Thames (NZ): Lecture Series for Heritage Festival

Keep an eye on the HERITAGE FESTIVAL Programme - there are many new items.

**The Thames School of Mines is hosting several lectures:
There will also be evening presentations on gold field technology, Maori mining on the Thames gold field, and one from the Chief Executive of NZ Historic Places Trust, Bruce Chapman CE NZHPT on "Heritage Matters".

**The Coromandel Heritage Trust is once again holding a lecture series at The Treasury building in Queen Street, Thames. These include:

Monday 11th March 1pm - 2pm 'The Way We Were' - Thames Big Pump: 1872-1895 ('re-opened' 2012)
Historian David Wilton will speak about the Big Pump which was installed on the flat near Moanataiari in 1872. This followed the record production of the Caledonian Mine in 1871 and optimism was high that optputs would be as great at deeper levels. At the time, the pump was reputed to be the largest steam pump in Australasia. It provided services to mines on the flat until it was superceded by an even bigger pump - at Bella St - around 1895. Nearly forgotten for over 100 years, the Big Pump was to make itself known to Thames-ites in 2012, when its shaft collapsed under the main road north of town. This led to an intensive investigation and archaeological analysis of the site, which will be described in the talk.

Tuesday 12th March 1pm - 2pm 'The Way We Were' - Exploring the life of the early settlers at Opito
Local archaeologist Brenda Sewell will speak about early settlers from Polynesia who landed on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, what they found and how they adapted to a much cooler climate. Excavations at Sarah’s Gully and Opito illustrated the changes that took place through various cultural layers covering about 400 years of prehistory.

Monday 18th March 1pm - 2pm 'The Way We Were' - CSI Thames: Archaeological Detective Work in Shortland
One of the fascinations of the many forensic TV programmes is the piecing together of many different bits of evidence to find out whodunit. Although archaeology doesn’t investigate crime scenes the methods are very similar. Renowned archaeologist Dr Caroline Phillips will explain what the archaeological evidence reveals about Shortland.

Tuesday 19th March 1pm - 2pm 'The Way We Were' - Doing our bit, Hauraki Goldfields 1914-1919
This presentation by Waihi historian Sue Baker Wilson provides a short summary of the formation of the New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company (NZETC) and their service on the Western Front. It is also an account of a journey of rediscovery and recognition. In 2012, the first WW1 unit specific overseas pilgrimage was made by Tunnelling Company descendants and supporters. Sue has a long term interest in military history and has constructed what is regarded as New Zealand’s first World War One e-memorial.

If you want to attend any of these lectures 'The Way we Were:
Venue: The Treasury, 705 Queen Street, Thames

Price: $5.00 pp. Limited to 40 per session & available at The Treasury & Thames I-Site
Contact: details available on website

The Big Pump

Thames (NZ): Heritage Week & Identification of Houses

During the Heritage festival this year, the Thames Library are holding an event called: Capturing the Present, to become the Heritage of the Future.

The details posted are:
Add your photos and memories to a digital archive collection of buildings and homes in Thames. Bring in your current (and old) photos of buildings around Thames - perhaps your home, your workplace, your school. We'll help you scan and upload them to the Thames Streets & Places basket on Kete Hauraki Coromandel. Material in this Kete is harvested to National Library NZ's National Digital Heritage Archive, ensuring that it will always be safely stored for future generations to access. Play your part in leaving a trail for future generations to explore. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to help you each weekday during the Festival, from 10am to 12 noon, at Thames Library.


The event is Monday 11 March to Friday 15 March and Monday 18 March to Friday 22 March 2013
Times 10am - 12pm

You can view photos that are already onsite and add comments - just complete the simple login registration

Description

Looking south from Broad Street, over Shortland (Thames). At centre right of image (amongst small group of buildings on the flat), are the premises of Butement Brothers, Manufacturers of Aerated Waters and Cordials, situated along Pollen Street. The Butement Brothers had aerated water factories established in Dunedin, Greymouth, Christchurch, Wellington and Shortland. The long white building in the centre background is Smale's Folly (Smale's Boarding House), built 1868/9. Phoenix Brewery?, centre left.
Thames Coromandel Region (N.Z.)

