Free Talk: Fools for Gold

Why did the 19th century Otago gold rushes happen when they did? Who were the gold miners and where did they come from? What did this mean for Otago and Oamaru?

In the 19th century, gold rushes seemed to be a uniquely ‘European’ thing. Gold rushes did not occur in Asia or Africa, but rather in places that were new to British or European arrivals, i.e., North America, Australia and New Zealand.

There is thinking at gold rushes do not occur at random and for a gold rush to happen there needs to be the right conditions and the right people. This talk will look at this in the Otago context and will highlight the impact the gold rushes had on the land and the people. This talk will also look at where Oamaru fitted into the early Otago gold history and where it is now.

The speaker, Grant Pittams has had a lifetime interest in mining and gold mining in particular, Grant wrote his Canterbury University thesis on the first New Zealand gold rush of significance, the Collingwood gold rush of 1855 in Golden Bay.

When

Location

Ōamaru Public Library