87-547: The Heaphy River is a river of the northwestern South Island of New Zealand. It flows through Kahurangi National Park , rising on the northern slopes of Amohia Peak and initially flowing northwest before turning southwest to reach the Tasman Sea 30 kilometres north of Karamea . Stages of the Heaphy Track follow the lower course of this river, with the track reaching the coast at the river's mouth. The Heaphy River
174-615: A Southern Mayoral Council . Supported by Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton and Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt , Bob Parker said that increased cooperation and the forming of a new South Island-wide mayoral forum were essential to representing the island's interests in Wellington and countering the new Auckland Council . There are 23 territorial authorities within the South Island: 4 city councils and 19 district councils. Three territorial authorities ( Nelson City Council , and
261-536: A Provincial Council that elected its own Speaker and Superintendent. Secession movements have surfaced several times in the South Island. A Premier of New Zealand , Sir Julius Vogel , was amongst the first people to make this call, which was voted on by the New Zealand Parliament as early as 1865. The desire for the South Island to form a separate colony was one of the main factors in moving
348-817: A basis for the government of the colony, which was centralised in Auckland . New Munster consisted of the South Island. The name New Munster was given by the Governor of New Zealand , Captain William Hobson , in honour of Munster , the Irish province in which he was born. The situation was altered in 1846 when the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 divided the colony into two provinces : New Ulster Province (the North Island north of
435-519: A family, although the community was predominantly male, female family never having intended to move to the goldfields until towns developed with hotels, stores and schools. Yet, there was a female presence in this environment from the start of the gold find in 1861, at Gabriel's Gully. An example is Janet Robertson, who lived with her husband in a small cottage in Tuapeka . It was here in her cottage, where Gabriel Read wrote his "discovery" letter of gold to
522-478: A few years later, most of the smaller new settlements were deserted, and gold extraction became more long-term, industrialised-mechanical process. Previously gold had been found in small quantities in the Coromandel Peninsula (by visiting whalers) and near Nelson in 1842. Commercial interests in Auckland offered a £500 prize for anyone who could find payable quantities of gold anywhere nearby in
609-646: A further 60 million in the river. (The remainder was still on riverbanks). This had resulted in measured aggradation of the river bottom of as much as 5 metres. Gold is still mined by OceanaGold in commercial quantities in Otago at one site – Macraes Mine inland from Palmerston , which started operations in 1990. Macraes Mine, an opencast hard rock mining operation, processes more than 5 million tonnes of ore per year and from 1990 through 2014, gold production has totaled about 4 million ounces. Numerous folk songs, both contemporary and more recent, have been written about
696-531: A generous franchise. Grey implemented the ordinance with such deliberation that neither Council met before advice was received that the United Kingdom Parliament had passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 . This act dissolved these provinces in 1853, after only seven years' existence, and New Munster was divided into the provinces of Wellington Province , Canterbury , Nelson , and Otago . Each province had its own legislature known as
783-695: A half feet of gravel, arrived at a beautiful soft slate and saw the gold shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night" . The public heard about Read's find via a letter published in the Otago Witness on 8 June 1861, documenting a ten-day-long prospecting tour he had made. There was little reaction at first until John Hardy of the Otago Provincial Council stated that he and Read had prospected country "about 31 miles long by five broad, and in every hole they had sunk they had found
870-469: A metropolitan population of 521,881, and the smaller Dunedin (population 134,600). The economy relies on agriculture, fishing, tourism, and general manufacturing and services. Prior to European settlement, Te Waipounamu was sparsely populated by three major iwi , Kāi Tahu , Kāti Māmoe , and the historical Waitaha , with major settlements including in Kaiapoi Pā near modern-day Christchurch . During
957-437: A population of 1,185,282 at the 2023 New Zealand census , an increase of 80,745 people (7.3%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 180,882 people (18.0%) since the 2013 census . Of the total population, 202,311 people (17.1%) were aged under 15 years, 225,048 (19.0%) were 15 to 29, 538,965 (45.5%) were 30 to 64, and 218,958 (18.5%) were 65 or older. At the 2018 census, there were 571,656 males and 577,914 females, giving
