# The Story of Christchurch, New Zealand/Chapter 13

Chapter XIII.
The Superintendency of Mr. Samuel Bealey.
March, 1863–May, 1866.
The West Coast Gold Fields—Opening of first Railway and first Telegraph Line in Canterbury—the Main South Railway, and other public works.
After the resignation of Mr. Moorhouse, there was some hesitation about the nomination of a successor; there were practically two parties at the time, the Moorhouse party and the FitzGerald party, fairly equally matched. Mr. FitzGerald would have been willing to accept another term of office, but declined to risk a contested election. A requisition was presented to Mr. Robert Wilkin, the President of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association, inviting him to announce himself a candidate for the Superintendency, but on his refusal, Mr. Samuel Bealey, who had headed the requisition to Mr. Wilkin, was invited to stand for election, and on March 5, 1863, was returned unopposed. It was early in Mr. Bealey’s superintendency that the vague rumours of the discovery of gold on the West Coast began to take definite shape. Though not perhaps strictly a part of the story of Christchurch, the gold rush to the West Coast during 1864 and the succeeding years, was so intimately associated with the city, that some reference to it is unavoidable.
To the early settlers, the West Coast of the South ​Island, which lay behind the vast ramparts of the snow capped Southern Alps, was a terra incognita. It was a land of mystery and romance; through its forest glades the gigantic moa might still be stalking, among its in accessible mountains might lie a Valley of Diamonds, such as Sinbad the Sailor described. Mr. Samuel Butler, who lived at Mesopotamia, on the eastern face of the great dividing range, felt the spell, and pictured the unknown region that lay beyond, as the home of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, with their quaintly original views on religion and morality.
The Maoris knew something of the country, but jealously guarded its secrets. The finest specimens of the much-prized greenstone came from beyond the ranges. Mr. Leonard Harper, accompanied by Mr. Locke, were the first Europeans to make the traverse. Mr. Harper was persona grata with the Maoris, and in 1857 induced a young Native, Ihaia Tainui, to guide him. They crossed near the head of the Hurunui River by a saddle which they named Harper Pass. They returned with specimens of gold picked up near the mouth of the Teremakau River. Other prospectors followed with reputed discoveries of gold on the Grey River, as well as the Teremakau. Westland was then, and continued till January, 1868, part of the Provincial District of Canterbury.
Fired by the success of the Otago goldfields, which had brought wealth and population to the southern province, the Canterbury Provincial Council offered a bonus of £1,000 to the discoverer of a payable goldfield in Canterbury. The bonus was first claimed by Captain Thomas Dixon for the discovery of gold in the Teremakau, in December, 1862 (“Lyttelton Times,” December 20). Captain Dixon sent his application overland by the above-mentioned Ihaia Tainui, who knew nothing of the contents of the letter until after he had delivered it. The young Maori then claimed the bonus for himself, ​on the ground that his people were well acquainted with the gold deposit and had showed it to Captain Dixon. The Rev. T. Stack, of Kaiapoi, supported Ihaia's claim, but no award was made. The bonus was afterwards claimed by Messrs. Alexander Campbell and Co., in October, 1863, for a discovery at Matiri, a tributary of the Buller, but was never awarded.
Harper's Pass, over the Hurunui Saddle, was for some time the only overland route to the West Coast; Arthur's Pass, discovered by and named after Mr. Arthur Dobson, was not practicable until a track could be formed down the precipitous sides of the Otira Gorge.
In January, 1863, Dr. von Haast discovered the Haast Pass, leading from the head of Wanaka to the West Coast. It is the lowest pass across the Southern Alps (1,716 feet), but too far south of the goldfields to be of service. During May, 1864, Messrs. Browning and Griffith discovered Browning's Pass, from the head of the Rakaia to Hokitika, but the difficulties of roadmaking proved so great that the route was not adopted.
In his opening address to the Provincial Council, the Superintendent, on August 11, 1864, referred to the probability of important goldfields being opened on the West Coast. Mr. Bealey's anticipation was realised, and by the following December, a number of men were getting payable gold in the Teremakau, and the rush had fairly set in. During the next few months, Christchurch had a strong attack of “gold fever,” and on March 2, 1865, the Westland District was officially gazetted under the title of the West Canterbury Goldfield, and a warden, Mr. George Sale, afterwards Professor of Classics, Otago University, and a Resident Magistrate, Mr. W. H. Revell, were appointed.
A practicable road between Christchurch and the West Coast was a matter of urgent necessity. The Harper Pass route was much too difficult to be of any use for the conveyance of merchandise, and it seemed likely that the ​whole of the trade of West Canterbury would go to Nelson by sea. This prospect was not all pleasing to the enterprising business people of Christchurch, and the Government was asked to form a road. The need for land communication was accentuated by the dangerous nature of the sea voyage from Nelson. The only harbours near the goldfields were the mouths of the rivers, and the vessels employed in the trade had to be of light draft to enable them to cross the bars. Many lives were lost by shipwreck, the small craft going to pieces on these bars in attempting to make the ports.
