Te Aroha Mining District Working Papers

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This series of working papers focuses on the Te Aroha Mining District from 1880-1980, starting with the year when gold was discovered until when the environmental consequences of base metal mining were being tackled. Although the papers always contain a mining element, much more is covered, with background papers dealing not only with the geology and impacts on vegetation and the wider environment but also the consequence for iwi of the search for gold, including the sale of the Aroha Block. Interspersed with papers on the rise and fall of mining are others on some of the leading personalities of the time (and not just miners), which broaden the focus from being just about the Te Aroha district.

Supported by the Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato.

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Private lives in the Te Aroha district, mostly in the nineteenth century
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
This paper is based mostly on gossip – deliberately so, for gossip can reveal details of the private lives of people who are otherwise lost to history. Usually it is not possible to identify them, but even if this is not possible a great deal of the social life of the community (mostly of its younger members) can be uncovered. No startling revelations are made, for residents (and visitors) behaved in predictable ways. After covering thematically the ways in which people interacted, the gossip mostly dealing with flirting and marriage, some examples of private lives (or rather, portions of these lives) are reconstructed.
Introductory notes to working paper series ‘a social history of mining in the Te Aroha mining district’
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
These working papers are provided as a resource for historians and genealogists. When covering the lives of individuals, they are deliberately as detailed as possible – possibly too detailed on such aspects as land ownership, but the intention is to provide as much information as is traceable. The nature of my research was inspired by the farewell address given by Sir Keith Hancock when he retired from being head of the History Department in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, when I was a student there. He included the comment that, in his retirement, he would tend his own garden; not meaning an intention to turn from historical research to gardening but to focus his research on his own locality, meaning the district of Monaro to the south of Canberra. The outcome was his publication, through Cambridge University Press, in 1972, of his excellent Discovering Monaro: A study of man’s inpact on his environment. The structure of this book combined a general analysis of geology, weather patterns, farming practices, and many other issues with case studies of farmers and others who lived in and developed the district. As this is a social history of the Te Aroha district, concentrating on mining, his example has been followed, with general papers being combined with personal accounts that illustrate the points made in the former papers. For instance, there is a paper on the skills required for successful prospecting, and the paper on Billy Nicholl relates the story of one of the most successful prospectors (successful at Waihi, that is, much less so elsewhere). As an unexpectedly large amounts of information was uncovered about some of those included in the case studies, the latter have ballooned far beyond the modest mini-biographies originally anticipated.
Hone Werahiko: the discoverer of gold at Te Aroha
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Originally Hone Kahukahu, when he was living at Ohinemutu in the 1860s he became known as Hone Werahiko, an Arawa name he retained for the rest of his life. His father, a member of Ngati Kahungungu, had been captured by Arawa; his mother was a Waikato. A widow living at Maketu chose him as her second husband because he was ‘a good looking fellow & understood English’. In the late 1860s and much of the 1870s, he prospected in Hauraki and even in the King Country, and worked underground in a Thames mine, the only Maori known to have done so. But in the early 1870s he gave up mining to be a pioneer publican and storekeeper at Ohinemutu, at Rotorua. He acquired land and property there, but after his wife died he returned to prospecting full-time. Werahiko’s first investigation of Te Aroha was in 1877, when he was ordered off by the local hapu. He returned in 1880 as the head of a prospecting party subsidized by the government. After finding gold, he was granted the Prospectors’ Claim and, in due course, a reward, and for a time supervised its development. Investing in other claims, he traded in shares. When his discovery turned out to be a duffer, he explored other parts of the mountain, first having high hopes for the Tui portion but then, after four months of exploring over winter with the support of three other Maori, he announced the discovery of his New Find at Waiorongomai. Once again he acquired partners, mostly Paheka, and traded in shares, and for some time supervised the opening up of his new find. Later, he was invited to prospect the King Country, but this did not eventuate. His last involvement in mining was at Karangahake. Because of the hardships of his prospecting at Te Aroha, he died at an early age, leaving a young second wife. His memory lived on, amongst Pakeha miners in particular, because he had the rare distinction for a prospector of being regarded as totally honest, and he was admired for succeeding when so many others had failed. [Note: Especially when he first came to public attention, many Pakeha struggled with Hone Werahiko’s name, which was recorded in a variety of incorrect forms, the worst example being Hoani Whaekareka. Even the warden at first gave his name as Hone Wharekino. Many Pakeha found it simpler to refer to him as ‘Johnny the Maori’. In this paper, his name is given correctly throughout.]
