William Nelson (15 February 1843 – 16 November 1932) was a New Zealand industrialist and farmer[1] described in his obituaries as "the father of Hawkes Bay".
They settled in Hawkes Bay but their farming ventures were unsuccessful and William returned to his father's business in Warwick, England in the early 1870s leaving Fred in New Zealand.
[1] Fred and William, now back in New Zealand, established in 1880 a boiling down and canned-meat plant at Tomoana just north of Hastings in Hawke's Bay.
[2] By the middle of the 1890s Nelson Brothers Limited had the largest share of New Zealand's frozen meat export trade.
A large part of the funds realised were used to improve local sports facilities and create William Nelson Skatepark.