HOBSON MEMORIAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 12 October 1926, Page 5

HOBSON MEMORIAL

SITE DISCUSSED

(T)y Telegraph.—Special to "The Mail.")

AUCKLAND, 11th Oct

Writing in regard to the Government's long deferred decision lo erect a memorial to Governor Hobson, Canon Haselden .says: '"I think somewhere in Albeit Park" or, better still, at tlit- top of Shorthand Street, would be the place for the. ITobson monument. I can imagine Captain Hobson landing from his jnan-of,war and walking through the fern to the hill and looking all round and saying, 'Yes, the parson is right. This is the place for the capital of New Zealand.' We must remember that the Governor would have made the Bay of islands the capital if Archdeacon Henry Williams bad not persuaded him to wait until he saw Auckland. Archdeacon Williams bad been in the navy himself and that'fact, combined with his great ability, his noble conduct, and bis splendid looks, must have influenced Captain Hobson, He did as Archdeacon Williams asked him, and as soon as he saw Auckland he knew Archdeacon Williams was right. There is a monument to the memory of Archdeacon Williams in the Bay of Islands and there should be one to the memory of Governor Hobson in Auckland, and as he was a naval captain I think il should overlook the harbour."