Source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A16669'

Thames (NZ): Heritage Festival March 2013

The events for the Heritage week are appearing, more added every day; advertised as the Thames Heritage Festival 2013 and running 8th - 24th March 2013

There are guided walks of: Shortland, Grahamstown, Tararu, Hall's Reserve. Plus options via mini-van around the town and Thames Coast

Old cars, fashion parade, and many musical and film related items.

Or fancy attending a Victorian Dinner at Rev Lush's old house?

Home brewing, market days and fetes, craft days, photo displays...plenty of things to do and see

Our ancestors started their time on the goldfields in very simple conditions
Label: THE BEGINNING OF A PROSPEROUS TOWN: MINERS' SHANTIES IN THE THAMES IN THE SIXTIES.

Auckland Weekly News 20 FEBRUARY 1913 p011


Source: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19130220-11-4

Thames (NZ): World War One Soldiers

As mining opportunities diminished on the goldfields, many miners went off to war to South Africa in the South African War. This call to arms continued on into the 1914-1918 First World War, with many of our young men enlisting and going off to fight. Large numbers never returned and the names of many of these men adorn the memorials around the Peninsula.

The Treasury has an article on the Memorials of Thames. At present I am gathering information on the wider Coromandel Peninsula area to record the names of more of the men who died in or as a result of wounds/sickness from serving in World War One.

YOU can help, by contributing any family information on any of these men. The resulting collection will then be available at The Treasury in Thames.
Also if by any chance you are visiting Wellington archives and can assist with the request for digitisation of war files, please could you make contact.

Below is a postcard sent to Miss IVY GORDON of Thames during World War One. Perhaps this could have been sent by her brother Victor GORDON, the family lived in Augustus Street Thames.

'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 630-13'

Thames (NZ): First Tight Rope walk over Pollen Street

When looking for events unique to Thames, one always hopes to find something a little different.

Well, heres one to ponder on...do you know about the time someone crossed Pollen Street on a tight rope???

Thomas ROWLEY in 1936 recalled the time in 1876 when CHARLES BLONDIN crossed the street, at the corner of Grey and Pollen Streets. Rowley a 12 year old at the time, remembered the rope stretched from Butt's Shortland Hotel to Barnett's Warwick Arms Hotel! Papers of the time do not specifically record the event, but during the year of 1876 Blondin was busy doing similar performances in Auckland.

Auckland Star 16 April 1937

Further investigation of the event are necessary, as it stands it must have been an amazing sight. A possible view in the photo below...the red line showing where the tightrope could have been, based on Rowley's memories of the day Charles BLONDIN walked the tight rope across Pollen Street.

Background on Charles BLONDIN:

On June 30, 1859, the “Great Blondin” walked along a tightrope suspended above the rapids of Niagara Falls, becoming the first man to walk across the Falls.

Thames (NZ): Nurses of Thames Hospital

Over the past year, a lot of people assisted with research I was doing on the nurses of Thames Hospital. Relatives and past nurses provided information and photos, along with countless memories.
I want to put out a special thank you to everyone I spoke to and whom contributed in some way. As the old saying goes - without you none of this would have been possible!

Well, guess what...the booklet is finally in print! It may not what people expected but the main thing is that it has been completed! Hindsight is a terrible thing, and now I can see things that could have been changed...I hope that it may be of interest to some of you. Maybe you trained and registered at Thames Hospital, Maybe you have a relative that was a nurse at Thames.

The booklet is a fundraiser for The Treasury at Thames (The Coromandel Heritage Trust) and will sell for $25. Details of how it can be purchased will be on their website soon, for those who can't call into the research centre in person.

Thames (NZ): 'The First Time' Women voted

A new claim has emerged from the people of Thames past, that they were in fact the first area in New Zealand to allow women to vote. Very specific details are made in a Newspaper article in the THAMES ADVERTISER dated 10 Sept 1875.

