railways Corporation. In 1993, New Zealand Rail Ltd was privatised and became Tranz Rail in 1995. In 1999, Tranz Rail leased DEV Aratere, between 1999 and 2001 disposed of Arahanga and the Aratika. In 2004, Toll NZ bought out Tranz Rail, the Interisland Line was renamed the Interislander. Both ships were repainted in a new livery, with a fern replacing Pelorus Jack on the funnel - he moved to the hull with the logo. In 2005, Toll leased Challenger. Kaitaki was the first Interislander ferry without a rail deck, the first with a bow door.
On 1 July 2008 the New Zealand Government purchased Toll NZ Ltd, including Interislander, becoming part of KiwiRail. In 2011 Aratere was lengthened by adding a 30
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand. It was set up through the Historic Places Act 1954 with a mission to "...promote the identification, protection and conservation of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand" and is an autonomous Crown entity. Its current enabling legislation is the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, it is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Shonagh Kenderdine, a Māori Heritage Council chaired by Sir Tumu Te Heuheu. Past chairs include Dame Anne Salmond; the head office is in Antrim House, while regional and area offices are in Kerikeri, Tauranga, Wellington and Dunedin. It publishes the quarterly magazine New Zealand Heritage. Buildings owned by Heritage New Zealand include the Mission House, the Stone Store, the Te Waimate mission house; the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero is divided into four main areas: Historic Places Historic Areas Wahi Tapu Wahi Tapu AreasThe historic places are organised in two categories: Category I - "...places of'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'" Category II - "...places of'historical or cultural heritage significance or value'"As of 2013, the register contains over 5,600 entries.
The Canterbury earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011 resulted in damage to a number of historic buildings in Christchurch. Post-earthquake redevelopment has caused a significant loss of heritage buildings in Christchurch; the Māori Heritage Council sits within the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and was established by the Historic Places Act 1993. The functions of the Council include: the protection and registration of wahi tapu and wahi tapu areas assisting the Trust to develop and reflect a bicultural view in the exercise of its powers and functions providing assistance to whanau and iwi in the preservation and management of their heritage resources consideration of recommendations in relation to archaeological sites advocacy of the interests of the Trust and Council so far as they relate to Māori heritage at any public or Māori forum; as of 2013 Sir Tumu Te Heuheu is the Chair of the MHC. France - Monument historique Germany - Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz and National Heritage Sites Hong Kong - Historic building, see List of Grade I historic buildings in Hong Kong, List of Grade II historic buildings in Hong Kong and List of Grade III historic buildings in Hong Kong Netherlands - Rijksmonument United Kingdom - Listed building or Scheduled Ancient Monument United States - National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmark SAHANZ Category:New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula, it is home to 404,500 residents, making it New Zealand's third-most populous city behind Auckland and Wellington. The Avon River flows with an urban park located along its banks. Archaeological evidence has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by humans in about 1250. Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it the oldest established city in New Zealand; the Canterbury Association, which settled the Canterbury Plains, named the city after Christ Church, Oxford. The new settlement was laid out in a grid pattern centred on Cathedral Square. Agriculture is the historic mainstay of Christchurch's economy; the early presence of the University of Canterbury and the heritage of the city's academic institutions in association with local businesses has fostered a number of technology-based industries.
Christchurch is one of five'gateway cities' for Antarctic exploration, hosting Antarctic support bases for several nations. The city suffered a series of earthquakes between September 2010 and early 2012, with the most destructive of them occurring at 12.51 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 February 2011, in which 185 people were killed and thousands of buildings across the city collapsed or suffered severe damage. By late 2013, 1,500 buildings in the city had been demolished, leading to an ongoing recovery and rebuilding project; the name of "Christchurch" was agreed on at the first meeting of the Canterbury Association on 27 March 1848. It was suggested by founder John Robert Godley, whose alma mater was Oxford; the Māori name Ōtautahi was adopted in the 1930s. The site was a seasonal dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi, whose main home was Port Levy on Banks Peninsula. Prior to that the Ngāi Tahu referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE.
These first inhabitants were thought to have been followed by the Waitaha tribe, who are said to have migrated from the East coast of the North Island in the 16th century. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngāti Māmoe tribe, they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Following the purchase of land at Putaringamotu by the Weller brothers, whalers of Otago and Sydney, a party of European settlers led by Herriott and McGillivray established themselves in what is now Christchurch, early in 1840, their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843. The First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour; these sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, Cressy. The Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850; the Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, on the model of Christ Church in Oxford.
