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Westland District
- History
| Prior to the discovery of gold, the West Coast was home to Maori who had
a string of settlements along the coast. Maori collected and carved pounamu
(New Zealand jade) which was a precious item that could be traded with
tribes throughout New Zealand. Although pounamu is found at seven sites in
the country (all in the South Island) the Westland jade field is the main
source of pounamu in New Zealand. |
GOLD!
Westland was occasionally visited by European explorers, but there were
no permanent European settlers until after gold was discovered. A payable
goldfield was discovered near the Taramakau River in January 1864 by two
Maori pounamu hunters, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau. An itinerant
European prospector, Albert Hunt, did much to publicise the find by Tainui
and Taukau, claiming the discovery and the reward for himself. On 1 October
1864 John Hudson and James Price erected Hokitika’s first European building
– a 12 x 20 feet store of saplings and calico. By the end of the year there
was an estimated 1800 diggers on the West Coast.
In early 1865 a report that 2,375 oz of gold had arrived in Nelson from the
West Coast was widely publicised. Ships entered the Hokitika river to
off-load scores of diggers, most coming from other diggings in New Zealand
but later coming direct from Australia. A large scale gold rush had begun!
Within two years there would be 30,000 people on the West Coast.
The miners, having arrived in Hokitika, quickly equipped themselves and
headed out to the new fields. Discoveries came thick and fast; Waimea,
Kaniere, Totara (Ross), Woodstock, Moonlight, Red Jack’s, Stafford,
Goldsborough, Callaghans and then south at Bruce Bay and Okarito.
Everywhere, it seemed, there was gold.
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With so many gold fields at its back door Hokitika grew at a rate which
astonished observers. In April, only three months after the main rush had
begun, Hokitika was described thus: “The principal street [Revell Street],
half a mile long, consisted already of a large number of shops, hotels,
banks and dwelling houses, and appeared a scene of almost indescribable
bustle and activity. There were jewellers and watchmakers, physicians and
barbers, hotels and billiard-rooms, eating and boarding houses, and trades
and professions of all descriptions. Everywhere the English language would,
of course, be heard in its principal dialects, as well as German, Italian,
Greek and French, and several other tongues. Carts were unloading and
loading, and sheep and cattle driven to the yards; there was shouting and
bell-ringing, deafening to the passer-by; criers at every corner of the
principal streets, which were filled with people – a scene I had never
before witnessed in New Zealand. Hundreds of diggers ‘on the spree’ and
loafers were everywhere to be seen.”
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Hokitika reached its peak population in 1866 when it was home to at
least 6,000 people. In the same year 44% of all immigrants to New Zealand
entered the colony through the ‘Port’ of Hokitika. In 1867, even with a
smaller population of just over 4,500, it was the sixth largest town in New
Zealand. The town was rapidly settling down; gardens were filled with
flowers and vegetables, theatres were erected, churches built and newspapers
printed.
Gold continued to be important in Westland for many years but has gradually
been replaced by forestry, farming and, more recently, tourism. |
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