Westland’s Golden Century”

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29082, 19 December 1959, Page 21

Westland’s Golden Century”

1 -Westland’s Golden Century,” an attractive Illustrated booklet sum tnajH sing, the history of Westland, has been published by the Westland Centennial Council as an official souvenir of Westland's centenary to be celebrated next year. The date of the province’s beginning is taken as the date of completion of the purchase of Westland from the Maoris in 1860. Contributions on many aspects of the West Coast’s early life have been written by men and women who have made Westland a special field of research and study or who have been associated with the Coast all their lives.

Some of these who are listed with biographical notes are: Mr Murray McCaskill, lecturer in geography at the University of Canterbury; Mr Philip Ross May, assistant lecturer in history at the University of Canterbury; Mr John Pascoe, secretary of the National Historic Places Trust; Mr Mark Wallace, organiser and founder of Westland Co-opera-tive Dairy Company; Mr Patrick O’Farrell, who wrote a thesis on the history of the Labour movement in New Zealand and who is now on the staff of the University of New South Wales; Dr. C. G. F. Morice, a member of a well-known West Coast medical family; Mr Philip Salmon, vicepresident of the South Island New Zealand Pensioners’ Association; Mr W. F. Heinz, author of works on the West Coast. Mr R. A. Kay, a West Coast journalist, compiled- and edited the book.

Mr McCaskill's chapter on the Maori in Westland which begins the book tells of four to five centuries of Maori occupation before the coming of the white man. Although there were fewer than 50 able bodied native men in the area in the 1860’s, their role in opening up the gold country is recorded in many place names. Particularly along the coast, numerous rivers, creeks, headlands and lagoons have names which are a permanent record of Maori times. Early Pessimism Describing the exploration of the district, Mr Philip May recounts the extreme pessimism of the early explorers who endorsed the disgusted comments of Tasman, Cook and d’Urville about the region’s “inhospitality,” barren, rocky coasts and dripping forests.

It was James Mackay, a young Nelson settler, who was the first to give a favourable report on the district In 1857 he reported on the timber, coal and pastoral possibilities, declared the Karamea, Buller and Gray rivers navigable for coastal vessels and even praised the climate.

But official action did not come until 1859 when the Nelson Provincial Government sent John Rochfort to make a survey of its southern boundary west of Hurunui Saddle. He was the intrepid bush traveller to whom credit is given in the booklet for coining the word “Westland” —a shortened form of the longer name, “Westmoreland,” he used on his map. A passage on the complex official purchase of the land from the Maoris concludes with the remarks that it was James Mackay who settled outstanding Maori claims and finally “bought” the coast. Intrepid Pioneers

The tales of the incredible hardships, indomitable spirit, and dogged perseverance of the early explorers and pioneers of the West Coast, many of whom lost their lives, are inspiring. In chapters on the first gold discoveries and the big gold rush, Rochfort's 1859 report is credited with drawing the first prospectors to the West and Reuben Waite’s expedition and settlement at the mouth of the Buller river in 1862 is said to have established the embryo township of Westport Mr May’s chapters are stimulating and fiU the mind with vivid impressions of the colourful gold days, the early search for gold, when man after man lost his life fighting the sea and the bush, the first trickle of prospectors, the big “strikes,” the disappointments, fierce rivalries and all the glory and vice that accompanies men’s lust for “the colour” as the diggers called gold. By Christmas, 1865, what a different picture the West Coast presented from 18 months earlier when it was “written off” as a region of little promise. Sixteen thousand persons had moved in with 14,000 still to come. “Nothing populates a ■waste, howling wilderness like gold,” said James Buffer at Hokitika. “Up and down the length of Westland countless creeks and gullies rang with the shouts of lusty diggers as pick, shovel and sluice won their bright reward. Hokitika harbour was littered with the wrecks of 20 odd ships, its exports ranked second in the colony, while over its hazardous bar 15,000 immigrants had passed in one year,” says Mr May. Christmas, 1865. was memorable in Hokitika. Diggers came in in droves to celebrate and not even the pouring West Coast rain dampened the enthusiasm of those who thronged the bars of its 72 hotels. Mr May says. Men of Influence

A chapter on politics in Westland which traces the intensity of the nationalist feelings of the West Coast Irish who were onethird of the population in the early days, and the competition among strong personalities for power. The birth of unionism among the coal miners and the rise of political figures such as Richard John Seddon, Robert Semple and P. C. Webb are described.

Tributes are paid to many men who influenced the development of the West Coast and among the fascinating personality cameos are those on Samuel Meggit Mackley who moved his wife and family into the heart of the Westland wilderness in 1862 and is called Westland’s first real settler and farmer; Charles Townsend, first resident agent of West Canterbury who founded Greymouth and lost his life at 4u by drowning at the Grey river bar; Brunner. Haast, Douglas and Harper. Buller, Mueller, Oakes and Dixon and dozens of men and women whose names have become by-words in West Coast history are touched on. Nearly all phases of the Coast’s develonment have been dealt

with briefly but sincerely in the booklet by contributors who have obviously made their work labours of love. The development of road, railway and air transport have a place; the coal mining and forest interests have special chapters; there is comment on. the progress of electric power, local newspapers and general trade through the years; law, banking and religion are discussed and here it might be a surprise to some readers to learn that the first purely building in Hokitika in 1865 was a Jewish synagogue. Comment on schooling is included and a chapter on the early days of the Grey River Hospital is contributed by Dr. C. G. F. Morice, whose father was appointed surgeon-superintend-ent in 1866. Dr. Morice succeeded him in 1894.

No history of the West Coast would be complete without comment on the hotel business, sport and. the area’s social life, and this is included in lively passages. There is plenty of drama in this small volume, such as the searing tragedy of -the Brunner mine explosion when 66 miners perished leaving 186 children fatherless; but there is also plenty of fun, like the description of the Coast’s notorious outsize mosquitoes, the ferocity of women barrackers at a football match, and . the tragi-comedy of the “Fenian uprising.” There are good illustrations. Those of the old days should bring nostalgia to Coast lovers; other plates show the interesting contrast of the same locations in present times. The book is a commendable effort which should arouse much interest throughout New Zealand. It is a pity that a good detailed map was not included so that readers could follow the places mentioned, and an index would have enhanced the booklet’s value as a reference work.