 Brunner designed St Michael 's Church in Waimea West in 1866 , which was probably New Zealand 's first memorial church . It commemorates Captain Francis H. Blundell , an early settler who died in 1865 and is buried here . The previous church on the site from 1843 was the first church in the Nelson Province . On 5 April 1984 , St Michael 's was registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I structure with registration number 248 . 