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#17327872967151044-531: A population of 1,260,000 as of June 2024, the South Island is home to 24% of New Zealand's 5.3 million inhabitants. After the 1860s gold rushes in the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population and wealth. The North Island's population overtook the South Island's in the early 20th century, with 56% of the New Zealand population living in
1131-457: A quarter of the country's population, the South Island is sometimes humorously nicknamed the "mainland" of New Zealand by its residents. The island is also known as Te Waka a Māui which means " Māui 's Canoe ". In some modern alliterations of Māori legends, the South Island existed first, as the boat of Māui, while the North Island was the fish that he caught . Various Māori iwi sometimes use different names, with some preferring to call
1218-575: A rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – many of them veterans of other hunts for the precious metal in California and Victoria , Australia . The number of miners reached its maximum of 18,000 in February 1864. The rush started at Gabriel's Gully but spread throughout much of Central Otago, leading to the rapid expansion and commercialisation of the new colonial settlement of Dunedin , which quickly grew to be New Zealand's largest city. Only
1305-468: A river in the West Coast Region of New Zealand is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . South Island The South Island ( Māori : Te Waipounamu [tɛ wɐ.i.pɔ.ʉ.nɐ.mʉ] , lit. 'the waters of Greenstone ', officially South Island or Te Waipounamu or archaically New Munster ) is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand in surface area,
1392-516: A sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. In the early years of European settlement in New Zealand, the South Island's overall percentage of the New Zealand population was far higher, equalling or even exceeding the population of the North Island. This was exacerbated by the New Zealand Wars and the Otago gold rush of the 1860s. Since that time, the South Island's population as a percentage of
1479-657: A year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made a major incursion into Kāi Tahu territory. In 1836, the Ngāti Tama chief Te Pūoho led a 100-person war party, armed with muskets , down the West Coast and over the Haast Pass . They fell on the Ngāi Tahu encampment between Lake Wānaka and Lake Hāwea , capturing ten people and killing and eating two children. Te Puoho took his captives over
1566-652: Is located in the Buller District . The river is named for Charles Heaphy , a soldier who explored the area in the 1840s. Tributaries to the Heaphy River that are named "river" are (source to sea) the Lewis River and the Gunner River . A 147 m (482 ft) long suspension bridge was built across the Heaphy River in 2013 as part of the route of the Heaphy Track . At the time, the bridge
1653-529: Is possible these glass bottles were recycled, so archaeologists cannot draw definite conclusions as to alcohol consumption. Within the Chinese camps (such as the Lawrence Chinese camp) artefacts include gambling tokens and Chinese coins as well as celadon earthwares. Although diaries and memoirs about the lives of males in the mining communities exist, little mention or information is known about
1740-463: Is sparsely populated and still predominantly rural areas or nature reserves. However, there are 15 urban areas in the South Island with a population of 10,000 or more: Otago gold rush The Otago gold rush (often called the Central Otago gold rush ) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago , New Zealand . This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to
1827-441: Is the largest Christian denomination in the South Island with 12.7 percent affiliating, closely followed by Catholicism at 12.1 percent and Presbyterianism at 11.7 percent. These figures are somewhat skewed between the regions of the south, due largely to the original settlement of southern cities (Dunedin, for example, was founded by Scottish Presbyterians, whereas Christchurch was founded by English Anglicans). The South Island
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#17327872967151914-463: Is unknown, but indicates that women were present on the goldfields during the 19th-century gold rush in Otago. Another excavation report by Petchey from the Macraes Flat mining area, presents items of children's toys such as marbles, and a china doll's leg amongst ruins of a house site. This evidence is also useful to suggest men and their families engaged in mining activities and social life on
