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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Kopu

Kopu.

Kopu is a farming and sawmilling district on the Thames-Auckland railway. All trains stop at Kopu, which is five miles from Thames on the banks of the Thames river, and steamers call regularly at the local wharf. A large quantity of timber is exported from Kopu, and some of the residents find employment in fishing.

Kopu Hotel (Joseph Cornwell Williams, proprietor), Kopu. This hostelry is conveniently situated in the small town of Kopu, on the Thames River, communication being by daily lines of mail coaches and steamers. Accommodation is provided at all hours, and visitors may rest assured of the most assiduous attention to their requirements. The Post and Telegraph Offices are situated at the hotel, the proprietor being the officer in charge.

Kopu Hotel.

Kopu Hotel.

Mr. J. C. Williams, the Proprietor, was born at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, England, in 1847, and came out in the ship “Queen of the Mersey” to New Zealand in 1863, landing at Auckland. He passed through many hardships, and, like all the pioneers, had to turn his hand to various kinds of employment. Amongst other things, he, together with his brothers, carried out a Government contract soon after landing. After about two years Mr. Williams went to the West Coast Goldfields, where he followed alluvial mining for a few years. He then returned to the north and spent some time at prospecting in the Waikato, and was also engaged as an assistant in bridge building in that district. Mr. Williams went to the Thames in July, 1867, and ever since that date has been intimately associated with mining and mining enterprises. In 1870 he took the Provincial Hotel at the Thames, and conducted it successfully for twenty-four years. About 1880 he purchased land at Kopu, a few miles from the Thames, on which he erected an hotel building. Experiencing great difficulties in getting a license through the objections of the Maoris (it being at that time a native licensing district), Mr. Williams did not finally settle at Kopu until about 1892, but since that time has made himself widely and popularly known to travellers and residents throughout the fields and surrounding country. Mr. Williams was one of the organizers of the Thames Volunteer Fire Brigade, was a member for nearly twenty years, and was at two different periods captain of that body. He was also connected, in 1868, with the Thames Volunteer Engineers, and was appointed one of the Guards of Honour in connection with the reception of the Duke of Edinburgh, on the latter's visit to Auckland. Mr. Williams was married at the Thames on the 31st of December, 1869, to Miss Phyllis E. Nicoll, who, however, died on the 29th of May, 1896, leaving ten children. Mr. Williams was a director of the Young American Gold Mining Company until its amalgamation with the Caledonia. He was chiefly instrumental in discovering the junction of the two reefs, which yielded about ten tons of gold in ten months, and enabled the company for a whole year to declare fortnightly dividends of from £10 to £25. All this came from the Young American portion of the property. The company collapsed about twenty-seven years later, and during all that time Mr. Williams paid calls.

Foy Bros., photo.Mr. J. C. Williams.

Foy Bros., photo.
Mr. J. C. Williams.