LINK WITH PAST

Evening Star, Issue 23845, 27 March 1941, Page 5

LINK WITH PAST

RELICS OF EARLY DAYS BLACK PETER'S FIRST GOLD It is a far cry back to the days before Gabriel Read discovered gold in the gully which now bears hi.s name, but a link witli that distant past conies to light in tho form of recent presentations to the Otago Early Settlers’ Association’s collection of valuables. The articles concerned are a gold ring, a large greenstone Maori tiki, a snuff box, and a small anvil. They were presented by Mr G. T. Dawson, of Timaru. Perhaps greatest interest centres in the gold ring It is made from gold washed from the month of a creek at the end ot Gabriel's, in May, 1858 (three years before the rush), by a native prospector from Australia. Peter Edwards, known to that period as Black Peter. Tho gold was given by him to Mr William Dawson, who, with his. wife, arrived in the province in the ship Pluebo Dunbar, on October 24. 1850. Mr Daw.son had tho gold made into a ring for his wife, and she -wore it during her life. This lady died in 1915. The ring has successively passed from one member of the family to another until it finally came into the possession of a granddaughter, Mrs M. Windleborn, of Waimate, who has handed it over to the association to join the other collection of Dawson relics. _ The tiki, a fine specimen, both in size and workmanship, was found in 1861 by the mailman on the Edendale Plains. On that journey he was accompanied by Mr Dawson, and in recognition of many kindnesses, the mailman gave the tiki.to his companion. The snuff box, brought out from Scotland (by the Dawsons, is over 100 years old. Jt is made from potatoes, the ebony-like material bearing some resemblance, to the modern xylonite. The box "still contains some of the original snuff brought from Scotland. The anvil, the last article of interest, to the uninitiated might be anything but an anvil. It bears the appearance of some form of wooden mallet, the handle of which is pointed like a pick. The whole anvil, indeed, is no bigger than a modi uni-si zed mallet. It was used foi sharpening picks, the pointed handle being driven into a stump, which thus “ bedded ” the anvil. This handy little anvil was first used upon the opening up,of the mine at Kaitangata. It also was brought out from Scotland.

All these interesting exhibits are in a serviceable case, together with photographs of four generations of the Dawson family. They will make a valuable addition to the Early Settlers’ remarkable museum collection. ~