2001-737: The States General of the Netherlands , and that name appeared on his first maps of the country. Dutch cartographers changed the name to Nova Zeelandia in Latin, from Nieuw Zeeland , after the Dutch province of Zeeland . It was subsequently Anglicised as New Zealand by British naval captain James Cook of HM Bark Endeavour who visited the islands more than 100 years after Tasman during (1769–70). The first European settlement in
2088-519: The Aorere Valley near Collingwood in 1856 proved more successful, with 1500 miners converging on the district and removing about £150,000 of gold over the next decade, after which the gold was exhausted. The presence of gold in Otago and on the West Coast during this time was known, but the geology of the land was different from that of other major gold-bearing areas, and it was assumed the gold would amount to little. Māori had long known of
2175-519: The Crown Range to Lake Wakatipu and thence to Southland, where he was killed, and his war party destroyed by the southern Ngāi Tahu leader Tūhawaiki . Kāi Tahu and Ngāti Toa established peace by 1839, with Te Rauparaha releasing the Kāi Tahu captives he held. Formal marriages between the leading families in the two tribes sealed the peace. The first Europeans known to reach the South Island were
2262-641: The Dunedin became the world's first commercially successful gold dredge. The Dunedin continued operation until 1901, recovering a total of 17,000 ounces (530 kg) of gold. The mining has had a considerable environmental impact. In 1920 the Rivers Commission estimated that 300 million cubic yards of material had been moved by mining activity in the Clutha river catchment. At that time an estimated 40 million cubic yards had been washed out to sea with
2349-825: The Firth of Clyde ) – the John Wickliffe and the Philip Laing . Captain William Cargill , a veteran of the Peninsular War , served as the colony's first leader : Otago citizens subsequently elected him to the office of Superintendent of the Province of Otago . While the North Island was convulsed by the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s and 1870s, the South Island, with its low Māori population,
2436-595: The Golden Bar Mine between the Macraes Flat and Palmeston, Otago, shows that located in front of the main mine workings of ca.1897, archaeological material was found. This material was a small heart-shaped brooch with 13 glass (paste) diamonds. This archaeological evidence suggests that women were present at this site, and within the Golden Bar goldfield. The exact occupation of women from this evidence
2523-517: The Local Government Act 2002 gives the South Island (and its adjacent islands) seven regional councils for the administration of regional environmental and transport matters and 25 territorial authorities that administer roads, sewerage, building consents, and other local matters. Four of the territorial councils (one city and three districts) also perform the functions of a regional council and are known as unitary authorities under
2610-522: The Musket Wars expanding iwi colonised Te Tau Ihu , a region comprising parts of modern-day Tasman , Nelson and Malborough , including Ngāti Kuia , Rangitāne , Ngāti Tama , and later Ngāti Toarangatira after Te Rauparaha's wars of conquest. British settlement began with expansive and cheap land purchases early on, and settlers quickly outnumbered Māori. As a result the Wairau Affray
2697-487: The Tasman and Marlborough District Councils) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. This is a list of political parties, past and present, who have their headquarters in the South Island. Compared to the more populated and multi-ethnic North Island, the South Island has a smaller, more homogeneous resident population of 1,260,000 (June 2024). The South Island had
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2784-552: The 1850s, at a time when some New Zealand settlers were leaving for the California and Australian gold rushes. In September 1852, Charles Ring, a timber merchant, claimed the prize for a find in Coromandel. A brief gold rush ensued around Coromandel township, Cape Colville and Mercury Bay but only £1500 of gold was accessible in river silt, although more was in quartz veins where it was inaccessible to individual prospectors. The rush lasted only about three months. A find in
2871-652: The Central Otago goldfields provide us with information about the labour and social roles of men and women in the 19th century. A restored Chinese Village at Arrowtown is a popular tourist attraction. The news of gold at Gabriel's Gully reached the inhabitants of Dunedin and the rest of the world, prospectors immediately left their homes in search of gold. The majority of these perspective prospectors were labourers and tradesmen , in their late teens and twenties. The incoming population included entrepreneurial, skilled and technical people that established services for