Joseph Harris Smallman
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Born to a mining agent and trained as a mining surveyor, in 1864, less than a year after the birth of his first child, Smallman left England for New Zealand to establish a ‘Mining business’, promising that his family would join him once it was successful. But they were never asked to join him, and after 1870 he ceased to write to his wife. The ‘Mining business’ never eventuated, but in 1865 he prospected at Thames, unsuccessfully seeking alluvial gold. Although criticized for living off Maori and doing little prospecting, with his partner he investigated several areas of the Hauraki Peninsula, again unsuccessfully. When the Thames goldfield was opened, with his encouragement, two years later, he mined there for some years, proving himself to be a competent miner but not making his fortune. After working elsewhere, by the mid-1870s he was living with another man’s ‘half-caste’ wife on her land near Te Aroha, having five children with her. Happy to be described as a Pakeha Maori and closely associated with the local hapu, he supported them over land dealings and the development of the district. Despite spending most of his time farming, he remained interested in prospecting, and made some explorations in districts closed to Pakeha. After gold was found at Te Aroha, for a short time he worked with Maori partners in unprofitable claims. Either before or after his second wife had a child by another man in 1886, he left New Zealand to return to his English family; and remarkably, despite his first wife knowing that his liaison had produced children, she accepted him back after his long absence, and they remained together for the rest of their lives.
Maori and mining in New Zealand and beyond
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Before the arrival of Europeans, Maori had known of the existence of gold but did not mine it and had no understanding of its value. Once mining commenced in California in 1849 and Australia in the early 1850s, many Maori participated on several fields, especially in Victoria. When gold was first discovered in New Zealand, at Coromandel in 1852, Maori were keen to learn prospecting skills, and soon found gold in several parts of both the North and South Islands. Some alluvial claims were worked communally, even some women participating. From the start, Maori were determined to protect their rights against Pakeha when they were rivals for the same ground. On the Hauraki Peninsula, which had no alluvial gold, Maori were prospectors rather than miners. Some were successful, often going against the wishes of rangatira who, fearing that opening goldfields would result in their losing their land, refused access to prospectors, particularly in Ohinemuri. At Thames, Maori prospectors succeeded where Pakeha ones had failed, finding the gold that led to the 1867 rush; a rush encouraged by one rangatira in particular, Wirope Hoterene Taipari, who understood how a successful field would benefit him financially (including obtaining a reward for discovering a payable goldfield). After the opening of this field, some Maori prospected throughout the peninsula and elsewhere for the remainder of the century, with varying success but with some good finds, particularly at Kuaotunu. A few even participated in the Klondike rush. By the twentieth century, Maori were overcoming their reluctance to mine underground, notably in the coalmines of the Waikato, but until then almost none had seen mining as a full-time career. Indigenous inhabitants throughout the world successfully prospected for precious metals, but their achievements were commonly written out of history, as for example in Australia, where Aboriginal involvement is only now being uncovered. In New Zealand also, Maori achievements, although well known to contemporaries, have largely been forgotten. At the time, Maori prospector’s successes were praised and many became owners of claims, and in some cases benefited financially from their involvement in mining.
