August 2017 saw a 150 year jubilee which marked when the
Thames Goldfields was opened and the township of Thames began.
Thames in 1869, the year the Thames Stock Exchange formed. A bustling, noisy, dusty, gold mining
town which was expanding rapidly to accommodate those seeking gold, on the newly
opened Thames Goldfields , a fortune or providing all manner of services and
provisions to the " diggers" ( goldminers).
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Thames Goldfields early 1870s Photo taken by HT Gorrie
courtesy from Gwen Buttle photo album. PLEASE DO NOT COPY - seek permission to
use
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Stock brokers and scrip sellers plied gold
mining shares on the corner of Brown and Albert
Streets, Thames becoming known
as "Scrip Corner".
Typical of
money making ventures, some were
professional and welcomed a formal Stock Exchange and some were unqualified and
said also to be unscrupulous. For here this was where fortunes, gold and shares
were bought and sold. Scrip Corner was a
great location for on an opposite corner
was the Bank of New Zealand.
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| Major T L Murray |
Here
was Manager of the Bank of New Zealand -Thomas Leitch Murray who had his finger
on the pulse of money, gold movements and the economics of Thames for many a
year. In fact about twenty five years until 1893. Murray had been sent to
Grahams town in 1868 as the Bank of New Zealand's Agent , not long after the
officially opening of Thames Goldfields
in August 1867. Murray was a typical settler from Perthshire, Scotland. As well as a banker, Murray was involved with family and community. Passionate about the militia, Murray joined the Thames Naval Volunteers on arrival in 1868 as Lieutenant. Service to the various volunteer militia was continued until his death in 1900.
Between the years of
1869 and 1872 initial stock exchanges operated at Auckland and Thames.
Based on the rules of the London Stock Exchange and Melbourne Stock
Exchange respectively.
A very first meeting was held at Samuel Cochrane's auction
mart, Auckland on 16 July 1869 . In
July 1869 a meeting held at the Governor
Bowen Hotel of Grahams town and Shortland
shareholders, saw a newly formed Thames
Stock Exchange. Office holders elected were Captain Skene chairman; Joseph
Lyle, secretary; and Oliver M Creagh, treasurer.
In 1870 pioneer settler, Joseph Newman commenced business as a
sharebroker, in which he continued till laid aside by illness, when Mr. George
Alfred Buttle assumed the management, and became a partner in the firm.
Four
brothers - John, Robert, James and William Frater came to Thames to try their luck. While other "
diggers" were digging to find a
fortune or working for some else to dig their fortune , the three Frater
Brothers - John, William and James found selling scrip more lucrative than
digging for gold. On 20 March 1872 they established a stock broking business in
Thames The fourth brother Robert moved to Auckland setting up the Frater
Brothers stock broking firm there on 18 June 1872. This gave more of a professional look to what
Frater Brothers and many were doing on street corners - selling scrip. The name
Frater Bros became synonymous with stock broking. John Frater remained in Thames, contributing also to the Thames Hospital Committee for a number of years and recorded as president in 1879.
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Five members of the Frater family, whose collective ages total-413 years. From left to right: Mr. William Frater, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr.. Robert_ Frater, Mrs. Whitelaw, and Mr. John Frater. . Auckland Star 19 March 1926 courtesy Papers Past NZ National Library |
" Mr. John Frater reports, inspecting the Thames
sharemarket :—": — " The market was very active towards the end of
the week. I have sold— Caledonian, £20, £21, and £18; Thames, £5, K5 5s ; Sons
of Freedom, £10 ; Cure, 21s, 32a 6d ; Otago, 235, 40s; Moanataiari, 85s ;
Nonpareil, 755, 77s 6d ; Central Italy, 32s 6d, 37s 6d ; Golden Calf, 30s, 36 1
; El Dorado, 1s 6 1, and 10s ; Ruby, 5s 6d, ss, and 6s; Unicorn, 4s 611, 6s;
Bright Smile, 30s, 28s; Bird in Hand, 63; Smiling Beauty, 3s 6d ; West Coast,
10s and 12s ; Tokatea, 80s ; Pride of Tokatea, 8s 9d, 9s 6d ; Red Queen, 6s, 7d
; Black Angel, 'a 6d to 3h 6 1 Mary Ann,
2s and 2s 6d Windsor Castle, 10s (
Daily Southern Cross 22 /04/ 1872
P 2 )"
June 1872 saw the
establishment of an Auckland Brokers
Association. The formation of this formal group was encouraged by Joseph Newman
who was Chair of this organisation for nine years. Thames soon after, followed
suit with the establishment of a Thames Stock Exchange ,with first members
being Thomas Melhose, John and William Frater, D R Gellion, W.S Styak, John
Wilson and E F Tizard.
