Thames (NZ): 150 Event - "The Shotover - 150 Year Souvenir" Book Launch by A Curtis

We are being spoilt for choice at present with the quality and range of books available about the Thames Goldfield. Saturday will see the launch of a new book, that will be a must buy for anyone with an interest in the town and mining.

"The Shotover" - 150 Year Souvenir" by Angela Curtis is to be launched at Carson's Book Shop, Pollen Street, Thames on Saturday 12th August 2017. Curtis is the great, great granddaughter William Cobley.

The book is about the first gold strike (10th August) on the Thames Goldfield following the opening on 1st August 1867. From that moment the gold rush began with vengeance!

The miners "Cobley, Hunt, White and Clarkson claimed a huge vertical vein of gold behind moss on a waterfall face. They called it the Shotover. Within three weeks two-thirds of Auckland left the city that was in the grips of the depression. Gold rush fever spread throughout the country and news reached overseas. People poured into the Coromandel to try their luck, which quickly led to the formation of Thames. 

William Cobley's direct descendants are gathering on that date to celebrate the occasion. William's great great granddaughter, Angela Curtis, is an avid historian and genealogist who has been working for 11 years on a trilogy that includes Thames and William Cobley's story." 

Source: Thames Heritage Website

Book Launch Details

Venue: Carson's Book Shop, Pollen Street, Thames

Time: 10.30am

Book Cost: $28

Messrs Cobley, White, Clarkson and Hunt at the Shotover Claim, 

soon after the discovery in 1867.

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William Cobley's Obituary  - Thames Star 13 September 1913

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BOOK LAUNCH UPDATE 12 August 2017

Carson's Bookshop, Thames

Angela Curtis was kept busy signing books, meeting family and friends, along with sharing a lovely chocolate cake and refreshments.