The Tuapeka River is a river located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand . It is a tributary of the Clutha River , which it joins at Tuapeka Mouth between Roxburgh and Balclutha .
82-660: The Tuapeka's main claim to fame is as the centre of the Otago gold rush of the 1860s. The first major discovery of gold in Otago was at Gabriel's Gully , close to the Tuapeka, in 1861. An earlier wooden crib dam was built further upstream in 1907. The concrete dam was begun in 1914. Water from the dam was conveyed on a water race to the turbine and sluicing area. 46°01′S 169°31′E / 46.017°S 169.517°E / -46.017; 169.517 This article about
164-519: 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
246-594: 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
328-495: A great party from Taumutu, Akaroa, Orawenua [Arowhenua]. They were returning. The [sealers'] boat passed on to the Bluff 8 miles [13 km] north of Moeraki where they landed & arranged their boat – & lay down to sleep in their boat. At night Pukuheke, father of Te More, went to the boat, found them asleep & came back to the other Natives south of the Bluff. They went with 100 [men] killing 5 Europeans & eat them. Two of
410-695: 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
492-657: A major junction with State Highway 83 , the main route into the Waitaki Valley . This provides a road link to Kurow, Omarama , Otematata and via the Lindis Pass to Queenstown and Wānaka. Oamaru serves as the eastern gateway to the Mackenzie Basin , via the Waitaki Valley. Oamaru has been built between the rolling hills of limestone and short stretch of flat land to the sea. This limestone rock
574-518: A party of absconding lascars. Brown must have had some reason for searching for them on the North Otago coast. After Te Rauparaha 's sack of the large pā (fortified settlement) at Kaiapoi near modern Christchurch in 1831, refugees came south and gained permission to settle at Kakaunui (Kakanui), and the territory between Pukeuri and Waianakarua, including the site of urban Oamaru, became their domain. Whalers sometimes visited this part of
656-469: A poet and patron of artists; Douglas Lilburn (1915–2001), "the elder statesman of New Zealand music"; James Bertram (1910–1993), writer and academic; Denis Blundell , a future Governor-General of New Zealand ; and Ian Milner (1911–1991), the Rector's son, a Czech and English scholar falsely accused of spying for Communism. His father, known as "The Man", died suddenly on 2 December 1944 while speaking at
738-470: A river in the Otago region is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 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 a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – many of them veterans of other hunts for
820-456: Is described by Statistics New Zealand as a medium urban area, which covers 20.21 km (7.80 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 14,350 as of June 2024, with a population density of 710 people per km . Before the 2023 census, Oamaru had a larger boundary, covering 21.46 km (8.29 sq mi). Using that boundary, Oamaru had a population of 13,107 at the 2018 New Zealand census , an increase of 801 people (6.5%) since
902-623: Is home to much of Oamaru's live entertainment and performances. It was restored in 2009. The refurbishment won the Public Architecture category of the 2010 Southern Architecture Awards and the 2011 NZIA Heritage award for Heritage Conservation. Oamaru Opera House is one of the most significant heritage sites in Oamaru, important to the town and nationally to New Zealand. The Waitaki District Library has branches situated in Oamaru, Palmerston, Kurow, Hampden, Omarama, and Otematata (forming
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#1732791198883984-497: Is located on Itchen Street and is the home of Oamaru's live theatre productions. Oamaru has a comprehensive range of community sporting facilities for rugby, tennis, swimming, netball, cricket, golf, hockey, and bowls. Centennial Park is Oamaru's major sporting venue, and is the home of North Otago Rugby Football Union and North Otago Cricket . The council also owns and operates the Oamaru Aquatic Centre. Many of
1066-529: 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
1148-775: Is the largest town in North Otago , in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District . It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Timaru and 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connect it to both cities. With a population of 14,350, Oamaru is the 28th largest urban area in New Zealand, and
1230-639: Is the only Olympic gold medalist from Waitaki. He was born in Waimate but grew up in Oamaru and was educated at Waitaki Boys High School. The world first learned of the death of Robert Scott and the members of his team on their return from the ill-fated expedition to the South Pole by way of a cable sent from Oamaru, on 10 February 1913. From 1906 to 1944 Frank Milner (1875–1944) was the headteacher at Waitaki Boys' High School . Notable students include Charles Brasch (1909–1973) at Waitaki (1923–1926),
1312-463: 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
1394-403: Is used for the construction of local " Oamaru stone ", sometimes called "Whitestone" buildings. Oamaru enjoys a protected location in the shelter of Cape Wanbrow . The town was laid out in 1858 by Otago's provincial surveyor John Turnbull Thomson , who named the early streets after British rivers, particularly rivers in the northwest and southeast of the country. The name Oamaru derives from