Auckland benefited
from the Thames " gold rush" and saw a number of investors synonymous
with investments in the stock and share
market - well- known names of Thomas Russell ( one of the founders of
NZI and the Bank of New Zealand and also an owner of the very lucrative Caledonia Mine ) John Logan Campbell ( regarded as "
father of Auckland" with early involvement in goldmining at Tararu Thames ) , David Nathan ( merchant)
, W Aitken, Thomas Morrin (a pioneer of the
Thames goldfields and T. and S. Morrin and Co., Ltd) , James T McKelvie
and Robert Graham who had
formed Grahamstown.
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| Robert Graham |
Thomas Morrin In Chadwick, J. 1906. Men of Mark In the World of Sport in New Zealand. Brett Publishing Company Ltd.
Robert Graham in own publication Robert
Graham Waiwera Hot Springs near Auckland, N.Z. 1876
In 1873 the twin
settlements Shortland and Grahamstown had merged to form Thames. By
June 1877 the following were recorded as members of the Thames Stock
Exchange: John Salmon, M Hennelly, John Frater, R McDonald Scott, B.C.Fryer. D.R.
Gellion, Louis Rudolph Wilhem Melhose,
Samuel Turtle, John L Whitford, George Alfred Buttle.
In the early days of the Thames Goldfields George Alfred Buttle was a Press correspondent for the Herald. Returning to Auckland in the 1880's Buttle assisted his uncle Joseph Newman from 1892 . With Newman's death in 1895, Buttle became owner of the chair on the Auckland Stock Exchange. He became Chairman of this organisation and remained so for a number of years. Known for " his word was his bond."
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3 October 1896 AUCKLAND.
BROKERS; ASSOCIATION.BACK ROW.-G. A. BUTTLE, W. A. RYAN, H. S. FENWICK, D.
MCLEOD, CHAS. CLAYFORTH, R. B. ISAACS (Secretary). THIRD ROW.—J. FRIAR CLARKE,
V. J. LARNER, DUNCAN E. CLERK, JOHN MOWBRAY.JAMES FRATER, PHIL B. MORRIS.
SECOND ROW.—H. S. RUDDOCK, GEO. F. BRIMBLECOMBE, R. G. MACKY, J. M. LENNOX
(Chairman), D. B. MCDONALD, F. HULL. R. FRATER FRONT ROW.—A. R. GARLICK, J. T.
ARMITAGE, JAMES REID, W. A. KNIGHT. Courtesy
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By 1896, the Auckland Brokers Association was firmly established with well known names from those beginning days on the Thames Goldfield, members - Buttle, Frater, Lennox, Garlick, Armitage.
A part of the past of our New Zealand history of goldmining, stock broking, shares, land agents and mining company managers and what is the New Zealand Stock Exchange today with its boom times and bust times and ups and downs.
Reference Source
- Cyclopaedia New Zealand Auckland Province 1902
- Grant, David. Bulls, bears and elephants: a history of the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1997.
- Daily Southern Cross 22 July 1869 Page 4
- Daily Southern Cross 22 April 1872 Page 2
- Page 1 Advertisements Column 1 Thames Star 16 April 1874 Page 1
- Thames Advertiser 3 June 1875 Page 3
- Page 3 Advertisements Column 5 Thames Star 11 June 1877 Page 3
- Ohinemuri Gazette 9 February 1898 Page 3
- New Zealand Herald 16 June 1925 Page 10
- graphic stock. Com
