Friday, September 28, 2018

NEW ZEALAND SLUICING FOR GOLD AT DILLMAN’S TOWN, KUMARA, BRUNNER BRIDGE COAL MINING

NEW  ZEALAND 
  DILLMAN’S TOWN, KUMARA,
BRUNNER BRIDGE COAL MINING, PORT OF NELSON

Written from first hand research by George W. Randall, co-founder in July 1996 and former 
Vice Chairman of Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.

Late 19th Century photographs from the albums of Sir George Bullough, (he was knighted in 1902), in the library of his Highland home, Kinloch Castle, Isle of Rum, Scotland,
and collected during his three-year long world tour 1892-1895.

B L O G   7 7   *   FROM ALBUM XII 
*<>*<>*<>*<>* Time of visit to New Zealand November 1894. *<>*<>*<>*<>*
SLUICING AT DILLMAN’S TOWN, KUMARA, NEW ZEALAND No. 179 JR
Album XII  *  Image 21  *  Size 8 x 5¼ inches by James Ring.  

Located on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, nineteen miles south of Greymouth, the town of Kumara was founded in 1876.
The following year it became a borough and centre of the countries
gold mining industry following discovery of the precious metal
at Dillmanstown, two miles to the south-east.
Within twelve months the population swelled to over 4,200,
the town eventually boasting fifty public houses, its own hospital
and fire brigade. Today the population is less than three-hundred
and all the pubs have gone.

From 1879 British born Richard John Seddon, nicknamed 
“King Dick”, was liberal member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the constituency of Hokitika, which included Kumara and Dillmanstown.
He was elected the countries fifteenth Prime Minister in 1893 a position he held until his death 
 in 1906 while still in office, twelve days short of his sixty-fifth birthday.

Kumara lies slightly inland half-way between Greymouth and Hokitika
on the west coast of South Island, on the scenic Southern Alpine
route 140 miles from Christchurch via Arthur’s Pass.
The town was named by surveyor Arthur Dobson in 1863.

SLUICING AT DILLMAN’S TOWN, KUMARA, NEW ZEALAND No. 179 JR
Album XII  *  Image 21  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5¼ inches by James Ring.  

In 1875 coarse gold was found in glacial gravels of the Taramakau River two
 miles east of Kumara triggering the gold rush of July 1876 when 3,000 prospectors
descended on the area which became known as Dillmanstown.
The gold was intermingled with large rocks and gravel, called overburden, eighty feet thick.
The easiest way of recovering the precious metal was by hydraulic sluicing.
For the next twenty years steam driven high pressure jets of water sluiced away
tons of gold bearing alluvial mud, sand and gravel to be screened and sorted,
in the process 500,000 ounces of gold were recovered.

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THE COAL MINES OF BRUNNERTON  -  THE OLDEST IN NEW ZEALAND

In July 1847 while exploring the Grey River upstream of Greymouth by canoe,
twenty-six year old surveyor and explorer Thomas Brunner discovered deposits of coal.

Brunner was born in the English university town of Oxford in 
April 1821, where he studied architecture and surveying. 
In 1841 he joined the fledgling New Zealand Company, 
a British company at the forefront of colonising the country 
first sighted by Abel Tasman two hundred years earlier 
and first visited by Captain James Cook in 1769.

Based at Nelson, Tasman Bay, Brunner oversaw the laying of roads and surveyed South Island's interior for its potential to supply the food and material needs of a growing colony. 
In 1846, accompanied by Charles Heaphy, a draughtsman, 
also in the employ of the New Zealand Company, and a Mãori named Kehu - a man described as “an instinctive navigator, 
a Mãori guide extraordinaire”, Brunner embarked on an extensive exploration of the 
west coast of South Island and the Grey River.
The small group was away for five hundred and fifty days during which they not only discovered 
the  Brunnerton coal outcrop but surveyed sites for the soon to be towns of Greymouth and Westport. Brunner was appointed Government Surveyor in 1851. 
He retired in 1869 and died on the 22nd of April 1874 aged fifty-three.

BRUNNERTON BRIDGE, NEW ZEALAND. No. 276 JR.
Album XII  *  Image 26  *  Size 8 x 5½ inches by James Ring. 
View downstream towards Greymouth about eight miles. The south bank left.


Crossing the Grey River, so named by Thomas Brunner after the prominent 19th century politician
 and 11th Premier of New Zealand Sir George Grey, K.C.B., the Brunner suspension bridge was 
built in 1876 to connect the Tyneside Coal Mine on the southern bank
with Brunner mine, opened in 1864, on the northern bank. 


