THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, 26 December 1918, Page 39

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

HISTORICAL NOTES. . 5 The recent celebration of the Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of priesthood of the Right Rev. Mgr. Mackay directs attention to the scenes of his pioneer labors. These were mainly centred in the Cold Lakes District, and much of the Monsignor’s work was connected with the goldmilning days in that region and with the diggers in the spiritual interests of whom his efforts were unflagging. Few chapters in the history of the early days in New Zealand have greater interest than those ✓relating to the search for gold during the ’sixties. Co-incident with the diggings and the consequent influx of population arose the necessity of Church extension to meet the spiritual demands of the large numbers who were engaged in the industry in the vicinity of Queenstown, that charming little town nestling on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Mr. Vincent Pyke, in his Hi start/ of Karl// Gold D'no'ovtrh'x in ()fa;/o, relates thus the first finding of the precious metal, and subsequent rush to the locality:— “The attention of the miners was next turned to the Shot-over river, 14 miles from Arrow in a westerly direction. The fortunate prospector of the locality was Thomas Arthur, who, with three mates, obtained 2Q007, of cold in eight 'days, by washing the sands of the river beach at what is known as Arthur’s Point. Mr. W. G. Rees, who was one of the earliest and most energetic explorers of the country, around Lake Wakatipu, and who discovered and entered into possession of an area as a sheep station, gave the following information: “Arthur, one of my shearers, found gold on the Shotover one Sunday afternoon, washing out 4oz with his tin dish in three hours. So rich was Arthur’s Point that he and his mates secured .£4OOO worth of gold before they had been at work two months. This was in November, 1862, and no secret was made of the discovery. The largest rush that ever occurred in Otago set in to the Wakatipu district. Owing to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the district provisions were extremely scarce and dear. Fortunately for all hands, said Mr. Rees, the first Nokomai rush proving a failure, the drays from there pushed to the foot of the lake; and I had to pay £IOO per ton for flour for the diggers, and often 200 to 400 men waiting for my whaleboat to come up from what is now Kingston, to get a few pounds of flour each ; and so hard set were some of them that they would then and there boil their flour in billies, not being able to wait for baking. I can testify to all these statements (wrote Mr. Pyke) ; and I may add that I had known Mr. Rees to leave his bed at three o’clock in the morning when the flour-boat came in and immediately proceed to serve out the flour to the hungry crowd. Before the arrival of the police Rees was the general custodian of the gold—as much as 5000 ounces being left in his charge, without weighing and without receipt. It was in his famous whaleboat that the first escort with 25,000 ounces of gold went down to the foot of the lake and, for some time after, all the gold pro•duced was conveyed in the same way. There was no : way in fact of getting stores up to Wakatipu, or of sending gold or wool to the coast, other than by the i lake, and Rees’s boat was the only craft upon those dark waters until the police were supplied with a I boat for their own special use. The immediate result lof these discoveries was that the gold, which had fallen to 10,3750 z in July, advanced to 37,2600 z in December, and to 72,0000 zin the following February. In all 332,4300 z were exported in the year 1862. The ; settlement of Queenstown may be said to date from that year. The Shotover rush attracted diggers from all parts of Australia and New Zealand. Beach Street, on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, was’the site of the canvas township, which then sprang up, and in those days ijt was an ordinary thing to see about 200 pack horses on the scene, and occasionally fully 1000 horses belonging to the diggers, feeding in the gorge near Queenstown. Queenstown was constituted a borough,

the second (next to Dunedin) in Otago to ’ receive muni- , cipal independence, in . 1863. I learn from one ? of the earliest residents in tlje district that Father (now •Right Rev;"Mgr;)' Mackay 'was the first priest to visit the mining settlement, and he built the first Catholic church in Queenstown. - This ’ was situated on the . flat hear where is now the r Anglican church. After this building had served its purpose for a number of years, a second and larger church was erected by Father Mackay during the time he was pastor of the parochial district This building was erected on the hillside where now are situated also the convent, Catholic schools, and presbytery, and was, after the present new church was built, occupied as a school, a useful purpose that it is still filling. To the late Father O’Donnell, Queenstown’s pastor for twenty years, and who died in 1917, is due the erection of the present finely appointed Church of St. Joseph. This is a beautiful and commodious structure,-' built of stone with a slate roof. It occupies a splendid site on the Church ..property Comprising an aerfe and a half of land, and commands a fine view of the town and lake. The foundation stone of the church was laid on Rosary Sunday (October 3), 1897; by his Lordship Bishop Yerdon, assisted by Father O’Donnell, and the church was completed and solemnly opened on May 28, 1898, when it was blessed by the Bishop, and the inaugural sermon was preached by the Very Rev. Dean Burke, of Invercargill. The fine Convent of the Dominican Nuns was founded in 1883, and the school buildings attached were blessed and opened with due solemnity by Bishop Moran on July 15 of the same year. The first arrival of the Sisters at Queenstown was thus described at the time. “On Thursday, February 8, the Rev. Mother Prioress of the Dominican Convent, Dunedin, started for Queenstown, with three professed choir Sisters and two lay Sisters to establish a convent of the Dominican Order at the Lakes. The Bishop of the diocese accompanied the party via Gore and the Waimea Plains to Kingston, where they embarked on the “Mountaineer.” The steamer reached the Queenstown wharf at 10.15 p.m. As soon as the nuns appeared on deck the local band commenced playing lively airs, which were continued until the religious had received the congratulations of the leading Catholics of the town, and passed along the quay and across the bridge to the carriage which awaited them. Files of citizens lined the path, and the children accompanied them with lanterns. The reception accorded to tire nuns was one that will not be easily forgotten by them, and it reflects great credit on the Catholics of Queenstown, as well, as on their respected and zealous pastors, Fathers Mackay and O’Neill.” On the following Sunday the convent was blessed by Bishop Moran, his Lordship being assisted at the ceremony by Fathers Mackay and O’Neill. ■ 'Mi.'..