William Sharman Crawford (Billy) Nicholl, the prospector who discovered the Martha lode at Waihi: his life, told largely in his own words
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Billy Nicholl was that rare miner, one who recorded his life. Born in Ireland, when still a boy he arrived in New Zealand in 1862. After his father died at an early age, he acquired a step-father, whom he disliked, with good reason; and in her later years his mother’s mind would fade. From 1868, when he was probably aged 14, until shortly before his death, he was a prospector and miner. Excited by the early Thames mining days, he learnt the skills needed to be a successful prospector, and during the 1870s worked with several mates on the Coromandel field, with some success. After briefly participating in the Te Aroha rush of 1880, he saw from the summit of that mountain the outcrops of the Waihi reefs, and turned his attention to that largely unexplored area. Although there was considerable claim and counter-claim about who first explored the area and who first found gold, Nicholl was the first to discover a payable lode, the famous Martha. After telling his mates of his discovery, they marked out the line of reef and started to develop several claims. For a time Nicholl was in charge of developing his find, and took a leading part in attempting for form a company to work the ground, succeeding on the third attempt. For a while he operated the first battery. But in time he lost control over his discovery and, far from profiting, lost a large amount of money. After leaving Waihi for Karangahake, he would be forced into bankruptcy in 1884. His first experience of overseas prospecting was in Fiji, where he found traces of gold but nothing payable. Returning to Waihi, he struggled to earn a living for his young family, taking contracts and owning a small farm to supplement his mining endeavours, notably at Maratoto in the 1890s. During that decade his wife abandoned him and their children, and to make his fortune – and because of the lure of another gold rush – he went to Klondike, where he had many exciting experiences but, being unable to mine there, returned poorer than before. In Nicholl’s last years he did some farming but his main interest continued to be prospecting, and he explored the Waitekauri area into his eighties until declining health forced him to desist. In his later years he recorded details of his life, notably several versions of the discovery of the Martha lode, to the great benefit of posterity.
Te Aroha township during the first rush: 1880-1881
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
The most exciting time for a mining township was during the first rush. At Te Aroha, canvas settlements appeared close to the hot pools and between the mountain and the river, and because of the high hopes for a payable field all the features of a permanent settlement soon appeared. Shops of all varieties were erected, the original hotel soon had competition, church sites were chosen, government offices appeared, and because so many of the settlers were family men a start was made to provide schooling and health care. Sport, horse racing, and other entertainments became part of social life, with the hot pools a particular focus for ‘rest and recreation’. Within a few months, more substantial buildings were erected (very necessary because of the high wind common to the district), better roads to and within the settlement were constructed, and a better punt across the river provided. As the prospects of the goldfield faded in 1881, so did the township, but the discovery of gold at Waiorongomai meant that it would quickly revive and indeed flourish.
The opening day of the Te Aroha goldfield: 25 November 1880
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Possibly 800 people were present on the opening day of the new goldfield, most of who wanted to acquire mining claims or residence and business sites. The excitement meant they were up early in the morning, and, after struggling up the steep Prospectors’ Spur, following the reading of the proclamation the shots to indicate that pegging out could commence were fired at 10.00. As several parties marked out the same ground or overlapped others’ claims, Harry Kenrick and his officials readied themselves to resolve disputes. About 60 claims were pegged out, but Kenrick believed that, once these were surveyed, the real number of claims would be much less; his behaviour and recommendations were much praised. In the township rush, 54 sites were competed for, again with rival claims to ownership. Compared with previous rushes, this opening day won accolades for its orderliness, and the new regulations required claims to be fully manned. The names chosen for claims revealed something about their owners, who, like everyone else, hoped for a prosperous field, for it had the potential to benefit the whole region.