2958-585: The Gold" is based loosely on a flood in July 1863 , which killed 13 miners on the Shotover River. The song has been recorded by many, including Nic Jones , The Black Family , James Keelaghan , and Nancy Kerr and James Fagan . 1976 New Zealand children's television drama series Hunter's Gold was set during the Central Otago gold rush. The Otago Goldfields Cavalcade has annually since 1991 retraced
3045-546: The Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism , proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu , a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island , began migrating to the northern part of the South Island. There they and Kāti Māmoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley . Ngāti Māmoe then ceded
3132-649: The New Zealand government. When New Zealand was separated from the colony of New South Wales in 1841 and established as a Crown colony in its own right, the Royal Charter effecting this provided that "the principal Islands, heretofore known as, or commonly called, the 'Northern Island', the Middle Island', and 'Stewart's Island', shall henceforward be designated and known respectively as ' New Ulster ', ' New Munster ', and ' New Leinster '". These divisions were of geographical significance only, not used as
3219-813: The North Island in 1911. The drift north of people and businesses continued throughout the twentieth century. The island has been known internationally as the South Island for many years. The Te Reo Māori name for it Te Waipounamu now also has official recognition but it remains seldom used by most residents. in the Māori language. Said to mean "the Water(s) of Greenstone ", Te Waipounamu possibly evolved from Te Wāhi Pounamu ("the Place of Greenstone"). When Captain James Cook visited in 1769, he recorded
3306-614: The Otago Provincial Council. As the news of this goldfield in Gabriel's Gully spread, prospectors engaged in the area, and Janet opened up her home, cooked meals and tended to the miners, as they passed through. Another significant woman present on the 19th-century Central Otago goldfields was Susan Nugent-Wood , a well-known writer in the 1860s and 1870s. Nugent-Wood, her husband John, and their children moved to Otago in 1861, as prospectors of gold. Nugent-Wood worked on
3393-504: The South Island Te Waka o Aoraki , referring to another Māori legend called the story of Aoraki, as after the world was created, Aoraki and his three brothers came down in a waka to visit their mother, Papatūānuku the earth mother, only to crash after failing to perform a karakia on their way back home to their father, Ranginui (also known as Raki) the sky father, in turn causing the waka to transform into an island and
3480-807: The South Island was founded at Bluff in 1823 by James Spencer, a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo . In January 1827, the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville arrived in Tasman Bay on the corvette Astrolabe . A number of landmarks around Tasman Bay were named by d'Urville and his crew, including d'Urville Island , French Pass and Torrent Bay . Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, Lieutenant-Governor Captain William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in May 1840 and
3567-589: The South Island, along with the rest of New Zealand, briefly became a part of the Colony of New South Wales . This declaration was in response to France's attempts to colonise the South Island at Akaroa and the New Zealand Company attempts to establish a separate colony in Wellington , and so Hobson declared British sovereignty over all of New Zealand on 21 May 1840 (the North Island by treaty and
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3654-598: The South Island. Four Māori died and three were wounded in the incident, while among the Europeans the toll was 22 dead and five wounded. Twelve of the Europeans were shot dead or clubbed to death after surrendering to Māori who were pursuing them. The Otago Settlement, sponsored by the Free Church of Scotland , took concrete form in Otago in March 1848 with the arrival of the first two immigrant ships from Greenock (on
3741-580: The South by discovery). Seven days after the declaration, the Treaty was signed at Akaroa on 28 May. On 17 June 1843, Māori and British settlers clashed at Wairau in what became known as the Wairau Affray . Also known as the Wairau Massacre in most older texts, it was the first serious clash of arms between the two parties after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take place in
3828-490: The capital of New Zealand from Auckland to Wellington that year. Several South Island nationalist groups emerged at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. The South Island Party fielded candidates in the 1999 general election but cancelled its registration in 2002. Several internet-based groups advocate their support for greater self-determination . On 13 October 2010, South Island Mayors led by Bob Parker of Christchurch displayed united support for
