Unlocking Their Story - glimpses Coromandel family history- Part II
to see part I go to
Gold was discovered at Coromandel in 1852 by Charles Ring. This was followed in August 1869 with the discovery of gold on the Thames goldfield. The gold rush was on as miners found their way to Thames - then called Shortland and Grahamstown. Along with these miners came scrip sellers ( scrip - where prices of the mining shares were called out), stock brokers and bankers ( who bought, assayed and shipped the gold.)
Scrip corner at Thames was located close to the Bank of New Zealand Grahamstown - on the corner of Brown and Albert Streets. To Thames Goldfields came four of the Frater Brothers - John, Robert, James and William. They soon discovered that there was more money to be made, selling scrip, so gave up mining for gold. In 1872, wanting to look more professional than standing on a street corner calling out scrip, Robert set up a stock broker's office in Auckland and the other three brothers, at Thames.
The year of 1869 was also one that saw the establishment of stock exchanges at Thames and Auckland. Thames adopted rules based on those of the Melbourne stock exchange - Australia's first in 1859.
This provided a set of rules that set the behaviour of brokers, provided company listing requirements and trading procedures and processes - bringing stock and share broking and selling into a more professional mode and helped to remove the reputation gained on the Thames Goldfields of " unscrupulous" scrip sellers. By 1877 the Thames Stock Exchange was well established - John Salmon, Chairman, John Frater as treasurer. Also a member, was George Alfred Buttle. Buttle arrived in the Thames in early gold mining days where initially acted as agent and correspondent of the Herald.
Joseph Newman, Buttle's uncle, established a share broking business at Thames in 1869 - Buttle became connected with this, left the Thames the 1880's and became owner of the chair on the stock exchange when Newman retired. For several years Buttle was chair of the Auckland Stock Exchange.
As said stock broking was closely linked to Thames goldmining, giving would be investors the opportunity of being successful shareholders in one or more of the goldmines on the goldfields.
By the beginning of the 1900's there were a number of goldfields across the Coromandel Peninsula. The Ohinemuri Goldfields where the cyanide process in gold extraction processing was first trialed at the Crown Mines, Karangahake opened 1875. and Tairua Goldfields opened up in the mid 1870's. The Waihi Goldfields saw the very lucrative and giant industrial complex of the Waihi Gold Mining Company well in operation by the beginning of the 1900's.
The Auckland Chamber of Mines was established in August 1895 with Henry Thomson Gorrie, being amongst a number, being elected to a committee to draw up a constitution for this group.
The Auckland Chamber of Mines, headed by president Seymour Thorne George, soon had the constitution rules in hand. A meeting to formalise the membership and rules which was felt to be of great benefit to investors in gold mining companies of that era, saw William Gorrie ( brother of Henry Thomson Gorrie, appointed to the statistical committee.)
Both William Gorrie and Henry Thomson Gorrie invested, as many did in the late 1890's in gold mining companies across the Coromandel Peninsula - including the New May Queen gold mining company in Thames. Both brothers were also elected to the Thames Drainage Board during the first decade of the 1900's.
The Big Pump used to dewater mines was managed by a Drainage Board headed by Chairman H.A. Gordon - a person well versed in mining operations." The funds necessary for the continuance of pumping operations were contributed by various surrounding companies, including the New Moanataiari, Kuranui, Caledonian, Waiotahi, Victoria and May Queen-Hauraki." ( Cyclopaedia NZ 1902)
William Gorrie's son - Morton Gorrie - was to settle at Coromandel in the first decade of the 1900's. Coming from a farm near Maungatautari, Morton Gorrie was to be involved in dairy farming at Coromandel, seeing the opening of the first dairy factory in 1911, as Chairmen of Directors. Following in his father's footsteps with a love of the game, Morton Gorrie also played bowls. A part of the community, opening the new green at Coromandel, in capacity as president of the club.
Morton's sister Mary Morton Gorrie married Harold Carleton Bagnall - eldest son of Lemuel Bagnall of sawmilling fame at Turua. Lemuel moving towards dairying from sawmilling saw a future in dairy factories. In 1902 Bagnall Brothers had built on their property a radiator dairy factory by Messrs John Burns and Co. of Auckland. Separating cream for milk this was a first despite some sceptism from other farmers that it would not work.
The Bagnall family had also been versatile in timber and were renown for their beehives, exported worldwide - Harold Carleton Bagnall had been involved with these in the box factory.
The first decade of the 1900's also saw the development and use of Portland Cement in gold mining processes , railway bridge piles, wharves and cowshed floors and other buildings - all places exposed to water. The Coromandel Peninsular with a huge industrial type gold mining company at Waihi shipped tons of Portland Cement to their plants at Victoria Battery and for the pump house at Waihi . See its all in the mix - Cement, Gold and Railways ( National Library NZ.
Two brands were bought in to Karangahake and Waihi - the Star Brand and the Crown Brand of New Zealand Portland Cement Co.- their plant at Limestone Island, Whangarei. John Buchanan Macfarlane , a merchant and shipper, with a warehouse in Fort Street, Auckland, was among the directors of this company.
Both James and his wife Edith Mary Macfarlane were involved in war effort activities during and after WW1 - fundraising for convalescent hospitals, the hospital ships and Red Cross Society. Edith continued this work also during WWII.
As with many families ours came to the Coromandel Peninsula - some settled, some moved on. Hard work and effort were expended by them all - involved with railway survey and construction, gold mining, kauri logging, gum digging and farming. These families also left their mark in the communities they lived, helping to establish churches, sports organisations and other community activities - a very relevant part of the past New Zealand history.
References:
- The Cyclopaedia New Zealand Limited ( Auckland Province ) 1902, Christchurch
- Grant, David. Bulls, bears and elephants: a history of the
New Zealand Stock Exchange Wellington: Victoria University Press 1997
- Papers Past National Library NZ New Zealand Herald 16 June 1925 Page 10
- New Zealand Herald 16
August 1895 Page 6
- New Zealand Herald 3
October 1895 Page 6
-
Auckland Star 24
January 1907 Page 3
-
Auckland Star 10
April 1907 Page 7
- Observer 8 January
1910 Page 22
- Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate. 18 November 1902 Page 4
- Kathleen Anderson. 'Macfarlane, Edith Mary', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3m7/macfarlane-edith-mary (accessed 5 November 2019)
