Stafford is a mining hamlet situated on the Waimea creek, and on the main West Coast road, eight miles from Hokitika. It is in the Arahura riding of the county of Westland, and in the electorate and provincial district of Westland. The first “rush” to the district took place in 1865, and it is stated that in 1870 the township contained thirty-seven hotels and seventeen stores. It is estimated that at that time the population exceeded 5000 people, amongst whom were a large proportion of Scandinavians. Stafford, in its palmiest days (which ended about 1875) was a payable field. It has contributed a fair quota of gold, but the diggings are now nearly worked out, although a few good sluicing claims still remain; amongst them the “Wheel of Fortune.” Stafford's nearest railway station is three miles and a-half distant, on the Greymouth-Hokitika line of railway. There are four churches in the settlement; namely, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Roman Catholic, and the clergymen in connection with all come from Kumara, ten miles distant. The Government buildings are represented by the local Magistrate's Court and Police Station, and the business of the Post Office is conducted at one of the local stores. There are also two hotels, a blacksmith's smithy, and a bootmaker's shop. Stafford has a public library, a reading room, an Oddfellows' Lodge, and a local public school. At the census of 1901 the population numbered 116.

The Stafford Police Station was erected in the year 1867. The buildings consist of a courthouse, police station, and a two-cell lock-up. Six police officers were stationed in Stafford in 1870, but owing to the migration of the population, and the decline of Stafford as a goldfield, the number has been reduced to one of-ficer-in-charge. He acts as Clerk of the Court, Receiver of Gold Revenue, Registrar of Births and Deaths, and as Mining Registrar. The district is a most orderly one, crimes of a serious nature very rarely occur, and the Warden and Stipendiary Magistrate holds a sitting only in each alternate month.

The Stafford Public School is a three-roomed building situated on one acre of ground in the north end of the town, and was opened about the year 1878. It was at first a one-roomed building, but an increase in the attendance necessitated the addition of two rooms. There are seventy-seven names on the roll, and the average attendance is seventy-three. The schcol has made very satisfactory progress.

The Stafford Literary Institute was founded by Dr. Matthews, and opened in 1870. Through lack of support it was closed in 1896, but was re-opened in August of the following year. The subscribers pay a subscription at the rate of 3/6 per quarter, and the library contains about 500 books. Mr. Edgar W. Newrick is the librarian.

Mundy, John, Wholesale and Retail Family Butcher, Stafford. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand, Kumara. This business was originally established by Messrs Olson and Brown in the year 1865, and taken over in 1884 by Mr. Mundy, who does the leading trade in the district, and is noted for keeping nothing but the primest meat and superior dairy-fed pork. Mr. Mundy was born in Bendigo, Victoria, in 1859, and learned his trade there. In 1873, he came to New Zealand, and worked as a baker under Mr. Rhotoff in Stafford, and then with Mr. Berdinner in the butchering trade. Later on, he was at Kumara with Mr. Denfield, baker, and he afterwards took over his present business. Mr. Mundy also runs vehicles which meet the trains at the station, a distance of three or four miles. He can also supply vehicles on hire.

Linnemann, Carl Johannes Edward (Henry William Sandle, manager), General Storekeeper, Stafford. The Stafford branch of Mr. Linneman's business was opened in the year 1865, and has been successfully managed by Mr. Sandle since 1882. The local post and telephone office is attached to the store, money order and savings bank business being transacted. Mails arrive and depart by the coach, north and south.

Wheel of Fortune Claim , Stafford. This claim is now (1906) owned by a private company, and the principals are: Messrs J. A. Murdoch, solicitor, Kumara; W. J. Mcllroy, merchant, Kumara, J. B. Lewis, solicitor, Hokitika; and F. A. Boyes, mine manager, Hokitika. The Wheel of Fortune claim has, under various conditions, been working for about thirty years. Some years ago an English company, with a large capital, took over the claim and effected great improvements. It was acquired by the present company in the year 1904, and is being successfully worked. The claim consists of fifty acres, every foot of which is gold-bearing. Water is brought six miles from Lake Mudgee, to the extent of twenty-seven heads, and the depth of ground worked is from thirty to eighty feet. The system of working is by hydraulic sluicing, and the tailings are disposed of by two sets of bucket elevators driven by Pelton wheels. The buckets are of four cubic feet capacity, and the elevators are capable of dealing with over 100 tons an hour. The works are lit at night by electric light. About fourteen persons are employed.

Mr. Frederick Arthur Boyes , Part Owner and manager of the Wheel of Fortune claim, has had considerable experience in mining matters. He is further referred to under the heading of Hokitika.