3915-622: The city's stately buildings date from this period of prosperity. New Zealand's first university, the University of Otago , was founded in 1869 with wealth derived from the goldfields. However, the rapid decline in gold production from the mid-1860s led to a sharp drop in the province's population, and while not unprosperous, the deep south of New Zealand never rose to such relative prominence again. The Wakamarina River in Marlborough proved to have gold in 1862, and 6,000 miners flocked to
4002-578: The coast for a considerable time after this. In the 1880s, quartz miners at Bullendale and Reefton were the first users of grid electricity in New Zealand. Southland also had a number of smaller scale gold rushes during the later half of the 19th century. The first goldmining in Southland took place in 1860 on the banks of the Mataura River and its tributaries (and later would help settlements such as Waikaia and Nokomai flourish). However
4089-689: The communities, amongst visitors, passing miners and local citizens. Archaeological evidence of a widow who took over ownership rights following her husbands' death, was Elizabeth Potts. Potts was given a licence for the Victoria Hotel in Lawrence in 1869. This was recorded and published in the Tuapeka Times , 11 December 1869. This archaeological evidence provides information which suggests that women played significant labour and social roles within mining communities. An excavation report from
4176-692: The country's total population has steadily decreased, with the population of the South island now being less than that of the North Island's largest city, Auckland. This growing disparity has stabilised in recent years, with both the 2013 and 2018 censuses showing the South Island to have a very similar percentage of the national population (around 23%–24%). At the 2023 census, 82.8% of South Islanders identified as European ( Pākehā ), 11.3% as Māori , 3.4% as Pacific peoples , 10.5% as Asian , 1.6% as Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, 1.4% as other ethnicities. Percentages add to more than 100% as people can identify with more than one ethnicity. Europeans form
4263-405: The crew of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who arrived in his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen . In December 1642, Tasman anchored at the northern end of the island in Golden Bay / Mohua which he named Moordenaar's Bay (Murderers Bay) before sailing northward to Tonga following a clash with Māori. Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. Tasman called them Staten Landt , after
4350-456: The district. Although they found alluvial gold, there were no large deposits. The West Coast of the South Island was the second-richest gold-bearing area of New Zealand after Otago, and gold was discovered in 1865–6 at Okarito , Bruce Bay , around Charleston and along the Grey River . Miners were attracted from Victoria, Australia where the gold rush was near an end. In 1867 this boom also began to decline, though gold mining continued on
4437-479: The east coast regions north of the Waiau Toa / Clarence River to Kāi Tahu. Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikōura . By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury , including Banks Peninsula . From there they spread further south and into the West Coast . In 1827–28, Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikōura. Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi Pā , ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts,
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#17327872967154524-400: The existence of gold in Central Otago, but had no use for the ore. For a precious material they relied on greenstone for weaponry and tools, and used greenstone, obsidian and bone carving for jewellery. The first known European Otago gold find was at Goodwood, near Palmerston in October 1851. The find was of a very small amount with no ensuing "rush". Instead, the settlement of Dunedin
4611-400: The far south of the island. Around the same time, a group of Māori migrated to Rēkohu (the Chatham Islands ), where, in adapting to the local climate and the availability of resources, they eventually evolved into a separate people known as the Moriori with its own distinct language – closely related to the parent culture and language in mainland New Zealand . One notable feature of
4698-437: The first "gold rush" wasn't until the mid-1860s when fine gold was discovered in the black sands of Orepuki beach. Miners followed the creeks up into the foothills of the Longwoods to where the richest gold was to be had. This activity led to the founding of mining settlements such as Orepuki and Round Hill (the Chinese miners and shop owners essentially ran their own town known colloquially to Europeans as "Canton"). Gold
