Thames, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Thames is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula
in New Zealand
's North Island
. It is located on the Firth of Thames
close to the mouth of the Waihou River
. The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council.
The Māori
name for Thames is Hotereni. The Māori iwi
are Ngāti Maru
, who are descendants of Marutuahu's son Te Ngako. Ngāti Maru is part of the Ngati Marutuahu confederation of tribes or better known as Hauraki Iwi.
The town was initially built during a gold rush
, the first major discovery of gold was made on August 10, 1867 by William Hunt, in the Kuranui Stream at the north end of Thames. The subsequent mine produced more than 102,353oz bullion and was known as the Shotover. The era from 1868 to 1871 were the bonanza years for the town with gold production topping one million pounds sterling at its peak. Official figures for production of the Thames Mines recorded a yield of 2,327,619oz bullion with the value at $845 million. The 3 richest fields were the Manukau / Golden Crown / Caledonian mines but many others yielded near equivalent amounts. Towards the end of the 19th century Thames was the largest centre of population in New Zealand with 18,000 inhabitants and well over 100 hotels and three theatres 1868. For a while it was thought it would replace Auckland
as the major town in the area. A former local institution of learning was the Thames School of Mines
. Thames also benefited from a period of extensive Kauri logging in the surrounding ranges around the same time.
Many people migrated to Thames at its peak, and it was soon the second-largest city in New Zealand (the largest being Dunedin then Auckland). However, as the gold began to diminish, so did the number of inhabitants, and although Thames never shrank, it has never grown much either. It is still the biggest town on the Coromandel. The population in the 2006 census was 6,756, an increase of 51 since 2001. Many residents work in tourism
and locally owned businesses servicing the local farming community.
Thames was formed from two historic towns, Grahamstown and Shortland, of which many original buildings still stand. Shortland was in the south of Thames and was founded on the 27th of July 1867 when James Mackay, civil commissioner for the Hauraki District concluded an agreement with local Māori. This agreement secured the rights to local mineral deposits leading to the proclamation of the Thames Goldfield on 1 August.
Grahamstown was founded the following year at the northern end of present Thames, approximately one mile from Shortland. The two towns merged in 1874 after it emerged the heart of the Goldfield was in Grahamstown. Shortland waned in importance until the turn of the century when the Hauraki Plains were developed for farming and the Shortland railway station was opened.
The land involved in goldmining in Thames was Māori owned; important parts of the goldfield were owned by the Ngāti Maru rangatira
(chief) Rapana Maunganoa and the Taipari family. In 1878, when Wiremu Hōterene Taipari married a woman of the Ngāti Awa tribe of Whakatāne, Ngāti Awa
carvers arrived at Thames and built a meeting house at Pārāwai it is incorrectly said to have been a wedding gift for the couple, when in actual fact Wiremu's father had paid money for another whare (meeting house), which was sold to the governor general at the time. So when Wiremu's father returned to collect the whare the Ngati Awa chief apologized and said he would have another one built which will signify the marriage between Wiremu Taipari and his daughter. The house, named Hotunui in honour of an important Ngāti Maru ancestor, now stands in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Thames Hospital is the oldest still operating in New Zealand, having been built in the 1860s. The Māori owned land was gifted by the Ngāti Maru rangatira Rapana Maunganoa. A new clinical centre and other improvements were completed in 2008, and a new maternity facility opened on 5 September 2011.
plant, which assembled CKD cars until 1998, and now refurbishes imported used cars. Another is the precision engineering works and foundry of A & G Price
, established 1868, who built 123 steam locomotives for New Zealand Railways Department
.
The Kopu sawmill, a few km south of Thames, closed in 2008 with the loss of 145 jobs.
The Brian Boru Hotel, built in 1868, is the oldest Irish pub in New Zealand.
is a secondary (years 9-13) school with a decile rating
of 6 and a roll of 647. The school was established in 1880 and is the second oldest secondary school in the Auckland Province.
Moanataiari School, Parawai and Thames South are full primary (years 1-8) schools with decile ratings of 5, 6 and 3 and rolls of 114, 336 and 164, respectively.
St Francis School is a full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 7 and a roll of 86. It is a state integrated Catholic school
All these schools are coeducational.
Coromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. It is located on the Firth of Thames
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of Thames lies on its southeastern coast....
close to the mouth of the Waihou River
Waihou River
thumb|The Waihou River near [[Putaruru]]The Waihou River is located in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Its former name, Thames River, was bestowed by Captain James Cook....
. The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council.
The Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name for Thames is Hotereni. The Māori iwi
Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...
are Ngāti Maru
Ngati Maru
Ngāti Maru is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. There are two iwi known as Ngati Maru, one based in Taranaki, the other based in Thames . These two iwi have a common ancestor in Hotunui who had three sons Marukopiri, Maruwharanui and Marutūāhu...
, who are descendants of Marutuahu's son Te Ngako. Ngāti Maru is part of the Ngati Marutuahu confederation of tribes or better known as Hauraki Iwi.
