The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near theTaramakau River in 1864 by two Māori, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau. In 1865–66 gold was discovered atŌkārito,Bruce Bay (the scene of the Hunt's Duffer gold rush), aroundCharleston and along theGrey River.
Miners were attracted from theOtago gold rush, and fromVictoria, Australia where theVictorian gold rush had nearly finished. By the end of 1864 there were an estimated 1800 prospectors on the West Coast, with many in theHokitika area. Hokitika was in 1866 the most populous settlement in New Zealand with a population of more than 25,000, and boasted more than 100pubs.
TheCanterbury Provincial Council inChristchurch asked their provincial engineer,Edward Dobson, to examine every possible pass to the West Coast from the watersheds of theWaimakariri,Taramakau andHurunui Rivers. After finishing his examination, Dobson declared that "Arthur's pass" was by far the most suitable to get to the gold fields: his sonArthur had discovered a pass in 1864.[1] The provincial government decided that a road should be built between Christchurch and Hokitika overArthur's Pass, a distance of 156 miles (251 km), and Edward Dobson was put in charge of the project.[1] The road was opened on 20 March 1866.[2]
In 1867 the rush began to decline, though gold mining continued on the Coast for some years. In the 1880s, quartz miners atBullendale andReefton were the first users of electricity in New Zealand.[3]
The main towns on the West Coast had been established, as well as many gold rush towns likeOkarito (at one time the largest town on the Coast) andCharlestown (later renamed Charleston), which both almost vanished when the miners moved on. The Coast was the second-richest gold-bearing area of New Zealand after Otago.
Eleanor Catton's novelThe Luminaries, which won the2013 Man Booker Prize, is set in Hokitika during the West Coast Gold Rush.[4] This setting was partly inspired by Elsie Locke's classic New Zealand children's novelThe Runaway Settlers, which also features the gold rush.[5][6]
InRose Tremain's 2003 novelThe Colour, a British couple emigrate to New Zealand and the husband gets swept up in the gold rush. The title refers to the gold prospectors' term for very fine particles of gold.[7]
Hokitika Town byCharlotte Randall, published in 2011, is a novel told from the point of view of a Māori boy hanging around the pubs of Hokitika in 1865.[8]
^abA. H. McLintock, ed. (22 April 2009) [1966]. "Dobson Brothers".An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga.Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved7 May 2011.
