Charles Gould: a farmer living near Te Aroha

Abstract

Coming from a wealthy family and with a brother who became a successful businessman, Charles Gould left the South Island to settle in Waitoa with every prospect of making a success of the large estate he had acquired. Observers praised the way he drained and developed the land, and his land sales enabled the erection of a small village at Waitoa. Partly because he paid low wages, he was for a time financially comfortable, but was forced into bankruptcy in 1888 due to the economic depression; most unusually, he paid his creditors in full. Gould invested in mining in the Te Aroha district, including the fraudulent Waitoa ‘find’ close to his land. He was actively involved in the community, including in local government, where he preached the need for economical financial management. After helping to develop the district, he sought land to develop elsewhere, but died, prematurely, in an accident.