The town was initially built during a gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
, the first major discovery of gold was made on August 10, 1867 by William Hunt, in the Kuranui Stream at the north end of Thames. The subsequent mine produced more than 102,353oz bullion and was known as the Shotover. The era from 1868 to 1871 were the bonanza years for the town with gold production topping one million pounds sterling at its peak. Official figures for production of the Thames Mines recorded a yield of 2,327,619oz bullion with the value at $845 million. The 3 richest fields were the Manukau / Golden Crown / Caledonian mines but many others yielded near equivalent amounts. Towards the end of the 19th century Thames was the largest centre of population in New Zealand with 18,000 inhabitants and well over 100 hotels and three theatres 1868. For a while it was thought it would replace Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
as the major town in the area. A former local institution of learning was the Thames School of Mines
Thames School of Mines
The Thames School of Mines was a nationally significant school of mining in Thames, New Zealand.- Buildings :In addition to the School of Mines, several buildings were built within the complex and the surrounding area such as a church and Sunday School in 1869 and a mineralogical museum that opened...
. Thames also benefited from a period of extensive Kauri logging in the surrounding ranges around the same time.
Many people migrated to Thames at its peak, and it was soon the second-largest city in New Zealand (the largest being Dunedin then Auckland). However, as the gold began to diminish, so did the number of inhabitants, and although Thames never shrank, it has never grown much either. It is still the biggest town on the Coromandel. The population in the 2006 census was 6,756, an increase of 51 since 2001. Many residents work in tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and locally owned businesses servicing the local farming community.
History
Grahamstown was founded the following year at the northern end of present Thames, approximately one mile from Shortland. The two towns merged in 1874 after it emerged the heart of the Goldfield was in Grahamstown. Shortland waned in importance until the turn of the century when the Hauraki Plains were developed for farming and the Shortland railway station was opened.
The land involved in goldmining in Thames was Māori owned; important parts of the goldfield were owned by the Ngāti Maru rangatira
Rangatira
Rangatira are the hereditary Māori leaders of hapū, and were described by ethnologists such as Elsdon Best as chieftains . Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that of other tribes...
(chief) Rapana Maunganoa and the Taipari family. In 1878, when Wiremu Hōterene Taipari married a woman of the Ngāti Awa tribe of Whakatāne, Ngāti Awa
Ngati Awa
Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand.Ngāti Awa comprises 22 hapu , with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatane, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te...
carvers arrived at Thames and built a meeting house at Pārāwai it is incorrectly said to have been a wedding gift for the couple, when in actual fact Wiremu's father had paid money for another whare (meeting house), which was sold to the governor general at the time. So when Wiremu's father returned to collect the whare the Ngati Awa chief apologized and said he would have another one built which will signify the marriage between Wiremu Taipari and his daughter. The house, named Hotunui in honour of an important Ngāti Maru ancestor, now stands in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Thames Hospital is the oldest still operating in New Zealand, having been built in the 1860s. The Māori owned land was gifted by the Ngāti Maru rangatira Rapana Maunganoa. A new clinical centre and other improvements were completed in 2008, and a new maternity facility opened on 5 September 2011.
Business
A major employer is the Toyota New ZealandToyota New Zealand
Toyota New Zealand is the importer and distributor of new Toyota and Daihatsu vehicles in New Zealand. It also imports used vehicles from Japan, and refurbishes them at its plant in Thames. Until 1998 it also assembled a variety of vehicles....
plant, which assembled CKD cars until 1998, and now refurbishes imported used cars. Another is the precision engineering works and foundry of A & G Price
A & G Price
A & G Price Limited is an engineering firm and locomotive manufacturer in Thames, New Zealand, established in 1868. In 2004 a precision formed yacht keel division was formed to make the Maximus canting keel...
, established 1868, who built 123 steam locomotives for New Zealand Railways Department
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
.
The Kopu sawmill, a few km south of Thames, closed in 2008 with the loss of 145 jobs.
The Brian Boru Hotel, built in 1868, is the oldest Irish pub in New Zealand.
Education
Thames High SchoolThames High School
Thames High School is a public high school in Thames, Auckland Province, New Zealand. Established in 1880, it is the second oldest secondary school in the Auckland Province.-Curriculum:* Drama* English* ESOL* Health/Physical Education** Food Technology...
is a secondary (years 9-13) school with a decile rating
Socio-Economic Decile
Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....
of 6 and a roll of 647. The school was established in 1880 and is the second oldest secondary school in the Auckland Province.
Moanataiari School, Parawai and Thames South are full primary (years 1-8) schools with decile ratings of 5, 6 and 3 and rolls of 114, 336 and 164, respectively.
St Francis School is a full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 7 and a roll of 86. It is a state integrated Catholic school
All these schools are coeducational.
Notable people from Thames
- Kylie BaxKylie BaxKylie Bax is a New Zealand born model and actress. She has appeared on international magazine covers, including Vogue and Marie Claire. Since 1999, Bax has appeared in several movies, including Get Over It .-Modelling career:...
- model and actress - Sonny Parker - Welsh international rugby union player
- Lloyd StephensonLloyd StephensonLloyd Stephenson is a field hockey player from New Zealand, who earned his first cap for the national team, nicknamed The Black Sticks, in April 2001. Originally from Thames Valley, the striker/midfielder was based in Perth for 2005, but played in New Zealand most recently for North Harbour...
- Hockey player - Bruce PurchaseBruce PurchaseBruce Purchase was a New Zealand-born actor known for his roles on stage and television. Born in Thames, New Zealand, he won a scholarship to study acting in England, training at RADA, and went on to become a founding actor-member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre...
- British actor - Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith ParkKeith ParkAir Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
- WW2 Air Commander and AOC 11 Group during Battle of Britain (July - October 1940)