The Government, therefore, on March 15, 1865, sent Mr. Edward Dobson and fifty men to form a road via Arthur’s Pass and the Otira Gorge. Mr. Dobson took with him his son, George, who had recently returned from a prospecting visit to the locality, and who fell a victim to Burgess’ gang of bushrangers in the following year,
The read was pushed forward energetically, and on July 15, the first West Coast overland mail arrived in Christchurch, Messrs. L. G. Cole and Co. being the contractors. In September, a dray was taken over the Otira Gorge, and when in March, 1866, the Superintendent, Mr. Bealey, visited the Coast, he was able to travel in Cobb and Co.’s coach.
In September, 1865, Mr. Walmsley, an officer of the Bank of New South Wales, was “stuck up” in the West Coast bush and robbed of gold, and in consequence the Government organised an armed escort to convey the gold from the West Coast to Christchurch. The “gold escort” was quite a picturesque turn-out, and created a small stir as it clattered down the streets of Christchurch or Hokitika, reminding people of the early days of the Australian diggings, and of the objectionably romantic gangs of bushrangers by which they were infested.
After some weeks’ drilling the expedition left Christchurch for its first journey, on December 4, 1865; a ​strong van, drawn by four grey horses, and manned by an inspector, a sergeant and four constables all armed. The journey occupied four days each way, and for some months the escort crossed and re-crossed the ranges without misadventure. But the Government enterprise did not receive sufficient support from the Banks and other gold buyers, and the gold escort was soon discontinued.
It was in the middle of June, 1866, that Mr. George Dobson disappeared on the West Coast. It afterwards transpired that he had fallen into the hands of certain members of the famous Burgess gang of bushrangers, who mistook him for a Mr. Fox, a gold buyer, for whom they were lying in wait. They were afraid to let him go, and strangled him and hid the body. The gang were captured shortly afterwards, and John Joseph Sullivan confessed and indicated the place where George Dobson’s body would be found. The remains were buried at Greymouth between the graves of Whitcombe, the discoverer of the Whitcombe Pass, and Townsend, both of whom were drowned on the West Coast. Burgess, Kelly and Levy were executed at Nelson on October 5, 1866. Sullivan’s death sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life.
More than fifty years have gone by since the West Coast gold diggings began, and we are still without railway communication, but as far back as November 21, 1865, Superintendent Bealey announced to the Provincial Council that he had set aside certain lands for a West Coast railway. The idea was probably prompted by the experience of the Government nearer home, where considerable progress was being made in public works. The first railway in Canterbury was opened on December 1, 1863. It was only about four miles in length, and ran from Christchurch to Ferrymead, the first link in the journey to Lyttelton viâ Sumner. The line was built by Messrs. Holmes and Co., the contractors for the Lyttelton Tunnel, and was leased for a time to that enterprising ​firm. Messrs. Holmes and Co. were the very capable general contractors to the Government. They also built the telegraph line between Christchurch and Lyttelton, crossing the Port Hills by the Bridle Track, the first telegraph line in New Zealand, opened on July 1, 1862.
But these undertakings were relatively insignificant when compared with the decision of the Government to begin building a Main Southern Railway to connect Christchurch and Dunedin. The contract for the first section, about thirty-six miles, as far as the Rakaia River, was signed by Messrs. Holmes and Co. on May 20, 1865, and ratified by the Provincial Council on June 1. The contract price for this section was £201,000, of which one-half was to he paid in cash, one-fourth in debentures, and the remaining fourth in waste lands, at £2 per acre. The policy of the Government in disposing of waste lands in payment for public works was severely criticised subsequently.
The Southern Railway, like the Lyttelton Tunnel, was a very bold enterprise, and may well have alarmed cautious people. Mr. Rolleston, who was a member of the Government, considered that the time was not yet ripe for so large an undertaking. He had been away on the West Coast when the decision was arrived at, and on his return his loyalty to his colleagues kept him silent; but after the Provincial Council was prorogued he resigned his seat on the executive.
In addition to the work on the railway, the Government made important improvements in Lyttelton Harbour, in anticipation of the opening of the Tunnel. These improvements were carried out under the advice of Mr. Stephenson, and included the two moles (built about 1864), which remain at the present day.
The great activity shown in the prosecution of public works affords some indication of the general prosperity of the Province.
​The term of Mr. Bealey’s Superintendency came to an end in May, 1866, and he did not seek re-election. It was during his term of office that the foundation of the Cathedral was laid, as will be told in the next chapter.