4785-429: The first Chinese migrants had been invited by the Otago Provincial government, they quickly became the target of hostility from white settlers and laws were enacted specifically to discourage them from coming to New Zealand. The South Island has no separately represented country subdivision , but is guaranteed 16 of the electorates in the New Zealand House of Representatives . A two-tier structure constituted under
4872-486: The four brothers into the mountain ranges on top of it. Charcoal drawings can be found on limestone rock shelters in the centre of the South Island, with over 550 sites stretching from Kaikōura to North Otago . The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles. Some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haast's eagles . They were drawn by early Māori , but by
4959-413: The gold rush. Of contemporary songs, "Bright Fine Gold", with its chorus of "Wangapeka, Tuapeka, bright fine gold" (sometimes rendered "One-a-pecker, two-a-pecker") is perhaps the best known. Most well-known of more recent songs are Phil Garland 's songs Tuapeka Gold . and Daniel's Gold . Martin Curtis wrote a folk-style song about the gold rush called "Gin and Raspberry." The lyrics are written in
5046-452: The goldfields in the 19th century. Archaeological artefacts from 19th-century mining communities in Central Otago suggest that women and children were on site of the goldfields. It is unknown whether these artefacts belonged to women who were miners or women who were domestic wives and mothers. The city of Dunedin reaped many of the benefits, for a period becoming New Zealand's largest town even though it had only been founded in 1848. Many of
5133-414: The goldfields of Central Otago in several official positions. She wrote stories based on her life and roles on the Central Otago goldfields, which provide accounts of labour and social aspects of mining and gender in the 19th century. Harriet Heron also lived on the goldfields, most notably at Fourteen-Mile Beach where she and her husband Henry lived in a tent for three years – Heron was the only woman in
5220-490: The interest of people in Dunedin ; people travelled long distances in the hope of striking it rich. These goldfields all gave rise to mining towns and communities of temporary shops, hotels and miners' huts made from canvas or calico fabric-covered timber frames. As the scope of the goldfields developed, communities became more permanent with buildings constructed in timber and concrete. Evidence such as material artefacts , foundations of huts and buildings, and photographs from
5307-433: The island from north to south. They include New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook , at 3,724 metres (12,218 feet). The high Kaikōura Ranges lie to the northeast. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains , while the West Coast is renowned for its rough coastlines, such as Fiordland , a very high proportion of native bush and national parks , and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers . With
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#17327872967155394-413: The island's name phonetically as "Toai poonamoo". In the 19th century, some maps identified the South Island as Middle Island or New Munster (named after Munster province in Southern Ireland) with the name South Island or New Leinster was used for today's Stewart Island / Rakiura . In 1907, the Minister for Lands gave instructions to the Land and Survey Department that the name Middle Island
5481-591: The labour roles in these communities. This in turn provides information about labour and social roles within the community. Such information includes that of the ownership and management of stores and hotels, such as the bank and gold office at Maori Point ( Bank of New Zealand ) in the 1860s, managed by G. M. Ross . Archaeological evidence is also readily available. Excavations at various sites throughout Otago show evidence of an array of mining techniques, including ground sluicing , hydraulic sluicing and hydraulic elevating . Tailings (the materials left over after
5568-452: The largest rush that occurred in Otago. Historic buildings at Queenstown such as Eichardt's Hotel , the Lake Lodge of Ophir (now Artbay Gallery), the Queenstown Police Station , and stone Courthouse were all begun as a response to the rapid influx. By the end of 1863, the real gold rush was over, but companies continued to mine the alluvial gold. The number of miners reached its maximum of 18,000 in February 1864. Read's find of gold sparked
5655-560: The majority in all districts of the South Island, ranging from 75.9% in Christchurch City to 92.1% in the Waimakariri district . The proportion of South Islanders born overseas at the 2018 census was 21.4%. The most common foreign countries of birth are England (22.0% of overseas-born residents), Australia (8.8%), the Philippines (7.9%), Mainland China (6.5%) and India (5.4%). Around 48.6 percent of South Islanders affiliate with Christianity and 3.1 percent affiliate with non-Christian religions, while 45.8 percent are irreligious. Anglicanism
