Te Aroha Mining District Working Papers
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.
Click on each section below to see a full list of papers:
- No. 1: Introductory Notes to Working Paper Series ‘a Social History of Mining in the Te Aroha Mining District’
- No. 2: The Geology of Te Aroha Mountain
- No. 3: The Physical Environment of the Te Aroha District
- No. 4: The Vegetation of the Te Aroha Area
- No. 5: The Te Aroha Hot Springs (Mainly in the Nineteenth Century)
- No. 6: Pollution in the Te Aroha District Caused by Mining
- No. 7: Developing the Te Aroha District until c. 1910
- No. 8: Special Settlements in the Te Aroha District
- No. 9: The Thames High School Endowment at Waiorongomai
- No. 10: Maori and Pakeha at Te Aroha: The Context: 1: Pakeha Perceptions of Maori
- No. 11: Maori and Pakeha at Te Aroha: The Context: 2: Maori in Hauraki in the Nineteenth Century
- No. 12: Maori Land in Hauraki
- No. 13: The Aroha Block to 1879
- No. 14: The Aroha Block from 1880 Onwards
- No. 15: Ngati Rahiri versus Ngati Tamatera [in 1877]
- No. 16: The Daldy McWilliams ‘Outrage’ of 1879
- No. 17: Maori and Mining in New Zealand and Beyond
- No. 18: Maori and Goldfields Revenue
- No. 19: Hoera Te Mimiha, a Ngati Koi rangatira, and father-in-law of Hone Werahiko
- No. 20: Merea Wikiriwhi and George Thomas Wilkinson, a Native Agent
- No. 21: Lavinia and Henry Dunbar Johnson, who became a Land Court judge
- No. 22: John William Richard Guilding: a ‘Native Interpreter’
- No. 23: William Nicholls, Hera Te Whakaawa, and their children
- No. 24: William Grey Nicholls and Rihitoto Mataia
- No. 25: Joseph Harris Smallman, who prospected at Thames before becoming a Pakeha Maori who farmed near Te Aroha
- No. 26: Maori Te Aroha Before the Opening of the Goldfield (mostly through Pakeha eyes)
- No. 27: Maori at Te Aroha After the Opening of the Goldfield in 1880 (Mostly through Pakeha Eyes)
- No. 28: Maori and Mining at Te Aroha
- No. 29: ‘Revolting Murder at Te Aroha’ in 1881
- No. 30: Karauna Hou: the senior Ngati Rahiri rangatira
- No. 31: Reha Aperahama: a Ngati Rahiri rangatira
- No. 32: Aihe Pepene: a Ngati Rahiri rangatira
- No. 33: Piahana Hou: a Ngati Rahiri rangatira
- No. 34: Keepa Te Wharau: a Ngati Rahiri rangatira
- No. 35: Mokena Hou and his wife Rina
- No. 36: Akuhata Mokena: eldest son of Mokena Hou
- No. 37: Eta Mokena: daughter of Mokena Hou, and her husband, Hare Renata
- No. 38: Ranapia Mokena: son of Mokena Hou
- No. 39: Rewi Mokena: youngest son of Mokena Hou
- No. 40: George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of Mokena Hou, and some of their children
- No. 41: Akuhata Koropango Lipsey: the eldest son of George and Ema
- No. 42: Ani Jane Lipsey, eldest daughter of George, and her husband, Alexander Watson Edwards
- No. 43: Alice Grey Nicholls, daughter of William, and her husband, Charles John Dearle
- No. 44: ‘Pakeha Bill’: William John McClear, a Pakeha who lived at Te Aroha
- No. 45: Prospectors’ Working Lives in General and at Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 46: Miners’ Working Lives in General and at Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 47: Miners’ and Prospectors’ Skills in General and Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 48: The Thames Miners’ Union
- No. 49: Financial Struggles and (rare) Successes of Miners in General and at Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 50: Financing Prospectors and Miners in General and at Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 51: Financing Companies in General and at Te Aroha in Particular
- No. 52: Harry Kenrick: the first Warden of the Te Aroha Mining District
- No. 53: George Wilson: Inspector of Mines at Te Aroha
- No. 54: Charles Gallagher: a mining investor
- No. 55: Daniel Leahy: a prominent Hauraki prospector and miner
- No. 56: Alexander Mackay: a prospector and miner in Hauraki
- No. 57: William Sharman Crawford (Billy) Nicholl: the prospector who discovered the Martha lode at Waihi
- No. 58: John Watson Walker: a leading Hauraki mine manager