EATONN RAILWAY HOTEL (left)  TYNESIDE COLLIERY WORKINGS
BRUNNERTON BRIDGE, NEW ZEALAND. No. 276 JR.
Album XII  *  Image 26  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5½ inches by James Ring. 
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The first record of coal being taken from the site
is found in Thomas Brunner’s diary entry of
26 January 1848. Small quantities of coal were
mined from the late 1850’s until 1864 when
Matthew Batty began commercial mining,
transporting the coal eight miles downstream to
Greymouth utilising canoes and a 39 foot long
barge capable of carrying a maximum of six tons.

From 1866 to 1868 Henry Lucas and
Charles Taylor, principals of the Nelson
Coalmining Company, worked the mine
transporting the coal in their fleet of six boats.
It was in this period screens with chutes were built
to expedite faster barge loading.

The Tyneside Colliery, directly behind the
railway sidings, was opened in 1873.
Its ten foot diameter 98 foot deep winding-shaft
was suitable for two single-decked winding cages.
The twenty-three feet thick coal seam, slightly
over four miles (north-south) by one mile (east-west), was estimated to contain reserves of sixty million tons.
Coal mining commenced at Brunnerton in 1864. 
Mined by Matthew Batty, the first forty tons were sent by barge to Greymouth, a distance
 of eight miles, and then shipped to Nelson by Reuben Waite a Greymouth storekeeper.
The barges were returned to the mine by being hauled upstream by teams of horses,  a process which was both slow and cumbersome. 
In addition the mouth of the river was dangerous to shipping, an unsatisfactory transport combination for commercial coal production 
which lasted until 1876 when the rail line from Greymouth to the coalfield was laid. This vital link was extended to Reefton four years later, to Otira in 1900, Christchurch in 1923 and Westport in 1942. 
Neil Bernard, Butcher; 
J. Taylor, Grocer, Draper, Haberdasher; P. McFarland, Store and Bakery.

Brunner Bridge Coal Mine Rail Siding, Grey Valley.
Detail from Image 27 Album XII by James Ring.

On Thursday the 26th of March 1896 
disaster struck Brunnerton Mine. 

On Thursday the 26th of March 1896 at 9.25 a.m. disaster struck Brunnerton Mine.
A sound like artillery fire was heard followed by smoke billowing from the pithead.
The explosion, which occurred sump side of the dip-working deep inside the mine, caused
the death of sixty-five miners - men and boys, almost half the underground workforce;
its force leaving the “railway line and trucks twisted and smashed.”
Surface buildings at the entrance were undamaged.
At the time of the accident the mine was under the administrative control of
Mr. James Bishop, M.I.M.E., a qualified and certified coal-mine manager with
twenty-five years of experience, thirteen years of which being at Brunnerton Mine.
Immediately a crowd gathered. Mr. Bishop, accompanied by an underground engineer, 
descended into the mine to investigate. 
When they failed to return miners from other shifts followed and found them unconscious. 
As rescuers moved further into the diggings a number were also overcome by fumes. 
As the unconscious rescuers were brought to the surface hope rose as they were mistaken
 for the rescued only to be dashed as the enormity of the tragedy became apparent. 
Meanwhile help was arriving as news of the disaster spread.   

The subsequent commission of inquiry found no blame could be attached to management of the mine, the explosion being the result of human error. It concluded a charge had been placed the wrong way round in a part of the mine where no one should have been working.

Alongside the railway sidings the Tyneside Colliery was opened in 1873. Its ten foot diameter
98 foot deep winding-shaft was suitable for two single-decked winding cages.

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The original twenty-one year lease for Brunner Mine situated on the north side of the Grey River where it flows through a confined rocky gorge was granted on the 1st of January 1874 and encompassed an area of 1,280 acres, the mine itself extending to about 230 acres.

Martin Kennedy aged 72 in 1912
Alexander Turnbull Library
The lease was twice transferred, in 1875 and 1879 before being surrendered in December 1886 by 
Mr. Martin Kennedy* 
the holder at the time who in January 1887 obtained a new 
lease for a term of sixty-three years. 
In 1888 Mr. Kennedy transferred his lease to the Grey Valley 
Coal Company who surrendered it in December 1894 for a 
new lease under the conditions of “The Coal-mines Act, 1891.” 
With the consent of the Minister, this lease was transferred on 
the 19th of October 1895 by deed of assignment to the 
Greymouth-Point Elizabeth Railway and Coal Company (Limited), 
this company being the responsible owner of the mine 
at the date of the accident.

The Disaster Inquiry revealed in June 1874 Martin Kennedy 
had "acquired a considerable share in the coal mines at Brunnerton" and from that date was 
proprietor of Brunnerton Mine up to 1888 when the lease was transferred to the 
Grey Valley Coal Company of which Mr. Kennedy was a fourth partner in the whole since amalgamation with the West Point Company. 
The Westport Company holding being two-fourths, Mr. Kennedy one-fourth and the 
Union Steamship Company one-fourth; the name of the company being the Grey Valley 
Coal Company (Limited) of which Mr. Kennedy was the managing director.