1476-547: The 2013 census , and an increase of 1,077 people (9.0%) since the 2006 census . There were 5,463 households, comprising 6,267 males and 6,840 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.92 males per female, with 2,328 people (17.8%) aged under 15 years, 2,016 (15.4%) aged 15 to 29, 5,439 (41.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 3,324 (25.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 86.9% European/ Pākehā , 8.1% Māori , 6.0% Pasifika , 4.7% Asian , and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas
1558-577: 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
1640-541: 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
1722-641: 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
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#17327911988831804-595: 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
1886-623: The Māori and can be translated as 'the place of Maru' ( cf. Timaru). The identity of Maru remains open to conjecture. There are some important archaeological sites around Oamaru. Those at the Waitaki River mouth and at Awamoa both date from the Archaic (Moa-hunter) phase of Māori culture , when New Zealand's human population clustered along the south-east coast from about AD 1100. The Waitaki River mouth had at least 1,200 ovens. Awamoa saw
1968-635: The University of York ; and notably former All Blacks rugby union captain Richie McCaw . Fred Allen , an All Black of the 1940s who went on to coach the All Blacks to 14 wins from his 14 tests in the 1960s, was born in Oamaru, though not educated there. Another notable sports person is Gary Robertson , who won gold at the 1972 Olympic Games, Munich, Germany in the NZ Rowing 8. Robertson
2050-545: The 1880s Oamaru was home to an impressive array of buildings and the "best built and most mortgaged town in Australasia". A major factor in the near bankruptcy of the town was the construction of the Oamaru Borough Water Race, an aqueduct completed after three years' work in 1880. This major engineering feat replaced the previous poor water supply, (obtained from the local creek running through
2132-652: 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
2214-585: 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
2296-574: The Middle School. The place and the North Otago landscape made an impression on him. He revisited the area several times as an adult on painting trips. Cartoonist John Kent , who authored the Varoomshka comic strip for The Guardian newspaper in England, hailed from Oamaru. A community of living artists exists , and many dealer galleries have premises in the historic precinct. One of
2378-592: The New Zealand cricket team. Video game designer Dean Hall grew up in Oamaru and attended Waitaki Boys' High School. His interest in mountaineering was fostered while on a geography field trip while studying there, ultimately culminating in him summiting Mount Everest in May 2013. Oamaru contains over 70 buildings registered as Category 1 or 2 Historic Places in the Heritage New Zealand register. Many public buildings use as their construction material
2460-591: The Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust as part of a historic precinct. The great palladian St Patrick's Basilica is also a fine example in white Oamaru stone. The Victorian theme has been embraced by local shops and galleries in this part of Oamaru in terms of shop fittings and décor. Further enhancing the "olden days" feel of the precinct are several arts and crafts shops, a transportation museum, an antique furniture shop, and traditional businesses such as book shops, antique clothing shops, and
2542-614: 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
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2624-598: The Waitaki District Libraries syndicate). Oamaru Public Library began life as the Oamaru Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute in 1878, but by 1973, library services had outgrown the building. A new library building was proposed, situated next-door to the 'old' Athenaeum library, and the new library was officially opened by the Mayor, Mr R.D. Allen on 19 September 1975. Oamaru Repertory Theatre
2706-644: The Waitaki River, but on returning south and failing to reach the wreck before dawn he was turned into a hill in the Shag Valley. Modern academics have suggested this tale is an allegorical explanation of the fact that kūmara will not grow south of Banks Peninsula . On 20 February 1770 James Cook in the Endeavour reached a position very close to the Waitaki mouth and "about 3 Miles [5 km] from
2788-426: The ancient people Kahui Tipua building a canoe, Ārai Te Uru , which sailed from southern New Zealand to the ancestral Polynesian homeland, Hawaiki , to obtain kūmara . On its return it became waterlogged off the Waitaki River mouth, lost food baskets at Moeraki beach and ended up wrecked at Matakaea (Shag Point) where it turned into Danger Reef. After the wreck a crew member, Pahihiwitahi, seeking water, discovered
2870-421: The beach, till we approached Oamaru point, where it turned inland, and crossed a low range of hills, from which we looked over an extensive plain … Towards the afternoon, we ascended a range of hills called Pukeuri, separating this plain from another more extensive. The sky was so remarkably clear that, from the highest point of the pathway, Moeraki was distinctly in view..." He made a map and placed Oamaru on it. He
2952-564: 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
3034-578: 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
3116-526: The coast in the 1830s. The Jason , for example, probably of New London in the United States, Captain Chester, was reported at "Otago Bluff" south of Kakanui, with 2,500 barrels (400 m ) of oil, on 1 December 1839. Edward Shortland visited the area in 1844, coming overland from Waikouaiti . On 9 January he recorded "Our path to-day was sometimes along the edge of a low cliff, sometimes along
