Thames (NZ): A Thamesite

What's in a name, how is it spelt and why was it used?
To start with I have always heard the term THAMESITE used for people who were 'real' Thames folk! People who had their roots and foundations firmly from the goldmining years. Those families that first settled on the Thames goldfields and even after many left, they would still fondly call themselves a THAMESITE.

The question today is the spelling...I am often swayed by others that it should be THAMES-ITE. So to resolve this once and for all I went to Paperspast and searched for both terms. The Thames-ite seems to bring upa handful of false results, whereas the term THAMESITE brings up 378 results.

The first example was by Mr Macdonald in 1876.

NZ HERALD 19 June 1876

The Concept of being a Thamesite remained strong over the years, and there is nothing these old Thamesites like better than a good old reunion! The 1927 Diamond Jubilee was just one excuse for a massive gathering and parade, as so beautifully portrayed in the Auckland Weekly News 11 August 1927. 

 The last entry at Paperspast for Thamesite was in the Auckland Star 1 June 1936, when a reference was made to a meeting. It summed up early memories that many will have of ex town folk making the Sunday trip for cuppa with the relatives...then going back to Auckland. Over the years as generations have died and there are no longer Grandparents to visit, these trips back home, for many, have become a thing of the past.

As more and more people explore their past and genealogy, thanks to places like The Treasury - they often find relatives who have passed through Thames, and we can say...yes you too are a THAMESITE!

Thames (NZ): Heritage Photos at Auckland City Libraries

An ongoing plea for anyone who has old photos of Thames - NEVER throw them out, The Treasury at Thames is always interested in old photos and you can donate the photo or a good digital image. The collection continues to grow, so please go and check it out when passing.

My last few days have been occupied exploring the images at Auckland CITY Libraries online collection. You can access this indirectly via the MATAPIHI site (and then filter your results) or my preferred option is the Libraries Heritage Image link. 

Take a look at this image online or below. The image provided by Auckland Library shows three hotels and four shops that had previously not positively been identified. The photo looks down on Rolleston Street, the hospital would be to the right and the road runs out to Banks Street. In the early days this would still be called Bowen Street from the Hape Bridge. Near the centre of the photo, stands a two storied building - that is the GLOBE HOTEL.

Above: Shortland Thames. Photo by D Richardson 1886
Below: The GLOBE HOTEL on the corner of Rolleston & Sealey Streets - where the present Thames High School Gymnasium stands today (partial of the above for identification purposes)
Source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC133'

 Remember when hunting for information on Thames-ites to check out the digital collection at Auckland City Libraries Website. Examples include: Auckland Passenger arrivals, 1881 Electoral ROLLS plus many more.

Thames (NZ): Early Business Update

Apologies to those new to the blog, who may wonder why my website does not update. Failed computers and new software have meant it is a challenge to update those pages...so for now I keep you posted via this blog.

I am up to the letter N, updating my research into Pre 1930 businesses of THAMES, New Zealand. This information is kept at THE TREASURY in Thames - available for researchers (who visit or request paid research). What is becoming apparent is the number of people that tried their luck at Thames. We often associate this just with mining but people were coming to the Thames to test the commercial waters. While bankruptcy was a regular event, many did also have success and went on to have long, successful businesses in Thames and New Zealand.

Fascinating stories continue to emerge, as well as advertisements that give a wonderful view of what life was like over a hundred years ago. Take the new typewriter available for sale at C CATER's music shop in Pollen Street, Thames.

Mr Cater was noted to be a talented musician and stocked the best “pieces in songs, dance music, and pianoforte solos” It was noted that Thames was a music loving population and “Mr Cater’s stock is calculated to please the artistic taste of all Music-lovers.”

Many businesses also diversified their products, in the case of Mr Cater he catered to the commercial businesses in town with his stock of compact typewriters. “The compact and portable Albus typewriters, which weigh only 51/2 lb; and are veritable works of art in mechanism, and general working capabilities.” (Thames Star 1/4/1913)

Thames (NZ): Early settlers of Thames

The Pioneer Families Register at The Treasury (The Coromandel Heritage Trust), provides a great start for researching families of the wider goldfield region.

"The Pioneer Family Register is a collection of forms filled in by people with early family in this region, under the umbrella of The Hauraki Thames Indexing Group. We have had an amazing response to this project, with forms arriving from all over New Zealand, and from overseas. Frequently people have sent in extra information, or provided a photoand these are filed separately. Some have sent in family history books as well.
The forms contain much interesting information about our early settlers - where they came from, the boat they came out on, their interests, their children's names, as well as the dates for these events where known. On the reverse side is the name of the person submitting this information - so a family researcher wanting more information has the address of someone to contact."

Photos: The Pioneer Families Collection Folders (top) and (above) another view of just a few of the many resources available at The Treasury, Thames

If you have infomation on a family who settled on the Thames Goldfields pre 1900, please consider completing the form today! - you then may find some new family researchers in the weeks to come. In the past week I have had the fortune to meet some new Vercoe researchers, thanks in part to this collection and a visit to The Treasury.

Thames (NZ): Tararu sea wall

Over the years, the sea wall at Tararu (just north of the old Thames North School) has often taken a hammering from the heavy seas that can hit the area. In the early years of the goldfield, this often meant that the tramway that ran from Thames to Tararu was damaged. The road narrow, with little room for repair.
The walkway in those years known as O'Neill's Esplanade.

The old papers have many examples of years when repairs urgently took place. In 1913 the Thames Borough Council hoped to have the problem solved and had three men engaged in filling the holes to the wall.

