CHARLESTON
fields, was the bestowing of nicknames upon all and sundry, sometimes to the exclusion of surnames. A few of the best remembered were: “Shakespeare Joe”—Joseph Dromgool, a reciter of Shakespearean items at the Institute Concerts. “Scotch Jock”—John Purves Mitchell, a reciter in the Doric at local entertainments. “Schmidt the Fiddler”—a violinist at local dances, etc. “Jimmy the Duke”—a well-known resident who, in speech and attire, was somewhat ahead of the times; it is said that he even dared to wear spats, otherwise “collars on his boots.” “Parson Brown”—G. R. Brown, a devoted church-worker. “The Duck”—a showman who was prosecuted for compelling ducks to dance upon hot plates. Strangely another showman was Louis de Gander, but this was not a nickname. Others were “Jimmy the Yank,” “Billy the Native,” “Billy the Chief,” “Half-pint Dick,” “Bristol Charlie,” “Old York,” “Hopping Billy.”
The following are shown in the late Robert Hannah’s Account Ledger of 1871: “Harry the Fisher,” “Red Jack,” “Old Bill,” “The Ripper,” “Old Daddy,” “George the Bellman.”
1866. In the first half of this year Charleston field, known to the Maori as Tauhinau, was a pakihi waste where feet of white man, excepting two or three passing explorers, had never ventured; its port a nameless bay; it population nil. In the second half of the year, Linahan and his mate or mates, found gold at either Candlelight or The Basin, and the place was rushed. By the end of the year there was a population of 1,200.
For a time the field bore no definite European name, being spoken of as “The Pakihi,” anglicised and mutilated to “The Parkeese.” Captain Charles Bonner, in the ketch Constant, arrived at the bay with much-needed food supplies. The settlement became known as “Charlie’s Town,” and the bay as “Constant Bay.” The Signal Station was erected on “Flagstaff Hill.” Mr. A. Greenwood partly surveyed the town, and amended its name to Charleston.
The Warden of South-West Goldfields, in a report from Hokitika, on 31st March, stated: “The general tendency of the miners for the last two or three months has been towards
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