CHARLESTON
again. The Handbook of New Zealand Mines, 1887, says—
- “Payable gold was first discovered at the Charleston Basin, by Linahan and party in the month of August, 1866.”
The Basin is upon the opposite side of the Broomielaw Creek to Candlelight, and was known as “Charleston Basin,” “Candlelight Basin,” “Darkie’s Creek Basin,” or merely as “The Basin,” usually the latter. It is known that the first gold found in The Basin was discovered by Linahan and party (see Chapter XXIII) but the consensus of opinion appears to be that this was subsequent to the find at Candlelight. To Linahan and another or others, is due the credit for discovering the field, but whether at Candlelight or The Basin cannot be proved.
The news of a new field seems to travel on the wings of the wind: soon it was known throughout the country. Within a few months hundreds were at The Pakihi (mutilated to The Parkeese), the name by which Charleston was first known Pakihi is the Maori term for open grass country. The Maori name for the site of Charleston was Tauhinau.
The Handbook of N.Z. Mines (1887) states that two months after the birth of the field, in October, 1866, there were 1,200 persons at Charleston and that the number was increasing daily. Within a year or two there were thousands there. Crowds flocked in by the hazardous coastal track from the south, and from the north across bush-clad Cape Foulwind, along beaches and over rivers. Some came by sailing craft to the inlet now known as Constant Bay.
Candlelight was a short-lived field and was soon divested of its easily accessible gold. The keeper of the first hotel and store was Philip McCarthy, later Manager of the Argyle Water Race that supplied most of the water to the flat, while Mary Smith (later of West Coast Hotel at Charleston) and a Mrs. Taylor kept small hotels at The Broomielaw.
The town of Charleston was partly surveyed by Mr. A. Greenwood in 1866 and 1867, and partly by Mr. G. R. Sayle in 1873. A copy of the plan issued from Wellington, in 1880, is shown in the Appendix. On 24th July, 1867, the Select Committee appointed by the Provincial Council to
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