3198-689: 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
3280-514: 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
3362-669: The early works of Janet Frame , who grew up in the town, reflect Oamaru conditions and Oamaruvians. Other literary associations include those with Owen Marshall , Greg McGee and Fiona Farrell Poole . Other notable people born and educated in Oamaru include Des Wilson , founder of the UK homelessness charity, Shelter ; Australian Prime Minister Chris Watson ; New Zealand politicians Arnold Nordmeyer and William Steward ; Cardinal Thomas Stafford Williams ; Sir Malcolm Grant , former president and Provost of University College London and subsequently Chairman of NHS England and Chancellor of
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3444-455: 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
3526-493: 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
3608-569: The first New Zealand towns to realise that its built heritage was an asset. A public art museum, the Forrester Gallery (whose first curator in 1882 was Thomas Forrester), opened in 1983 in R.A. Lawson 's neo-classical Bank of New South Wales building. Restoration of other buildings also took place. The Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust was formed in 1987 with a vision of redeveloping the original commercial and business district of Oamaru's Harbour and Tyne Streets, and work began on restoring
3690-524: The first archaeological excavation in New Zealand when W.B.D. Mantell dug there at Christmas 1847 and in 1852. Smaller Archaic sites exist at Cape Wanbrow and at Beach Road in central Oamaru. The distinctive Archaic art of the Waitaki Valley rock shelters dates from this period — some of it presumably made by the occupants of these sites. The area also features Classic and Protohistoric sites, from after about AD 1500, at Tamahaerewhenua, Tekorotuaheka, Te Punamaru, Papakaio, and Kakanui . Māori tradition tells of
3772-466: 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
3854-452: 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
3936-414: 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
4018-402: The historic precinct beside the port, perhaps the most atmospheric urban area in New Zealand. By the early 21st century, "heritage" had become a conspicuous industry and today , the number of buildings owned by the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust had grown from the original eight to 17. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies the climate of Oamaru as oceanic (Cfb). Oamaru
4100-490: 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
4182-591: 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
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#17327911988834264-406: The land, which formed an agreeable view to the naked eye. The hills were of a moderate height, having flats that extended from them a long way, bordered by a perpendicular rocky cliff next to the sea." Māori did live in the area, and sealers visited the coast in 1814. The Creed manuscript , discovered in 2003, records: Some of the [local] people [had been] absent on a feasting expedition to meet
4346-645: 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
4428-536: The last South Island district to resume alcohol sales. Development slowed apart from a few years in the 1920s, and in the 1950s, but the population continued to grow until the 1970s. With the closure of the port the local economy began to stall, and New Zealand then went through radical economic restructuring in the mid 1980s – known as " Rogernomics ". North Otago was then hit by two droughts from 1988 to 1989 and again from 1997 to 1999. Oamaru found itself hard hit. In response it started to re-invent itself, becoming one of
4510-462: The local limestone (quarried especially near Weston) known as Oamaru stone . The Victorian precinct in the southern part of Oamaru's main commercial district ranks as one of New Zealand's most impressive streetscapes due to the many prominent 19th century buildings constructed from this material. Several key historic buildings in the area centred around Harbour Street and the lower Thames Street, Itchen Street, and Tyne Street area have been preserved by
4592-454: The loss of a number of vessels off the coast, construction of a breakwater designed by engineer John McGregor started in 1871. The building of this breakwater was influential in the development of new forms of crane . For many years there was a commercial and fishing harbour under Cape Wanbrow at Friendly Bay. With the development of pastoralism and the associated frozen-meat industry having its historical origins in New Zealand just south of
4674-467: 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
4756-437: 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
4838-485: 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
4920-459: The opening of a stone gateway to Milner Park, Oamaru. E.A. Gifford (1819–1894), an artist and Royal Academician , lived in Oamaru from 1877 to 1885 and from 1892 until his death. A genre, portrait and landscape painter he established a national reputation. His Auckland from the Wharf of 1887 is probably the best-known image of 19th-century Auckland. Emily Gillies , a 19th-century Oamaru artist,
5002-541: The place as a town in 1859, and the Otago Provincial government declared "hundreds" there on 30 November 1860. The town grew as a service-centre for the agricultural/pastoral hinterland between the Kakanui Mountains and the Waitaki River , and rapidly became a major port. A boost was given by public works, including harbour development, and an export trade in wool and grain from the 1860s. Following