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* Lured by the discovery of gold twenty year old Martin Kennedy his brother,
sons of a farmer in Tipperary, Eire, arrived in Australia in January 1860.
On the 20th of May 1861 thirty-seven year old Tasmanian  prospector Gabriel Read
struck gold close to the surface by the Tuapeka River, Otago, New Zealand,
triggering the 1861 Gold Rush, the site becoming known as Gabriel’s Gully.
It was not long before the Kennedys heard of the “rich discoveries in Otago”
and after twelve months actively prospecting with little result in Victoria, Australia, they decided to cross the Tasman Sea and set up business as merchants in Queenstown.
Following more promising discoveries of gold by the Taramakau River along the West Coast in 1864 Martin Kennedy moved to Greymouth where for the nexttwenty years he was a successful merchant becoming a leading figure in the business community. 
In 1874 he acquired “a considerable share in the coal mines at Brunnerton”.
By 1880 his mining interests necessitated giving up his mercantile business in order to devote himself entirely to them as a coal-mine proprietor. In 1888 he amalgamated his colliery with Westport Company’s interests a Brunnerton, 
forming the Grey Valley Coal Company. Mr. Kennedy owned 
a sheep run in Wairarapa, was a director of several companies and managing director of the parent company of brewers Staples & Co., 
at Thorndon, Wellington, North Island, as well as being a director of the Bank of New Zealand. 
In 1876 he was returned as member for the Grey Electorate District 
of the House of Representatives.
Martin Kennedy, K.S.G., died in Wellington on the 25th of August 1916.

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NELSON

The Port, Nelson, New Zealand.  
Album XII  Image 29  Full size: 9½ x 7 inches. Original Photo. by Tyree No. 1023


NELSON
Album XII  Image 30  Full size: 9½ x 7 inches. Original Photo. by Tyree No. 2019.

NELSON
Album XII  Image 30  Full size: 9½ x 7 inches. Detail from original Photo. by Tyree No. 2019


A steam tram.

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REVIEWED PLUS ADDED MATERIAL 28 SEPTEMBER 2022












Saturday, September 8, 2018

NEW ZEALAND * ARTHUR’S PASS

NEW  ZEALAND  *  ARTHUR’S  PASS
Mount Barron - Otira Gorge - Skippers Road - Taipo River - Jacksons Accommodation House

Researched, written and illustrated by George W. Randall co-founder in July 1996 and former Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.


B L O G   7 6   *   ALBUM XII 

*<>*<>*<>*<>* Time of visit to New Zealand November 1894. *<>*<>*<>*<>*

 Late 19
th century photographs collected by George Bullough,
(b.1870 - d.1939, later Sir George, Baronet of the island of Rum, Scotland),
during his three year-long world tour 1892-1895 in the library at
his Highland home, Kinloch Castle, Scotland.

The twenty albums contain around seven hundred images of  the places visited
in the closing decades of the nineteenth century.
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Blog 72:   Hobart, Dunedin and Taiaroa Head Royal Albatross Colony.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3149945780622106744/6941418748164544343

Blog 73:   Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and Lyttleton – the Sea Port of Christchurch.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3149945780622106744/1678666830691387026

Blog 74:   Christchurch Cathedral and City.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3149945780622106744/3313526454202987772

Blog 75:   Glenmark House and Sheep Run, Springfield Stagecoach, Porter’s Pass.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3149945780622106744/5499376515509645705

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BLOG 76  -  ARTHUR’S  PASS
ALBUM XII  -  NEW ZEALAND  
DIVIDING PEG ARTHUR'S PASS 3,900 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL   No. 507 JR. 
Album XII  *  Image 8  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5½ inches
Original photograph by James Ring, Greymouth.



A modern map depicting the route from Christchurch via Springfield, Castle Hill, 
Bealey and Arthur's Pass to Greymouth.

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Arthur’s Pass is named after Arthur Dudley Dobson who arrived at Lyttleton in 1850 with his father, Edward, and elder brother, George,
with the First Fleet on board the 720 ton barque Cressy.
With the railway boom in Britain coming to an end thirty-four year 
old Edward Dobson decided to emigrate with his family to 
New Zealand with the first colonists.
An engineer and surveyor by profession from, 1854-1868 
Edward  held the post of Provincial Engineer for Canterbury Province responsible for a number of projects in particular the routing and construction of the country’s first railways and the 2,800 yard long Lyttleton Rail Tunnel, which commenced in July 1861, and for which  twenty year old Arthur was responsible for preparing the all-important sectional drawings to the proposed plans of George Robert Stephenson.