5742-467: The miners, such as shops, post offices, banks, pubs, hotels and hardware stores. The owners of these businesses could make more money than the miners. Historical evidence of male miners or businessmen in the 19th-century Central Otago goldfields is readily available in literature by and about the experiences of inhabitants at the various gold strikes. Census statistics and photographs are also available, all of which provide inferential evidence about
5829-437: The mining camp at the time. They later built a cottage in the area, which is known today as "Mrs Heron's Cottage" and maintained by Heritage New Zealand . As the majority of women within these mining communities were married , many became widows , as their husbands died during mining related activities or diseases. These women, whose husbands owned stores or hotels, adopted ownership rights. Many became well known throughout
5916-422: The modern town of Cromwell , did nothing to dissuade new hopefuls, and prospectors and miners staked claims from the Shotover River in the west through to Naseby in the north. In November 1862 Thomas Arthur and Harry Redfern sneaked off from shearing for William Rees at Queenstown and looked for gold on the banks of the Shotover River armed with a butcher's knife and pannikin. The Arthur's Point strike led to
6003-405: The mouth of the Patea River ), and New Munster Province (and the southern portion of the North Island , up to the mouth of the Patea River , the South Island and Stewart Island). Each province had a Governor and Legislative and Executive Council, in addition to the Governor-in-Chief and Legislative and Executive Council for the whole colony. The 1846 Constitution Act was later suspended, and only
6090-534: The other being the smaller but more populous North Island and sparsely populated Stewart Island . It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait , to the west by the Tasman Sea , to the south by the Foveaux Strait and Southern Ocean , and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island , constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitudes, it has an oceanic climate . The major centres are Christchurch , with
6177-433: The precious metal." With this statement, the gold rush began. By Christmas , 14,000 prospectors were on the Tuapeka and Waipori fields. Within a year, the region's population swelled greatly, growing by 400 per cent between 1861 and 1864, with prospectors swarming from the dwindling Australian goldfields. Gabriel's Gully led to the discovery of further goldfields within Central Otago. A second gold strike in 1862, close to
6264-535: The province to help rework the area. There was friction not only between European and Chinese miners, which contributed to the introduction of the New Zealand head tax , but also between miners and settlers over conflicting land use. Attention turned to the gravel beds of the Clutha River, with a number of attempts to develop a steam-powered mechanical gold dredge. These finally met with success in 1881 when
6351-607: The provincial government provisions were implemented. Early in 1848 Edward John Eyre was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster. The Provincial Council of New Munster had only one legislative session, in 1849, before it succumbed to the virulent attacks of settlers from Wellington . Governor Sir George Grey , sensible to the pressures, inspired an ordinance of the General Legislative Council under which new Legislative Councils would be established in each province with two-thirds of their members elected on
6438-591: The removal of the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of the ore) also provide some of the archaeological evidence from Otago gold mine sites. Midden analysis from camp and settlement sites provides information about diet, with evidence of a preference for beef and lamb in the European camps, and a preference for pork within the Chinese camps. Artefactual evidence found during excavations includes blue and white ceramics, cooking and eating utensils, metal objects, such as buttons, nails and tin boxes (flint boxes, tobacco boxes) and an exceedingly high number of alcohol glass bottles. It
6525-517: The significance of female labour and social roles. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests that many females in the goldfields took significant roles in mining and the general community. In the 19th-century goldfields, women played significant familial, labour and entrepreneurial roles, such as wives , mothers , prostitutes , business owners and service providers and 'Colonial Helpmeets' (wives who worked alongside their husbands). Women within these communities were young and single, or married with