- No. 59: James Alexander Pond: an Auckland chemist who was involved in mining
- No. 60: Rumours of Gold at Te Aroha
- No. 61: Hone Werahiko: the discoverer of gold at Te Aroha
- No. 62: Adam Porter: a miner who became a ‘self-made man’
- No. 63: John McSweeney: labourer, miner, farmer, publican
- No. 64: The Discovery of Gold at Te Aroha and its Consequences: January to October 1880
- No. 65: Awaiting the Proclamation of the Te Aroha Goldfield: 1 - 24 November 1880
- No. 66: The Opening Day of the Te Aroha Goldfield: 25 November 1880
- No. 67: The Te Aroha Goldfield From its Opening until Christmas 1880
- No. 68: Mining at Te Aroha Before the Murder in February 1881
- No. 69: The Te Aroha Goldfield is revealed to be a Duffer
- No. 70: The Prospectors’ Claim at Te Aroha
- No. 71: The Aroha Gold Mining Company, formed to work the Prospectors’ Claim at Te Aroha
- No. 72: The Te Aroha Battery, erected in 1881
- No. 73: The Waitoa Prospecting Association/Gold Mining Company
- No. 74: The Golden Hill Gold Mining Company
- No. 75: The Discovery of the Waiorongomai Goldfield in 1881
- No. 76: Before the Battery Started: Mining at Waiorongomai from late 1881 to late 1883
- No. 77: The Piako County Tramway at Waiorongomai
- No. 78: The Firth and Clark Battery at Waiorongomai
- No. 79: The Battery Company, formed to operate the Firth and Clark battery at Waiorongomai
- No. 80: Henry Hopper Adams: a Te Aroha miner who became a mine owner
- No. 81: The First Crushing at Waiorongomai, November 1883
- No. 82: The Strike at Waiorongomai in 1884
- No. 83: An Overview of Mining in the Te Aroha Mining District during the 1880s
- No. 84: The New Find Mine at Waiorongomai
- No. 85: The Eureka Mine at Waiorongomai
- No. 86: Peter Ferguson and his New Era: the second battery at Waiorongomai
- No. 87: The Waitoa Find: a fraudulent discovery near Te Aroha
- No. 88: Thomas Gavin: ‘Tommy Chairman’: a Te Aroha mine manager and local government politician
- No. 89: Edward Kersey Cooper: a mine manager and mine owner in Hauraki
- No. 90: The Goldsworthy Brothers (and James Gribble, a brother-in-law): prominent Hauraki miners
- No. 91: Edward Quinn: a Hauraki mine manager
- No. 92: The Te Aroha Silver and Gold Mining Company: the introduction of Australian capital to Waiorongomai
- No. 93: An Overview of Mining in the Te Aroha Mining District during the 1890s
- No. 94: The Waitoki, Waitoki Extended, Werahiko, Success, Silver King, Cadman, and Bendigo Mines at Waiorongomai
- No. 95: The Mining Boom of the 1890s in New Zealand in general and in Hauraki in particular
- No. 96: The New Zealand Exploration Company and Aroha Gold Mines Ltd: the last introduction of overseas capital to Waiorongomai
- No. 97: Edwin Henry Hardy: a Waiorongomai mine owner
- No. 98: William Morris Newsham: a Te Aroha prospector and miner
- No. 99: An Overview of Mining in the Te Aroha Mining District from the Turn of the Twentieth Century until the Start of the Depression
- No. 100: Hardy’s Mines Ltd, of Waiorongomai
- No. 101: The Bendigo Battery: the last Waiorongomai battery
- No. 102: Charles Manuel: a miner and farmer in the Te Aroha district
- No. 103: Mining in the Te Aroha Mining District during the Depression Years
- No. 104: Prospectors and Investors in the Te Aroha Mining District during the 1930s
- No. 105: Company Formation in the Te Aroha Mining District during the 1930s
- No. 106: Malcolm Hardy: the last Waiorongomai miner
- No. 107: The Tui Mines: a portion of the Te Aroha Mining District
- No. 108: Clement Augustus Cornes: the discoverer of the Tui mines
- No. 109: Edward Cameron: a mine manager in the Tui mines
- No. 110: Joseph Campbell and his Thermo-Hyperphoric Process
- No. 111: The Auckland Smelting Company: developing the Tui mines after the Second World War
- No. 112: Pollution and Norpac: a chronology, to 1980: the legacy of the last mining done at Tui
- No. 113: Te Aroha Township During the First Rush: 1880-1881
- No. 114: Te Aroha, 1882-1889
- No. 115: Te Aroha in the 1890s
- No. 116: Waiorongomai Township
- No. 117: Living in the Bush and at Quartzville, high on the hillside above Waiorongomai