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#17327911988835084-400: 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 a few years later, most of
5166-433: 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
5248-535: 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
5330-647: 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
5412-652: The routes of wagons across country to the Dunstan goldfields around Cromwell. The original route, which established Cobb & Co. 's coach service left Dunedin's Provincial Hotel on 22 November 1862. Cavalcade routes vary each year in late February so as to finish in a different host town. In 2008 plans were made for a heritage trail including Arrowtown, Kawarau Gorge, Lawrence and the Dunedin Chinese Garden . Oamaru Oamaru ( / ˌ ɒ m ə ˈ r uː / ; Māori : Te Oha-a-Maru )
5494-566: The seven escaped through the darkness of the night & fled as far as Goodwood, Bobby's Head, after being 2 days and nights on the way. Pukuheke's party killed and ate these as well. The Pākehā, a party from the Matilda (Captain Fowler), under the first mate Robert Brown with two other Europeans and five lascars or Indian seamen, made eight in all, not seven as the manuscript says. They had been sent in an open boat from Stewart Island in search of
5576-561: The shore", according to his journal. He said the land "here is very low and flat and continues so up to the skirts of the Hills which are at least 4 or 5 Miles [6–8 km] in land. The whole face of the Country appears barren, nor did we see any signs of inhabitants." He stayed on this part of the coast four days. Sydney Parkinson, the expedition's artist, described what seems to be Cape Wanbrow, in Oamaru. On 20 February he wrote "...we were near
5658-517: 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
5740-575: 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 the 1850s, at a time when some New Zealand settlers were leaving for
5822-442: The third largest in Otago behind Dunedin and Queenstown . The town is the seat of Waitaki District, which includes the surrounding towns of Kurow , Weston , Palmerston , and Hampden , which combined have a total population of 23,200. Friendly Bay is a popular recreational area located at the edge of Oamaru Harbour, south of Oamaru's main centre. Just to the north of Oamaru is the substantial Alliance Abattoir at Pukeuri , at
5904-468: The town at Totara, Oamaru flourished. Institutions such as the Athenaeum, Chief Post Office and Waitaki Boys' and Waitaki Girls' High Schools sprang up. The locally plentiful limestone ( Oamaru stone ) lent itself to carving and good designers, such as John Lemon (1828–1890), Thomas Forrester (1838–1907) and his son J.M. Forrester (1865–1965), and craftsmen utilised it. By the time of the depression of
5986-469: The town's principal living artists, Donna Demente , produces portraits and masks. At least partly through her work Oamaru hosts an annual mask festival each July, the "Midwinter Masquerade". Another annual celebration, a Victorian Heritage fête, takes place in November. Other noted former Oamaruvians include broadcaster Jim Mora and hockey player Scott Anderson . David Sewell played one test match for
6068-454: The town) with abundant pure water (and energy for industrial machinery driven by water motors ) from the Waitaki river and conducted water in an open channel for almost 50 km through hilly farmland from Kurow to the Oamaru reservoir at Ardgowan, until it was decommissioned and abandoned in 1983. Today much of the former infrastructure is still intact and can still be traced. The district went "dry" in 1906, and stayed that way until 1960 –
6150-573: 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
6232-566: Was 15.7, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 45.4% had no religion, 43.6% were Christian , 0.2% had Māori religious beliefs , 0.6% were Hindu , 0.4% were Muslim , 0.4% were Buddhist and 1.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,242 (11.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 3,021 (28.0%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,017 people (9.4%) earned over $ 70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15
6314-538: 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
6396-610: 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
6478-474: Was one of several Europeans who passed through the area on foot in the 1840s. James Saunders became the first European resident of the district some time before 1850 when he settled to trade among the Māori of the Waitaki River mouth. More European settlers arrived in the Oamaru area in the 1850s. Hugh Robison built and lived in a sod hut by Oamaru Creek in 1853 while establishing his sheep run . J.T. Thomson surveyed
6560-495: Was that 4,668 (43.3%) people were employed full-time, 1,545 (14.3%) were part-time, and 312 (2.9%) were unemployed. The mayor of Waitaki District is Gary Kircher. Oamaru is part of the parliamentary electorate of Waitaki , and since 2023 has been represented by Miles Anderson of the New Zealand National Party . The beautiful Oamaru Opera House on Thames Street, officially opened on 7 October 1907,
6642-562: Was the daughter of C.H. Street, maternal niece of Edward Lear (1812–1888), the English watercolourist and writer of humorous verse. Lear's sister had virtually brought her brother up. When he died childless before her she inherited his collection. The internationally-significant group of works came to North Otago, where it remained intact until the early 1970s. The artist Colin McCahon (1919–1987) lived in Oamaru from 1930 to 1931, attending
6724-488: 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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