The First Gleam of Gold (1860)
The first Europeans to find gold in the Wakamarina were Elizabeth Catherine Climo and her mother, Jane. The Climo and Pope families had relocated to Nelson from Taranaki in 1860 to escape the conflict of the New Zealand Wars. The Pope brothers, Elizabeth's husband and brother-in-law, established a sawmill in the isolated, bush-clad Wakamarina Valley. It was here, while washing clothes in the river, that Elizabeth and Jane noticed glittering golden flecks in the gravel. The find was confirmed as gold, but it was not substantial enough to create widespread excitement, and with the family's focus on the demanding work of sawmilling, the knowledge of gold in the river remained a local affair for the next four years.
The Find that Sparked the Rush (1864)
The catalyst for the major rush came in April 1864. A party of four experienced prospectors—George Rutland, John Gaukrodger, Joseph Harris, and Charles Wilson—were returning from an unsuccessful trip up the Pelorus River when they decided to try their luck in the Wakamarina. They found a much richer and more extensive deposit of alluvial gold. Understanding the significance of their find, they reported it to the Marlborough Provincial Superintendent in Picton. With the Otago goldfields in decline, the news spread with incredible speed through official channels and word-of-mouth. Within weeks, the cry of 'Gold in the Wakamarina!' echoed across the country and the Tasman, triggering a massive stampede to the previously quiet valley.
Boom Towns and Diggers' Lives
At its peak, an estimated 6,000 people, mostly men, swarmed into the valley. Havelock, until then a tiny sawmilling village, exploded into a chaotic port. Its harbour was crowded with steamers and schooners from as far as Dunedin and Melbourne, and its muddy streets were crammed with miners, storekeepers, gold-buyers, and dozens of pubs and grog shanties. Further up the valley, at the junction of the Pelorus and Wakamarina Rivers, the archetypal boom town of Canvastown sprang up almost overnight, named for the simple canvas tents that housed its first inhabitants. Life on the diggings was tough, with miners working long hours in the cold river water using pans, cradles, and sluice-boxes. The living conditions were primitive, and the cost of supplies, packed in over the muddy track from Havelock, was exorbitant.
A Legacy Beyond Gold
The Wakamarina gold was rich but shallow. The easily-won alluvial deposits were quickly exhausted, and by the end of 1864, the rush was largely over. The huge population melted away as quickly as it had arrived, with thousands of disappointed miners moving on to the next big rush on the West Coast. However, the event had a profound impact. It permanently put the Pelorus district on the map, leading to its survey and opening it up for permanent settlement. The towns of Havelock and Canvastown, born in the chaos of the rush, survived. Crucially, the rush was the catalyst for the next great industry. The influx of people and capital, combined with the clearing of land by the miners, paved the way for large-scale timber milling. When the gold was gone, the focus of the local economy shifted to the vast native forests, an industry that would dominate the region for the next half-century.