George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of mokena hou, and some of their children
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
George Lipsey, an Irishman, went to the early Thames goldfield and became a publican. He soon acquired close links with Maori, notably with Ema Mokena, the younger daughter of Mokena Hou. After having two children, they married under Pakeha law just before the opening of the Te Aroha field, thereby ensuring that he was entitled to share in the goldfield’s revenue. From 1873 onwards he had been living at Te Aroha as a Pakeha Maori, erecting the first wooden house and the first Hot Springs Hotel. When gold was found, he encouraged Mokena Hou to open the field, and subsequently invested in the mines (as did Ema, to a much smaller extent). Ema and her two eldest children were granted land in a rapidly developing settlement, and the income received from leasing it enabled Lipsey to erect a substantial residence and to be a benefactor of the new settlement by donating land for churches and a school. A sympathetic landlord, he adjusted the rents to assist residents but opposed giving them the freehold because the land was held in trust for his two eldest children. Despite his steady income, his expenditure regularly exceeded it, and he ended up selling land, though not at first at Te Aroha. Initially opposed to his children selling their land, he came to accept this as being necessary, and spent years trying to obtain the highest prices possible from the government. A leading figure in the local community, he held several local government positions. Sociable, with a fondness for drink that was usually under control, he was especially enthusiastic about horse-racing. As the spokesman for Ngati Rahiri, he advised the latter and was an interpreter. All their children were educated, but some died tragically early deaths. After he died, the children sold their land because they needed money to develop their farms.
Living in the bush and at Quartzville, high on the hillside above Waiorongomai
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
To avoid a long walk to and from work, some miners lived in whare scattered in the bush but close to the upper road between Waiorongomai village and the mines, and at the small settlement of Quartzville. In addition, some companies provided a small number of shanties for single men, some of which would be re-used in the 1930s. A few huts were erected in the Tui district. At Quartzville during the 1880s, several shopkeepers set up shop, receiving goods daily from Waiorongomai. There was also a post office and a small boarding house, but no licensed premises were permitted. By the end of the nineteenth century this settlement, which had housed some families as well as single men, had disappeared. Living in these out-of-the-way places had several hazards, notably fires, falling trees, and a steep and slippery road that needed constant repair. Little entertainment was possible, although for a time there were sporting teams and occasional meetings. For much of the year climatic conditions must have made for unpleasant living conditions.
Black Americans and Te Aroha mining
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Although no black Americans lived in the Te Aroha district, several, including some miners, lived in Hauraki and elsewhere in New Zealand. In general, blacks were stereotyped as figures of fun (as were the Irish often), but those who were known personally were treated differently. Visiting black American singers were admired for their vocal skills, and some settled in the colony, notably Robert Bradford Williams, who became mayor of the Wellington borough of Onslow. This paper focuses on three very different men peripherally involved in mining in the Te Aroha district. About the first, Alexander Jackson, a carter, little is known apart from his marital problems. The second, William La Grenade Mitchell, was an Auckland accountant and land agent and was well respected, being a prominent Mason. He quickly lost this respect when forced to flee to Australia, whereupon his complicated financial and marital circumstances became public knowledge. About the third man, Edward Ralph Martin (who claimed an exotic ethnic background), a great deal is known because of his incessant efforts to raise money, including from the government, for his enthusiastic but incompetent prospecting. Calling himself a ‘professor’ of music, in his efforts to make money he was involved in several frauds, although there may have been an element of self-delusion about the prospecting skills claimed. His private life was also complicated. One feature of this sample was that all three married white women, two of them also having white mistresses at a time when such liaisons, regular or irregular, were most certainly not socially acceptable.
