![]() In the 1830s a group of convicts, ship deserters, and whalers who had settled on Beesons Island near the entrance to Coromandel Harbour reported discovering gold, but this and other reports about this time attracted little interest. The population today stands at approximately 7,000 and now has only four hotels in the town centre. The richest bonanza of the fields were the Manukau-Golden Crown-Caledonian mines but many others yielded near equivalent amounts Towards the end of the last century Thames was the largest centre of population in New Zealand with 18,000 inhabitants and well over 100 hotels and three theatres. Official figures for production of the Thames Mines recorded a yield of 2,327,619oz bullion with the value at $845 million. The era from 1868 to 1871 were the bonanza years for the town with gold production topping one million pounds sterling at its peak. This mine produced over 102,353oz bullion and was known as the Shotover. The first major discovery of gold was made on Augby a prospector, William Hunt, in a waterfall in the bed of the Kuranui Stream. If the pakeha met with opposition when seeking timber or mining rights it was only over details: the over-ruling Maori spirit was one of co-operation"(1). ![]() "Ngati Maru chief Hoterene Taipari expressed the Maori attitude when he said in a speech at Parawai that the Marutuahu were tired of war they wanted all tribes and all races to live in peace together, as one family. Marutuahu survivors of the early 1800s inter-tribal warfare returned to live peacefully in the area also. European traders and missionaries began to settle in the area 130 years ago. Thames township, or "The Thames" as it was often referred to is located on the southern shores of the Hauraki Gulf. ![]()
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