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"Come yonder my good miner, come hither, take a seat
for you've served your time rock wrestling and digging in that creek.
You can leave your pick and shovel and the crow bar steel and sleek,
for you've won your celestial nugget and the goldfields you have beat..."
from 'The Miner' By Des Styles

Gold Mining History in Naseby

In June 1861 Gabriel Read reported a huge find of what became known as Gabriels Gully marking the establishment of gold mining in Otago. During the months of July to December 1861 the population of Otago rose from less than 13,000 to more than 30,000 people.

Gold was discovered on the Hogburn in May 1863, by B R and W C Parker, E G Scolan and P Warren. By July the word was out and the rush was on. Men deserted other Otago diggings, and set out tramping through snow to 'Parkers'. The Dunstan and Wakatipu rushes ended at around that time and in particularly harsh weather, which resulted in a large loss of life on the isolated fields. The Mount Ida goldfield was proclaimed on 20 August 1863. There were already 2000 men in the camp at what later became Naseby; soon there were 5000 in the field. Teams of up to 10 horse wagons made their way over the Pigroot to the top of the Kakanui ranges, through 'Dead Horse Pinch', and down onto the Maniototo Plain. 'Dead Horse Pinch' derives it's name from the horses that collapsed in their harnesses and were buried over the bank.

By the end of 1867, the main rush was over, and most of the miners had moved on. Only by hydraulic sluicing could gold be recovered economically. With some Government assistance partnerships built water races from as far off as St Bathans Lake 27km away, and later, reservoirs; an incredible investment of human resource at that time. Water was usually accumulated in a storage dam overnight, from where it was conveyed to the work site by canvas or steel pipes. Such sluicing involved "disaggregating alluvial terrace margins by saturating the ground, then breaking it up with picks and shovels". Hydraulic sluicing required more head (water pressure). The work face of the claim was "broken down with a high impact water jet directed from a moveable nozzle". The gold was recovered by directing the water-borne mixture of soil, stones and gold down a channel. Gold was collected in sluice boxes (riffles) located in the base of a channel while other detritus was discharged downslope or into an adjacent river or stream. Patches of disturbed ground attracted integrated working systems, usually created by small groups of men. These groups range from partnerships of two friends, to registered companies employing dozens of people.

You'll need love of the mountains and tussocks, You'll need faith and hope to succeed.
You'll need pride in the task you're performing, For this is the Gold Miner's creed...
from 'The Miner's Creed' by Des Styles

Today you can still pan for (and find) gold in the steam at the back of the Ancient Briton Hotel. Local Des Styles still pans in the area and rumour has it he does pretty well out of it. A detailed history can be found here in John Salmon's record)

First miner's right

In June 1861 Gabriel Read wrote of finding gold in the Tuapeka River. By the beginning of August around 2000 diggers had invaded the area. Also in August, Alfred Chetham Stode was appointed as commissioner for the goldfield and set about bringing the diggings under official control. Licences or miner's rights began to be issued to the goldseekers and on 19 August 1861 this first miner's right, was issued by A. Cheltham Strode to his brother in law John Borton. Gabriel Read was the 72nd person to be issued with his miner's right.

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