The Dead Centre Revisited ( Wanganui)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The given waypoint in heading is a safe parking area to start your walk.
Allow a minimum of 15 - 30 minutes to amble around the waypoints - visiting the graves of some of the local dignitaries of yester-year. Care should be taken as this is a graveyard as the waypoints covers an erratic route over undulating ground strewn with walled and/or fenced graves! Just waiting for unwary shins and twisted ankles. Commonly known as the Heads Road Cemetery, this is one of the oldest European cemeteries in New Zealand. The first recorded burial being 25th November 1843 of James Bailey who drowned in the Whanganui river. After collecting all the relevant information, leave the cemetery by the small gate (mentioned above), proceed up the road before crossing the road and entering the opposite cemetery through the adjacent gate. proceed to Final Co-ords. The cache is a small container so bring own pencil,. Checksum A+B+C+D+E+F= 23 S39 56 ABC E 175 02 DEF The final is only just outside the Cemetery. Prominent residents are amongst others: John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) served as the 14th Premier of New Zealand at the end of the 19th century, and was the founder of the Liberal party (the country's first organised political party). In 1866, Ballance and his first wife migrated to New Zealand. After settling at Wanganui, He founded the Wanganui Herald. He became the paper's editor, and remained chief owner for the rest of his life. In 1868, Ballance's first wife died of illness, aged only twenty-four. Two years later, he married Ellen Anderson, daughter of a Wellington architect. In 1875, Ballance entered Parliament, representing the electorate of Rangitikei. From 1879 Ballance represented the electorate of Wanganui In 1890, Ballance became Prime Minister. During his terms of office, Ballance was actively concerned in the advocacy of women's suffrage. In 1893, he died in Wellington of an intestinal disease after a severe surgical operation. A statue was erected to Ballance's memory in front of Parliament House, Wellington. A statue was also erected at Moutoa Gardens, but he was "beheaded" in 1995 during the occupation there. A new statue now sits outside the civic centre building. Henry Sarjeant was born on 19 November 1829 at Rangeworthy, Gloucestershire, England. Henry emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1850s. He bought two farms in the Mangamahu valley, and later purchased land at Whangaehu, Lake Wiritoa and Fordell. Henry Sarjeant was 63 years old when he married Ellen Agnes Stewart, 40 years his junior, at Christ Church, Wanganui, on 11 February 1893Henry Sarjeant had a lifelong interest in the arts. When he died at his home on 12 February 1912, aged 82, he left property valued at £30,000 in for the purpose of building and maintaining an art gallery in Wanganui. His name is thus remembered in what is perhaps the finest provincial gallery in New Zealand. The building was designed in the shape of a Greek Cross and constructed of brick faced with Oamaru stone. Richard Taylor was born on 21 May 1805. He was admitted to the priesthood in 1829, accepted by the Church Missionary Society and on in 1836 he sailed for New Zealand. In 1843 he was appointed to succeed Rev. John Mason at Wanganui. The mission station was at Putiki-wharanui, across the river from Wanganui, and Taylor threw himself into the task of organising the affairs of his charge. He built a mission school and a small hospital at Putiki. He also founded a small boys' school which afterwards became the nucleus of Wanganui Collegiate School. He retired from the mission in 1866, remaining in Wanganui until his death on 10 October 1873. Taylor's name is perpetuated in Taylorville, a suburb of Wanganui. Cemetery Circuit The motorcycle race known as the 'Cemetery Circuit' started in 1951 when, for the first time in New Zealand, public streets were closed off for motor racing. From the beginning, the Cemetery Circuit has attracted competitors of standing. The Boxing Day event has grown over the years, now attracting crowds in excess of 10,000. The Cemetery Circuit is an important part of Wanganui's sporting history, having stopped only once when in 1953, as the enormity of the Tangiwai disaster became clear, and access to the old mortuary interfered with the race.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Purpx gur sbhaqngvbaf??