Maori and Pakeha at Te Aroha: the context: 2: Maori in Hauraki in the nineteenth century
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
After the arrival of Europeans, the Maori population of Hauraki suffered a rapid decline. Some rangatira opposed Pakeha ways, whereas others adopted these for their personal benefit. Keeping ‘the peace of Hauraki’ required government agents to intervene in various disputes between hapu (Ngati Hako in particular causing concern in the 1870s and early 1880s). Although rangatira had links to both Queen Victoria and King Tawhiao, the government was relieved that most remained ‘loyal’ to the new order, and only an intransigent minority opposed the spread of ‘civilisation’ through its roads, telegraph, and the snagging of the Waihou River. A liking for Pakeha goods encouraged collaboration, with Maori joining the cash economy through their involvement in road making, gum digging, and European agriculture to raise money for, in part, traditional gatherings that for a while were more lavish than earlier possible. Maori of all ranks were quick to stand up for their rights by using the court system, reminding Pakeha of the Treaty of Waitangi, and, in some cases, violence. Tensions were eased by Maori socializing with Pakeha in sport, horse racing, and even the Volunteers, but drinking together in hotels could result in fights, and the lure of alcohol had to be countered by temperance movements. A few Maori children attended school, with Pakeha, and for a time the government provided a (free) doctor and vaccinated them against smallpox (though some preferred traditional ‘cures’ for other ailments). For most, living conditions remained poor. Criminal behaviour was of a minor nature. Christianity had to compete with old beliefs (notably in maketu), newer ones such as ‘Hauhauism’, and by the later years of the century the popularity of the Mormons. Examples are included of intermarriage, ‘half-castes’, and Pakeha Maori, all being notable features of the time. In a variety of ways, Maori society was sufficiently resilient to adapt and thereby to survive the impact of Pakeha settlement, which produced massive changes and dominated the region well before the end of the century.
Merea Wikiriwhi and George Thomas Wilkinson
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Merea Wikiriwhi was one of the few women to invest in Te Aroha mining. Her life has been traced in as much detail as can be found because so little has survived about the lives of Maori women. As George Thomas Wilkinson’s surviving diaries reveal his importance in her life, his story was included as well, concentrating on his personal life rather than his official career. Merea was a member of several Ohinemuri hapu, with links through whakapapa to some of their more senior rangatira. Mostly living at or near Waitoki, between Paeroa and Te Aroha, she lived a frugal life, not wasting the income she received from land sales. These sales first required her to insist on her rights both in the land court and in a convoluted legal battle over a will signed in her favour by a distant relative. Over time, she would sell most of her land, but never became entirely landless. She invested in only one mining claim, but in the 1930s joined others to claim that the government was not paying them goldfields revenue for land they had sold. George Thomas Wilkinson entered her life in 1880, when he was the ‘native agent’ in Hauraki. Despite having fought against Maori and nearly being killed, his surviving diaries reveal that he lived in the manner of a Pakeha Maori with three Maori women (simultaneously for a time), having children both by Merea and the woman he would eventually marry. Wilkinson had close friendships with many Maori and Pakeha Maori, and his genuine regard for them is reflected not only in his attempting, in his official capacity, to be fair to their interests – even as he assisted the government to separate them from their land – but in particular by his affection for a young girl, Wairingiringi, who shared his house in Thames. Although he and Merea would part, he tried to ensure that her children, like all his children, would do well in a Pakeha world.
Rewi Mokena: youngest son of Mokena Hou
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
The youngest child of Mokena Hou, Rewi Mokena moved from place to place when young, finally settling permanently at Te Aroha. Having received some education, he was fluent in English. Like the typical rangatira of the time, he acquired interests in several blocks of land, obtained income from these in the short term, but because of financial difficulties was brought before the court several times. His involvement in gold mining started in a small way in 1875. Five years later, he would assist Hone Werahiko to prospect Te Aroha – and to fend off inquisitive Pakeha. He invested in claims in all of the three areas where gold was found. By the twentieth century, Rewi was the most important rangatira at Te Aroha, and had wider influence, assisting the King Movement to seek redress for lost land. From a young age he participated in Pakeha society, notably as a rugby player, and became a prominent Mormon. His complicated private life, including bigamy and a wife’s attempted suicide because of his adultery, did not lower his high standing in Maori society nor damage his popularity with Pakeha.