SUMMIT OF ARTHUR'S PASS    No. 508 JR. 
Album XII    *    Image 9    *    Size 8 x 5½ inches
Original photograph by James Ring, Greymouth.

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MOUNT BARRON   *   OTIRA GORGE, 
SOUTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

MOUNT BARRON (6,000 feet) OTIRA GORGE, NEW ZEALAND.  522 JR.
Album XII  *  Image 10  *  Size  8 x 5½ inches.


MOUNT BARRON (6,000 feet) OTIRA GORGE, NEW ZEALAND. 
 522 JR. (James Ring)

Album XII  *  Image 10  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5½ inches.

I wonder who this lady and daughter were?

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                                                                 Early New Zealand Photographers and Their Successors

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STARVATION POINT, OTIRA GORGE, NEW ZEALAND.  523 JR.
Album XII  *  Image 11  *  Size  8 x 5½ inches.

From: Early New Zealand Photographers and Their Successors *  Hardy and Billing

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THE BLUFF SKIPPERS ROAD NEW ZEALAND
Album XII  *  Image 15  *  Size 8 x 5½ inches 
No. 282 Morris (John Richard Morris)





THE BLUFF SKIPPERS ROAD NEW ZEALAND
Album XII  *  Image 15  *  Size 8 x 5½ inches  *  No. 282 Morris


Not a place for the horses to panic or suddenly bolt due to a rock fall.



TWO MORE IMAGES OF STAGECOACHES TRAVERSING OTIRA GORGE 
by James Ring


From:  Early New Zealand Photographers and Their Successors



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SKIPPERS ROAD SHOWING THE OLD PACK TRACK

Album XII  *  Image 16  *  Size 8 x 5½ inches  *  No. 284 Morris

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One of the richest gold-bearing rivers in the world, the Shotover River was originally named 
the Tummel by Donald Cameron and Angus Macdonald, two early Scottish pioneers 
who traversed the area in the early 1860's. It was named the Overshot by 
gold-miners who flocked to the gorge in 1862, but it was explorer and surveyor 
Gilbert William Rees, founder of Queenstown, who finally called the
forty-seven mile waterway the Shotover



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JACKSONS CHRISTCHURCH ROAD NEW ZEALAND
Album XII  *  Image 20  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5 inches  *  Hino Photo No. 564

The Accommodation House was bought in 1870 by brothers Michael and Adam Jackson following their time prospecting on the Otago Goldfields during the Gold Rush of 1865.
 Located alongside Christchurch Road the hotel was an important stop-over for stagecoaches along the track to Hokitika on the west coast, a three-day journey.
However, the area was notorious for floods and in a flash-flood in 1871 the building was
 swept away. Rebuilt by the Jacksons and renamed Jackson’s Perry Range Hotel, after the range of mountains behind the hotel, it also served as the regions post office.
The Journal of the New Zealand House of Representatives for 1884/1885
records the hotel manager as John Evans.

In the 19th. century the 160 mile coach journey over New Zealand's South Island main divide from Christchurch to Greymouth took three days with eleven stops to change horses. Consequently accommodation houses, as well as providing services to travellers, 
had stables and blacksmiths on the premises or nearby to care for the horses.

JACKSONS CHRISTCHURCH ROAD NEW ZEALAND
Album XII  *  Image 20  *  Detail from full size 8 x 5 inches  *  Hino Photo No. 564

The sign reads: J. JACKSON'S PERRY RANGE HOTEL

Accompanying West Coast New Zealand History text:

 “Jacksons Hotel, another of many photographs taken of this hotel, Jackson’s third hotel in 1879.
It is the replacement of the replacement of the original hotel swept away in the floods of 1872.

National Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

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Otira Gorge Hotel - Photograph taken by James Ring, 1880's.

OTIRA ACCOMMODATION HOUSE
Album XII  *  Image 18  *  Detail from original 8 x 5½ inches by "JR" James Ring. 

OTIRA ACCOMMODATION HOUSE
Album XII  *  Image 18  *  Detail from original 8 x 5½ inches by "JR" James Ring. 

Otira Stagecoach Hotel was built in 1865 to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population driven by the discovery of gold. Recognised as a museum the hotel in its unique setting has been restored, its eight rooms furnished to recapture the period.

                                                                                                                                      Early New Zealand Photographers

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NEAR THE TAIPO  -  CHRISTCHURCH ROAD. No. 492 JR.
Album XII  *  Image 19  *  Size 8 x 5½ inches  *  No. 492 James Ring

Fed by numerous mountain streams west of the 7,451 foot high Mount Rolleston in 
Arthur’s Pass National Park, the sixteen mile long Taipo River runs north for about 
nine miles before turning eastward into the Taramakau River. 
After another twenty-two miles it flows into the Tasman Sea nine miles south of Greymouth on the west coast of South Island.

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