Matakanui , situated on the northern, portion of the Manuherikia Plain, is in the county of Vincent, and is 130 miles from Dunedin. A tri-weekly coach service connects with Ophir the present (1904) terminus of the Otago Central railway. A large tract of good pastoral country surrounds the township, and near the northern hills some large hydraulic sluicing claims are very successfully worked. The township of Matakanui, which was formerly known as Tinkers, has a Catholic church, public school, store, and hotel.

Newtown Hotel , Matakanui. This house was established about 1869, and conducted by Mr. W. Wall from 1895 till the latter half of 1904. It is of wood and stone, and contains ten bedrooms, two sitting-rooms, a dining-room capable of seating twenty persons, and a large billiard-room. The stables have six stalls and three loose boxes.

Chester Mains Farm , Matakanui. This freehold is the property of Mr. B. Naylor, J.P., of Clyde, and is 1072 acres in extent. It is a dairy and agricultural farm, and has been occupied by the proprietor since 1874. During some seasons a considerable area is devoted to crops, which yield very satisfactory returns. The owner is a large breeder of Clydesdale horses, and has spent considerable sums of money in the purchase of stud animals from the best bred stock. There is a registered dairy factory on the estate.

Mr. William Brown , formerly Manager of Chester Mains Farm, was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in February, 1864. He was brought up to agriculture, and had the charge of a farm for about four years, before coming to Port Chalmers by the “Florida” in 1884. Mr. Brown settled in the Dunstan district, where he was for a short time engaged in goldmining, but he became manager of “Chester Mains” in 1890. He was married, in 1884, to a daughter of Mr. John Weir, of Lanarkshire, Scotland, and had one son and one daughter. Mr. Brown died early in the year 1993.

Mr. Thomas Christopher Donnelly , Legal Manager of the Undaunted Mine, Matakanui, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1866. He was brought up to mining, became manager of the Bald Hill Sluicing Company in 1891, and has managed the Undaunted Mine since October, 1894. Mr. Donnelly was married, in 1892, to a daughter of the late Mr. Ford, of Port Chalmers, Otago, and has four sons and two daughters.

Undaunted Gold Mining Company's Claim.