6612-551: The summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā (fortified village). Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe . In 1832–33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere . Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped. Fighting continued for
6699-654: The time Europeans arrived, local Māori did not know the origins of the drawings. Early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha . They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Māmoe in the 16th century. Kāti Māmoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Māmoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Māmoe links in their whakapapa and especially in
6786-430: The two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island , with the definite article . It is also normal to use the preposition in rather than on , for example "Christchurch is in the South Island", "my mother lives in the South Island". Maps, headings, tables, and adjectival expressions use South Island without "the". As it is 32% larger than the North Island but contains less than
6873-573: The voice of an unsuccessful gold prospector who envies the success of the largest gold mine in the Cardrona valley at the time, the "Gin and Raspberry" (supposedly so named because the owner would call out, "Gin and raspberry to all hands!" whenever a bucket of mined material yielded an ounce of gold. The singer laments, "an ounce to the bucket and we'd all sell our souls/For a taste of the gin and raspberry." The song has had several recordings, particularly by Gordon Bok. Paul Metsers ' song "Farewell to
6960-728: The well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha. Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. In November 1830, Te Rauparaha persuaded Captain John Stewart of the brig Elizabeth to carry him and his warriors in secret to Akaroa , whereby in subterfuge they captured the leading Kāi Tahu chief, Tama-i-hara-nui , and his wife and daughter. After destroying Tama-i-hara-nui's village, they took their captives to Kapiti and killed them. John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In
7047-458: Was generally peaceful. In 1861, gold was discovered at Gabriel's Gully in Central Otago , sparking a gold rush . Dunedin became the wealthiest city in the country, and many in the South Island resented financing the North Island's wars. In the 1860s, several thousand Chinese men, mostly from the Guangdong province, migrated to New Zealand to work on the South Island goldfields. Although
7134-536: Was just three years old, and more practical matters were of higher importance to the young town. Other finds around the Mataura River in 1856 and the Dunstan Range in 1858 stirred minimal interest. A find near the Lindis Pass in early 1861 started producing flickers of interest from around the South Island, with reports of large numbers of miners travelling inland from Oamaru to stake their claims. It
7221-544: Was long known to exist at Thames , but exploitation was not possible during the New Zealand Wars . In 1867 miners arrived from the West Coast, but the gold was in quartz veins, and few miners had the capital needed to extract it. Some stayed on as workers for the companies which could fund the processing. After the main gold rush, miners began laboriously reworking the goldfields. About 5,000 European miners remained in 1871, joined by thousands of Chinese miners invited by
7308-542: Was not to be used in the future. "South Island will be adhered to in all cases". Although the island had been known as the South Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that along with the North Island, the South Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially named the island South Island or Te Waipounamu in October 2013. In prose,
7395-469: Was the longest of its type in the country. The bridge deck was 6.5 m (21 ft) above the normal level of the river. During a severe flood in early February 2022, the bridge was damaged beyond repair, cutting access along the Heaphy Track. The track re-opened in October 2023, after the replacement of several bridges and restoration of tracks damaged in the 2022 floods. This article about
7482-466: Was the only conflict of the New Zealand Wars to occur in the South Island. The island became rich and prosperous and Dunedin boomed during the 1860s Otago gold rush , which was shaped by extensive Chinese immigration . After the gold rush the " drift to the north " meant the North Island displaced the South as the most populous. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps , which run along
7569-488: Was two months later that the gold strike was made that would prompt a major influx of prospectors. Gabriel Read , an Australian prospector who had hunted gold in both California and Victoria, Australia , found gold in a creek bed at Gabriel's Gully , close to the banks of the Tuapeka River near Lawrence on 20 May 1861. "At a place where a kind of road crossed on a shallow bar I shovelled away about two and
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