Foreword

It is a matter of some regret that this first number of a new volume reverts to being the single Nelson Historical Society Journal. We of the Nelson Historical Society have welcomed and enjoyed the closer co-operation with the Marlborough Historical Society that characterised the years of production of two volumes of the combined Journal. The many Marlborough articles in these volumes have contributed greatly to the interest and the value of the Journal. We have not turned our back on Marlborough, indeed there is a Marlborough sourced article in this number, and we want future articles from our close neighbours on the other side of the hill, who share similar values but focus their activities differently.

The main reason for the change was foreshadowed in Derek Cordes' Foreword to the 1995 number of the Journal. Members of the Marlborough Society have a major and vital commitment to operating their Provincial Museum and Archives Centre and establishing a publication for their own membership. This has left them short of resources to help maintain the combined Journal and the title change is the result.

I want to thank the authors of the articles appearing in this issue. Particularly pleasing is Hilary and John Mitchell's article on Kehu, a man who has always been popularly known only as Heaphy and Brunner's helper. Thank you too to Editor Dawn Smith for her work in maintaining the high standard of the publication, and to Mike Johnston and Jock Braithwaite for negotiating the printing.