- No. 118: Social Relations and Class Divisions in the Te Aroha District
- No. 119: Neighbourly and Un-neighbourly Behaviour in the Te Aroha District
- No. 120: Private Lives in the Te Aroha District, Mostly in the Nineteenth Century
- No. 121: Physical and Mental Health Issues in the Te Aroha District
- No. 122: The Drink Problem in the Te Aroha District
- No. 123: The Temperance Movement in the Te Aroha District
- No. 124: Religion in the Te Aroha District
- No. 125: Involvement in Political Issues by People living in the Te Aroha District
- No. 126: Women’s Lives in the Te Aroha District
- No. 127: Children’s Lives in the Te Aroha District
- No. 128: Education in the Te Aroha District in the Nineteenth Century
- No. 129: Larrikins in the Te Aroha District, mostly in the Nineteenth Century
- No. 130: Crime in the Te Aroha District, mostly in the Nineteenth Century
- No. 131: Black Americans and Te Aroha Mining
- No. 132: Chinese Involvement in Te Aroha and its Mining
- No. 133: Thomas Quoi: a Chinese restauranteur who invested in Te Aroha mining
- No. 134: Thomas William Carr: a Te Aroha storekeeper and speculator
- No. 135: George Devey: a Te Aroha carpenter and his family
- No. 136: William Dibsell: a pioneer storekeeper in the Te Aroha district
- No. 137: John Allan Dobson: a Te Aroha mine manager
- No. 138: Edward Gallagher: a Te Aroha coach proprietor and local body politician
- No. 139: James Gerrish: Te Aroha’s first bellman
- No. 140: James Gordon: A ‘useful all-round man’ at Te Aroha and elsewhere
- No. 141: Charles Gould: a farmer with land near Te Aroha
- No. 142: John Bernard Kilian: a Waiorongomai publican and his family
- No. 143: Thomas Lawless: a publican at Waiorongomai and elsewhere
- No. 144: Thomas Francis Long: a businessman who prospected at Te Aroha
- No. 145: Thomas McIndoe: a Te Aroha saddler who became an Auckland businessman
- No. 146: Robert and Elizabeth Mackie: a Te Aroha butcher and his family
- No. 147: William Buchanan Maxwell: a veteran who became ‘Te Aroha’s Pet Adornment’
- No. 148: Robert John Michael: a Te Aroha labourer
- No. 149: James Mills: a carpenter who became Te Aroha’s first mayor
- No. 150: Bernard Montague: a contractor and farmer in the Te Aroha district
- No. 151: Denis Murphy: a miner and farmer in the Te Aroha district
- No. 152: William Archibald Murray: a farmer with land near Te Aroha
- No. 153: George Stewart O’Halloran: a pioneer publican and storekeeper at Te Aroha
- No. 154: Michael Dineen O’Keeffe: president of the Thames Miners’ Union
- No. 155: Patrick Quinlan: a publican at Te Aroha and Auckland
- No. 156: Two Roycroft Brothers and two of their Brothers-in-Law, all miners at Te Aroha
- No. 157: John Squirrell: a storekeeper and farmer who mined (briefly) at Te Aroha
- No. 158: David McLean Wallace: a Waiorongomai blacksmith who founded an engineering firm
- No. 159: Harry and Charles: Henry Ernest Whitaker and Charles Stanislaus Stafford at Te Aroha
- No. 160: Alfred Henry Whitehouse: a bootmaker who became a pioneer of New Zealand films
Recently Added
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Maori and Pakeha at Te Aroha: the context: 2: Maori in Hauraki in the nineteenth century
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Denis Murphy: a miner and farmer in the Te Aroha district
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Edward Gallagher: a Te Aroha coach proprietor
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Education in the Te Aroha district in the nineteenth century
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Akuhata Koropango Lipsey
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Rewi Mokena: youngest son of Mokena Hou
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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, ... -
Private lives in the Te Aroha district, mostly in the nineteenth century
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
John Watson Walker: a leading mine manager
