PAPERSPAST

Nō muri i te kitenga matua tuatahi o te koura ki te rohe o Hauraki i te marama o Ākuhata 1867, ka tahuri a William Wilkinson rāua ko Claude Corlett ki te whai i te mahi whakaputa niupepa i te tāone tino hou o Thames.

I whānau mai a Wilkinson i Derbyshire, i Ingarangi, ā, ka tae mai ki Tāmaki-makau-rau i te kaipuke Nimroud i te tau 1863. Ka uru ki te niupepa o te Southern Cross hei kaikawe kōrero, ā, ko tōna tūranga rongonui pea hei ‘kaikawe kōrero mō te pakanga’ i te pakanga o Pukehinahina (Gate Pā), i Tauranga, i te mutunga o te marama o Āperira 1864. Nō Manchester, i Ingarangi a Corlett, kua whakangungua ia ki ngā mahi whakarārangi tā, ā, i mahi hoki ia i te Southern Cross. I puta te rerenga tuatahi o te niupepa toru-rā-i-te-wiki, o te Thames Advertiser and Miners’ News i te marama o Āperira 1868. Nā te nui o ngā kaikeri koura e tatari ana ki ngā rongo kōrero me ngā pakipaki o te wā, ka tino horapa tōna ingoa pai.

Heoi anō, i roto i taua tau tuatahi ka eke te niupepa hei niupepa ā-rā, ā, koia hoki te niupepa matua tuatahi o te takiwā o Hauraki i te wā o te rerenga ki te keri koura. Ko ngā tino tau mō te hua o te moni i aua wā mō te rohe, ko ngā tau mai i te 1868-1871, me te tiketike o ngā keringa koura. Ka piki te hua o te keri koura ki te kotahi miriona pauna tāringi, i tōna teiteinga rawatanga. Hohoro tonu te pikinga te tokomaha o te hunga noho i Thames ki te 18,000, ā, koia hoki tētahi o ngā tāone rahi rawa o Aotearoa mō tētahi wā. Ka tino piki ngā mahi arumoni, ā, neke atu i te 100 ngā hōtēra i te whakataetae i te tāone. Ka tino nui haere te Thames Advertiser, te taha tohanga rā, ā, ka tino kake tana umanga hoko whakatairanga ki te hia rau o ngā umanga hou kua tae mai, me te hiahia kia pānuitia ā rātou ratonga. Waihoki te mahi tā pukapuka. Rite tonu ki ērā atu tāone keri koura, inā noa ake te karanga mō ngā ratonga tā’scrip’ mō ngā kamupene keri koura.

Ka kōunu a Corlett i te tokorua mō ētahi tau ruarua noa, ā, ka huri ki te whakahaere i tētahi niupepa ā-rā whakataetae, te Thames Guardian and Mining Record (1871-1872), kātahi ka haere hei kaiwhakahaere mō Christchurch Press mō ngā tau maha.

Nō te tau 1872, ka tae mai a Alfred Horton ki te mahi tahi ki a Wilkinson, ko Horton hoki te kaitīmata i te Timaru Herald. He tino kaiwhakahaere niupepa tautōhito a Horton, ā, ka kitea wawetia tōna tohungatanga i roto i te whanaketanga o te Thames Advertiser. Nāwai, ā, ka eke a Horton hei rangatira matua mō te New Zealand Herald o Tāmaki-makau-rau. Ahakoa rā, ka nuku a Horton ki Tamaki-makau-rau i te tau 1876 i muri i te taupatupatunga whakaaro o ngā etita. Tērā anō te huri o ngā rangatira i muri i te hoko a Wilkinson i te niupepa i te ngahuru tau mai i 1880. Nā William McCullough, he tangata piri ki te niupepa tauwhāinga te Thames Evening Star (te Evening Mail i mua), i hoko te Thames Advertiser i te tau 1912 – ka whakahanumitia e ia ki roto i te Evening Star, ka noho i roto i te wā hei Thames Star.