William Hall Memorial Reserve (Thames)

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The oldest Arboretum in NZ with a large range of native & introduced plant & tree species.
Brunton Crescent, Thames.

Obituary, Weekly News, 27th May 1915.
Mr John William Hall, a very old and respected resident of Thames, died on Monday, aged 85 years. He was a chemist and a native of Leicestershire, and came to New Zealand on the ship "Egmont" in 1857. With his cousin, Mr Bassett, he made a tour of the North by a Cutter, inspecting land. He then purchased a farm at Mangere in partnership with the late Colonel Lyon, and served with the Militia for Home Defence during the Maori Wars, and was at Thames at the opening of the goldfields where he went into business as a Chemist, having served his apprenticeship in London. He was in partnership with Mr Thomas Spencer. His native tree plantation near Thames is well known to botanists and he has distributed native tree seeds all over the world. He was a veritable encyclopaedia on all matters relating to New Zealand plants and ferns.