The name "Christ Church" was decided prior to the ships' arrival, at the Association's first meeting, on 27 March 1848. The exact basis for the name is not known, it has been suggested that it is named in Dorset, England. The last explanation is the one accepted. At the request of the Deans brothers — whose farm was the earliest European settlement in the area — the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, which rises in the Ayrshire hills near to where their grandfather's farm was located. Captain Joseph Thomas, the Canterbury Association's Chief Surveyor, surveyed the surrounding area. By December 1849 he had commissioned the construction of a road from Port Cooper Lyttelton, to Christchurch via Sumner; however this proved more difficult than expected and road construction was stopped while a steep foot and pack horse track was constructed over the hill between the port and the Heathcote valley, where access to the site of the proposed settlement could be gained. This track became known as the Bridle Path, because the path was so steep that pack horses needed to be led by the bridle.
Goods that were too heavy or bulky to be transported by pack horse over the Bridle Path were shipped by small sailing vessels some eight miles by water around the coast and up the estuary to Ferrymead. New Zealand's first public railway line, the Ferrymead Railway, opened from Ferrymead to Christchurch in 1863. Due to the difficulties in travelling over the Port Hills and the dangers associated with shipping navigating the Sumner bar, a railway tunnel was bored through the Port Hills to Lyttelton, opening in 1867. Christchurch became a city by royal charter on 31 July 1856, the first in New Zealand. Many of the city's Gothic Revival buildings by architect Benjamin Mountfort date from this period. Christchurch was the seat of provincial administration for the Province of Canterbury, abolished in 1876. Christchurch buildings were damaged by earthquakes in 1869, 1881 and 1888. In 1947, New Zealand's worst fire disaster occurred at Ballantyne's Department Store in the inner city, with 41 people killed in a blaze which razed
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition: a British-led allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal Blücher; the battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies. Wellington and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them separately in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition. On 16 June, he attacked the bulk of the Prussian army at the Battle of Ligny with his main force, while a portion of the French army attacked an Anglo-allied army at the Battle of Quatre Bras.
Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw north to Waterloo on the 17th. Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington in good order; this resulted in the simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard. Upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon of the 18th, aided by the progressively arriving Prussians. In the evening, Napoleon committed his last reserves, the senior battalions of the French Imperial Guard infantry; the desperate final attack of the Guard was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellington's Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, the French army was routed. Waterloo was Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you saw in your life."
Napoleon abdicated four days and coalition forces entered Paris on 7 July. The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile; this ended the First French Empire and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace. The battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo; the site of the battlefield today is dominated by the monument of the Lion's Mound, constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw. Four days the United Kingdom, Russia and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Critically outnumbered, Napoleon knew that once his attempts at dissuading one or more members of the Seventh Coalition from invading France had failed, his only chance of remaining in power was to attack before the coalition mobilised.
Had Napoleon succeeded in destroying the existing coalition forces south of Brussels before they were reinforced, he might have been able to drive the British back to the sea and knock the Prussians out of the war. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians. An additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French-speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Coalition troops in Belgium were second-line, as many units were of dubious quality and loyalty, most of the British veterans of the Peninsular War had been sent to North America to fight in the War of 1812; the initial dispositions of British commander Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels. This would have pushed Wellington closer to the Prussian forces, led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, but may have cut Wellington's communications with his base at Ostend.
In order to delay Wellington's deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellington's supply chain from the channel ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total army strength of about 300,000 men; the force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, but the rank and file were nearly all loyal and experienced soldiers. Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French overran Coalition outposts, securing Napoleon's "central position" between Wellington's and Blücher's armies, he hoped this would prevent them from combining, he would be able to destroy first the Prussian's army Wellington's. Only late on the night of 15 June was Wellington certain that the Charleroi attack was the main French thrust. In the early hours of 16 June, at the Duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels, he received a dispatch from the Prince of Orange and was shocked by the speed of Napoleon's advance.
He hastily ordered his army to concentrate on Quatre Bras, where the Prince of Orange, with the brigade of Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, was holding a tenuous position against the soldiers of Ney's left wing. Ney's orders were to secure the crossroads of Quatre Br
