This is one of many monuments, plaques and place names in NZ (and overseas) commemorating Ernest Rutherford (Lord Rutherford of Nelson, 1871-1937), rightly ranked as the most influential New Zealander in history. Rutherford was not a physician (nor an All Blacks player!) but rather a physicist whose demonstration of radioactivity in the elements not only earned him a Nobel Prize (strangely, in Chemistry) but also formed the basis for the development of the modern disciplines of diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine. Later, Rutherford became even more influential for describing the structure of the atom—notably through his famed “gold foil experiment”. Dying following surgery for a strangulated inguinal hernia, Rutherford was honoured with a burial in Westminster Abbey – nearby Isaac Newton.
This monument lies on the land where Rutherford was born and spent the first few years of his life. No dwelling remains from this time. It’s a sleepy spot near a busy road on the edge of the town of Brightwater, the central feature being a statue of the man as a scholarly-looking boy (although it’s funny how sculptors struggle with depictions of children), aside which is a helpful series of information boards illustrating the life of the great man. Once you’ve paid your respects you can then retire to the Rutherford Hotel in Nelson for refreshments. And maybe some day you will get to visit his laboratory buildings in Cambridge, Montreal or Manchester. Or maybe even the Rutherford craters on the Moon and Mars.

Date visited: February 2023

Image sources: author, Wikipedia