At the Annual Elections for the Thames Borough Council women were able to vote. The names included: Mesdames DAVY, BULL, SAWYER, FERGUSON, ZEIGLER and COOLAHAN.
The paper noting that no one objected and that, "in so far as the Thames is concerned, female suffrage may be introduced successfully, not only in municipal elections, but in every other election where property gives the title to vote."

Thames Advertiser 10 Sept 1875

They note interestingly that years previously a women had voted in a mining board election, because she held a miner's right. That was Mrs HAGIN, whos husband at the time had the New Caledonia Hotel in Mackay Street, near the Shortland Courthouse.

The New Caledonia Hotel, near the corner of Mackay & Grey Streets which opened in 1868

Thames (NZ): The first hotels

With the number of hotels found to date soaring above 140, it was interesting to find at paperspast yesterday the entry for the first hotels. After all, how could Mackay and his associates entice the men of the dominion to come to The Thames, if there were no basic amenities.

The mention of the RUTLAND HOTEL run by Captain BUTT was the SHORTLAND HOTEL on the corner of Grey & Pollen Streets. The majority of which still stands today.

The Digger's Rest Hotel I don't currently have associated with MULLIGAN. There were three Digger's Rest Hotels which adds to the complexity - one of which is more usually called the Miner's Rest up the Hape Creek. Michael MULLIGAN is a well known hotelier in the town and is named at many hotels around the field.

Mr NICHOLL's was an established shopkeeper and his DUKE OF EDINBURGH Hotel was well positioned to catch the trade offloading at the Shortland landing later wharf area.

Description

Looking north from the landing place on the Kauaeranga River showing part of Shortland, Thames with Grey Street (left to right, centre) and Butt's Shortland Hotel and American Theatre, (centre), on the corner of Pollen Street

Thames Coromandel Region (N.Z.)
Source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-857'

Thames (NZ): The many hotels of The Thames

Whether a family researcher or someone with an interest in the history of Thames, there is one topic that is usually explored - that of the Hotels of Thames. A few of the hotels have been listed in previous posts and there is a now an up-to-date article in the Treasury Journal.

As more papers have been released on Papers past, it has become so much easier to verify and find the existence of new, previously unknown hotels. Previous figures were that there were about 100 hotels in old Thames at Shortland, Grahamstown, Tararu, Parawai or the hills behind the township. A more realistic number will add tens more - and this will be released when my latest research is complete.

In the year 1870 alone there were 102 hotels operating at that time. There were 39 in SHORTLAND, 43 in GRAHAMSTOWN and 20 in the outlying suburbs of The Thames. A photo around this time of the COURT HOUSE HOTEL in Queen Street, is an example of an early hotel of Thames. Hotels took their name from a wide variety of sources. This hotel named as it was opposite the new Court House and Government buildings on Queen Street (between Albert and Cochrane Streets).

Thames Advertiser 3 Oct 1876

Thames (NZ): First death on the goldfields

A few years back I was asked by several family researchers, whether Brown Street was named after their relation who was possibly one of the first drowning at The Thames, following the opening of the goldfields. Tonight by chance, I found this report in the New Zealand Herald, where the correspondent claims it was the first death since they had arrived on the field.

Sadly this new information is in contradiction to a note in "Thames the first 100 years" where the John Brown is said to be the first President of the Miners Association.
"Named in the memory of Mr John Brown, who was the first president of the Miners' Association in Thames He was also largely responsible for the formation of a club to aid the sick and injured."

NZH 28/9/1867

Was the JOHN BROWN above the first death...when did the John BROWN of the Miners' Association die? Mr John BROWN of the MINERS' ASSOCIATION was at a meeting 14 January 1869.
The early BROWN death in 1867 is more consistent with the naming of BROWN STREET which appears on the c1868 Thames' Illustrated Mining Map.

Part of Grahamstown, showing BROWN STREET, named after a JOHN BROWN who drowned at the Thames