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)After successfully mining in Victoria, in 1869 John Watson Walker was invited to report on Thames mines, and subsequently was asked to stay on as a mine manager. Despite his high reputation as both a manager and company ... -
James Gordon: a ‘useful all-round man’ at Te Aroha and elsewhere
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)Some confusion over the early details of James Gordon’s life is unavoidable because his birth was not registered and there were several namesakes. Born to an Irish father and a Maori mother, after the latter reputedly ... -
John Mcsweeney: labourer, miner, farmer, publican
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)John McSweeney was important in the history of Te Aroha mining because he assisted Hone Werahiko in the latter’s initial prospecting of the mountain. During the Te Aroha rush he invested in some claims, and later invested ... -
Maori and mining in New Zealand and beyond
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)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 ... -
Harry Kenrick: the first warden of the Te Aroha mining district
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)Because of his improvident father, Harry Kenrick left England for the Victorian goldfields before moving to the South Island of New Zealand. In 1865, he settled in the West Coast to begin a lifetime career of working for ... -
‘Pakeha Bill’: William John Mcclear, a Pakeha who lived at Te Aroha
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)Born in Ireland to a Scottish soldier named McAleer, McClear, as he would re-name himself, was uncertain of his age, his birthplace, and the spelling of his name – for, like his parents, he was illiterate. After his drunken ... -
William Morris Newsham: a prospector and miner in the Te Aroha district
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)New Zealand-born William Morris Newsham fought against Maori without suffering any mishaps, but when aged 35 had the most perilous experience of his life. When assisting to survey a potential railway line in the King ... -
Two Roycroft brothers and two of their brothers-in-law, all miners at Te Aroha
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)James and William Roycroft commenced their mining careers at Thames, where they were notable athletes, especially James. But James also became notable for being accused of theft, violence, and excessive drinking. Both men ... -
Prospectors and investors in the Te Aroha mining district during the 1930s
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)This paper gives the ages, occupations, normal place of residence, mining experience, and other details that have been unearthed about all the men who acquired prospecting licenses and of five men who prospected for others ... -
Robert John Michael: a Te Aroha labourer
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)An Irishman, Michael prospected at Waihi before settling in Te Aroha in late 1882, where he owned several worthless mines close to that settlement and also at Stoney Creek. He also acquired and developed farmland on the ... -
‘Revolting murder at Te Aroha’ in 1881
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)The brutal murder of Hamiona Haira, who had been mining with his two brothers and his father-in-law, shocked the new settlement. Being a member of Ngati Koi and Ngati Hako, these hapu threatened utu on the Pakeha responsible, ... -
William Grey Nicholls and Rihitoto Mataia
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)The son of a Pakeha Maori, Nicholls had an illustrious ancestry on his mother’s side, and his wife Rihitoto Mataia also had a distinguished whakapapa. From the 1870s Nicholls farmed in Ohinemuri, and as a licensed interpreter ... -
Thomas Gavin: ‘Tommy Chairman’, a mine manager and local government politician at Te Aroha
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016)After starting mining on the Thames goldfield at the age of 17, Thomas Gavin quickly became a competent miner. As later at Te Aroha, he was active in the wider community, especially as a rower and a Volunteer. After ...