George Devey: a Te Aroha carpenter and his family
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
A cabinetmaker, George Devey brought his wife and young family to New Zealand in 1864, accompanied by his brother Jess, a blacksmith. After settling in Thames, from 1883 onwards they lived in Te Aroha, where George erected houses, built coaches, and was the local undertaker. He had the most minimal involvement in local mining possible: acquiring an interest in one claim. His unmarried brother was a blacksmith at Waiorongomai, but would die prematurely of cancer. George was a leader of the Methodist community, in particular supervising the Sunday School at Waiorongomai for many years. He was involved in the wider community, and lived long enough to be regarded as one of the ‘old-timers’. Despite suffering from three accidents earlier in life, he would live until the age of 97. His wife Ann first achieved prominence in 1877 for assaulting a teacher because one of her daughters had been chastised. In Te Aroha she worked as a nurse for many years, and was fondly remembered, although previously, when at Thames, her nursing was in part responsible for a maternal death. After she died, the community ensured that her memory was kept alive. Outlines are given of the careers of their sons and daughters. One daughter, Caroline Ida, married a mostly successful businessman, but another, Laura, suffered from mental problems caused by ‘disappointment in love’. Although she found happiness with her second husband, a miner, her life was cut short in tragic fashion.
Lavinia and Henry Dunbar Johnson
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Rawinia Manukau, of Ngati Tamatera, married Henry Dunbar Johnson in 1868, when aged 21. Johnson had been a storekeeper at Coromandel from 1863 onwards and after 1866 had the first store at the site of the future Paeroa. In both places, but particularly in the latter, there was always the fear of conflict with the local Maori population, despite his being protected by a rangatira. After spending time at the new Thames goldfield, from 1871 onwards he was a partner in another Paeroa store, being able to erect a house because a rangatira related to his wife wished her to settle there. Lavinia (as she was known to Pakeha) obtained interests in several blocks of land in Ohinemuri, and her husband also acquired some land for a farm. He prospected Karangahake mountain from 1866 onwards, despite Maori opposition, and in 1875 and the following year actively mined there, unprofitably; Lavinia was not involved with this field, but did acquire interests in two claims when the Te Aroha one opened. A petty squabble with a Thames neighbour resulted in Lavinia telling the latter to go back to England – she was feisty in defending her heritage. Through his marriage and close contact with Maori, Johnson understood and admired the Maori language, leading to his being appointed a licensed interpreter in 1872. After being a leading pioneer of Paeroa, in 1879 he went to Wellington to work in the Native Office, leaving his wife and family behind for a while; after then she was employed by Pakeha as a nurse and midwife. In 1885 Johnson was appointed to oversee the development of Rotorua, where he attempted to have Maori children educated (as his own were) and had to cope with the aftermath of the 1886 Tarawera eruption. Retrenched in 1888, he farmed for a while on his wife’s land at Te Aroha West, becoming involved in local issues and local politics. During the 1890 he obtained more official positions, and from 1896 to 1906 was a land court judge. The Johnson family was well integrated into the dominant culture, all his daughters marrying Pakeha apart from one who married a ‘half-caste’ who had been brought up as a Pakeha. Johnson was not a Pakeha Maori in the original sense, but was accepted by Maori when living in Paeroa and as a judge tried to be kind to poverty-stricken Maori, although in time he viewed Maori as becoming lazy compared with those he had lived amongst during his first two decades in New Zealand.
