Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Thames (NZ): View to Grahamstown revisited

 Looking for 'new' old photographs of Thames?

Have you checked the auction catalogues?

This week we got a tip off that there was an old Thames photo for sale in a Webb's upcoming auction. (photo below)


You will have seen this view before,  the photograph captures early mining activity along the Kuranui - Moanataiari - Grahamstown foreshore.

 

In the first few years after the goldfields opened 1 August 1867, residences were built to accommodate the influx of miners and their families. 

What amazes me most about the two photos above is the reality that when the population left and the golden dreams subsides, houses literally disappeared.

 

Did you spot the little house in the foreground? I wonder who the occupants were, and what they thought of the changing landscape.

Keep looking at the auction sites and we may discover more photographs of early Thames.