Nelson Presbyterian Church
Above, the Nelson Presbyterian Church (some time between 1904 and 1933).
A group of Scottish emigrants to Nelson, New Zealand, sought to build this church and their initial subscriptions where published in the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle – 19 August 1848.
Two families listed in this website, Aiken and Gardiner were active in achieving this. And, as you’ll see from the subscribers listed below, McRae, Munro, and McFarlane, this community was strongly interlinked with extended branches of the family.
The Presbyterian settlers of Nelson were at first ministered to by the Rev. John Macfarlane, but in 1849 the Rev. T. D. Nicholson came to be the first minister of Trinity Church, Nelson. In 1857 Nicholson moved into Marlborough and was instrumental in erecting a church at Renwicktown, the first church of any denomination in the district.