Statue of William Rees

The bronze statue of William Gilbert Rees stands upon a stone boulder along Marine Parade, overlooking the waters of Lake Wakatipu. Rees, who lived from eighteen twenty-seven to eighteen ninety-eight, was an explorer and surveyor who arrived in this region in eighteen sixty-one to establish a high country sheep farm. He is recognized as the founder of Queenstown, having built the first buildings by the lake before a gold rush transformed the area.