The photo below is one example of damage to the sea wall in 1907,

Auckland Weekly News 11 July 1907
' Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19070711-4-3 '

Thames (NZ): Early School Records

Previously mentioned have been some of the early schools on the Thames Goldfields. I am in the process of gathering names from published prize-givings for private schools. These schools do not have surviving school rolls - at least not any located so far.

Alarming to read how many children didn't attend school in 1882, when it was compulsory. So if your ancestor is missing from records found to-date, they may well have not attended a school.
A newspaper report, December 1882 stated in the Thames Borough and County area that there were 2329 Children aged between 5 and 13 years who should be going to school. Results concluded nearly 600 children were not attending any school.

These were the results of numbers from surveys on school attendance:

Thames Advertiser 23 Dec 1882

Thames (NZ): Thames Advertiser online 1874-1899

Well great news for researchers with the magnificent Paperspast team getting the Thames Advertiser online.

"Following the first major discovery of gold in the Thames area in August 1867, William Wilkinson and Claude Corlett decided to try their luck as newspaper proprietors in the embryonic Thames settlement. Born in Derbyshire, England, Wilkinson arrived in Auckland on the Nimroud in 1863. He joined the Southern Cross newspaper, acting as a ‘war correspondent’ during the New Zealand Wars, notably at the battle of Gate Pa, Tauranga, in late April 1864. Corlett, from Manchester in England, a compositor by training, also worked at the Southern Cross. The first issue of the tri-weekly Thames Advertiser and Miners’ News appeared in April 1868."
Source: Paperspast


The issues covered are:
1 April 1874 - 30 December 1899 (7184 issues)


You will find a wide variety of information and for the family historian no doubt BMD notices in particular that are not in the Thames/Evening Star.

Another good example of information often published by the Thames Advertiser are these roll lists - objections where people may appear more than once on a roll.  Friday 17 May 1878 are published for the THAMES and TIKI Highway Board District. Continued on page 6. Sample below:

Thames Advertiser 17 May 1878

Remember more rolls and directories can be browsed at The Treasury in Thames, if you are passing through and able to visit.

Thames (NZ): Parawai Shops aka Fenton Street Shops

While updating the business registers for The Treasury at Thames, I came across what could be the first shops that were established in Fenton Street. Many of you that went to school at Thames South of my generation, will remember these shops in the 1960s. The rush to get there and get your ordered school lunch..maybe a filled roll plus an orange from the Grocer next door if you had a threepence/sixpence to spare.

In 1895 Mrs Henry GRUBB is reported as having established a shop and Post Office Agency on land adjoining the Maori Meeting House. The bottom photo shows the location of the shop on the corner of Fenton and Heale Streets, known then as MRS GRUBB'S Post Office Store, Parawai.

Thames Star 18/2/1895

Below:  The red arrow points to the location of Mrs Grubb's Parawai Store - on the corner of Fenton and Heale Streets.
The Yellow arrow arrow indicating the site of the Meeting House. In this later photo it is being removed to the Auckland Museum, where it proudly stands today.
Top right is the Thames South School.
(Photo: Merv Cunningham Collection - The Treasury)



In April of 1895, a notice appears in the paper that D PEAT occupies Mrs GRUBB's old premises in Heale Street and that Mrs Grubb's is in the shop at the corner of Heale and Fenton Street. Raising the new dilemma to be explored...did Mrs Grubb move along the street?

Thames (NZ): Pre 1930 Businesses

Major revamp of the Pre:1930 Business Register for Thames businesses is currently underway. These folders are held at The Treasury in Thames. Initially the goal was to collect an advertisement and photo of the shop - for businesses that operated in the first 50 year period.  Now this is being refined to hopefully have: Start finish advertisement, special events and a bio/obit for the owner where possible.  What is emerging is lots of names indicating changes of ownership and usage of shop/office buildings - this will allow for more detailed investigation of building usage somewhere down the track!

Do you have ancestors that ran a business at the Thames - if so your information/photos would be appreciated. Whether it be one of the earliest to those post 1930 - contributions are always welcomed!

 On the Kuranui Bay waterfront we have above a photo of Mr W L FILE'S butcher shop which he operated 1870-1872 . The previous owner was Mr John COOKE who established the business in 1867 and sold it to FILE c1869.

Below are the shops in Rolleston Street, Thames. A busy area often forgotten, located just south of the Thames Hospital. During the 1870s-1890s every shop genre was represented, such as: BATEMAN's Butchery, Bootmakers HODGE and HYMAN, Mrs LOCKE the Dressmaker, the ACME Bakery run by
Mrs Nash and later FULJAMES & SCOTT, and DEEBLES seed and provision shop. Plus many more...

With over a thousand shops found to date - one thing is for sure, there were a lot of families not just involved with mining in the town. While many went on to face bankruptcy, there are many who went on to have successful business ventures around New Zealand.

Thames (NZ): Current Newspaper online

For those not wanting to miss out on local news, THE HAURAKI HERALD is online - along with archived copies for the last year. You will need to just complete a short registration process.
If you after family notices for earlier years (back to 2006), these are available at The Treasury, Thames - copies can be requested via their research service.

Alternatively the Thames Library and Hauraki Herald Office has copies that you can go in and browse covering all years.

Another old Thames Newspaper that has come to light is THE THAMES SENTINEL AND MINERS JOURNAL, published by William Wood back in the 1890s.

Thames Sentinel Newspaper
Copy courtesy of J Vedder-Price