Denis Murphy: a miner and farmer in the Te Aroha district
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
After the death of his father, Denis Murphy and his family settled in New Zealand in 1865, moving to Thames once the goldfield opened, mining there for several years. At Thames he was a director of one mining company and became acquainted with James Brown, who would assist him with a mining enterprise at Te Aroha 40 years later. After prospecting in the Ohinemuri district during the early 1870s, he participated in the opening rush there in 1875 and became a director of another company, but concentrated on being a storekeeper and publican. He also acquired a small farm, and was a prominent member of the community, but as the Ohinemuri goldfield declined so did his income, and he was forced into bankruptcy. Before Te Aroha was opened to mining, he a another farm at Te Aroha West, which he slowly developed while earning an income as both a carter and a contractor making drains and roads. One of his enterprises, operating a punt at the Waiorongomai landing, led to his being accused of over-charging and exploiting his position on the county council for personal gain. Prominent in the local community, he assisted its progress, especially after becoming a member of the county council. As a councillor he supported the needs of the mining industry, and, courting much controversy, campaigned to include Waiorongomai in a proposed Te Aroha borough. Murphy claimed to have prospected the district before it was opened to mining, and after its proclamation as a goldfield in 1880 helped to develop the Prospectors’ Claim. Apart from some minimal involvement with Waiorongomai mining, which he strongly supported on the council (including trying to reduce the tramway charges), he was not actively involved in mining again until 1908, when, with James Brown, he worked ‘Murphy’s Find’, close to the original discovery of 1880. Like all other mines in that portion of the field, it was unsuccessful. His private life became a matter of public interest in the ‘Rotorua scandal’, involving a suicide and his apparent seduction of another man’s wife. Although he strongly denied the allegations made against him, his subsequent behaviour refuted his denials. During the last years of his life he suffered from miners’ complaint, a consequence of his years of mining.
Edward Gallagher: a Te Aroha coach proprietor
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Edward Gallagher, who arrived in New Zealand at the age of two in 1844, fought as a cavalryman against Maori in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. His subsequent career was primarily based around horses, having pioneer coaching and cartage businesses in Thames, Ohinemuri, and Te Aroha. When living in Thames he invested in local mines and even did some mining. For several years he also farmed at Puriri. After moving to Te Aroha, his coaches ran to Waiorongomai and elsewhere, profitably. He also did some carting and became a farmer (at Te Aroha West). His investments in Waiorongomai and Stoney Creek mines probably brought him no profit. Gallagher was very active in assisting the development of the Te Aroha district, being elected to several committees and becoming chairman of the town board and later the second mayor. His erratic and abrasive behaviour in his dealings with colleagues on these bodies was notable. In politics he was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and of the rights of the Irish, but in practice he could be as oppressive as any Irish landlord. He was an important member of the community, but a flawed one.
Education in the Te Aroha district in the nineteenth century
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Establishing a school at Te Aroha was delayed while the Education Board waited to see whether the settlement would become permanent. In the interim, temporary arrangements were made. Although some praised the building finally erected, others noted such defects as being cold in winter, and residents met some of the costs of necessary improvements. Details are given of all the teachers, of the development of the school, of the number of pupils, and of the quality of the teaching. At Waiorongomai there was same sequence of erecting and improving the school, and details are given of all the teachers and their teaching. In both communities, residents had to raise money through holding entertainments to fund necessary improvements. Examples of the curriculum are given, along with school inspectors’ reports on the effectiveness of the teaching. Patriotism was emphasized, and corporal punishment was a normal method of control. Irregular attendance handicapped many children’s success, and some parents clearly did not care about sending their children to school regularly. To vary the school year, there were occasional events such as Arbor Day, and a ‘treat’ was held at the end of every year. Providing religious education provoked controversy; and some attempts were made to provide much needed adult education. To conclude, the life of a particularly popular teacher, James William Rennick, is given in as much detail as is available. (Note that ‘most of the early records’ of the Te Aroha school ‘were destroyed by fire’, making a complete history of its early years impossible.)
Akuhata Koropango Lipsey
(Working Paper, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
The eldest son of George and Ema Lipsey, Augie, as he was known, was most notable, and popular, as a sportsman. A good rugby player in his youth, he later became a keen golfer. As well, he owned and raced horses, an interest that would result in his financial downfall. Although a farmer off and on, he had no farming skills and had to take on other work, in his last years working in a billiard saloon. After marrying an English girl and fathering several children, he proved to be a poor provider for his family. His wife, well liked for her involvement in various worthy causes, especially those organized by the Anglican Church, had to teach dancing and to milk cows to raise money, for Lipsey squandered his inheritance, notably on the Auckland racecourse. His method of meeting his debts and living expenses was to sell land, and although over many years officials tried to prevent this (to protect his family), they gradually let him have his way. Bankrupted twice, on his death his family was left in poverty.