Town Of Hokitika.

The town of Hokitika, founded in 1864, had a phenomenally rapid growth. Up to 1866, thousands of people were living in canvas tents, and there were neither roads nor streets. The first body set up in the public interest was a locally-formed improvement committee. Under its direction streets were laid out, and the settlement began to assume a city-like appearance. A large theatre was built, and was crammed every night at high prices. At one time, there were nearly 200 public houses in the town, all within a radius of a mile. Sleeping accommodation was, however, very limited, and men who could not squeeze into tents slept at hotels, where they had to pay three shillings a night for the privilege of a blanket on the floor, or on a dining table. In those early days Mr. G. S. Sale, now a professor in the University of Otago, held almost unlimited powers to deal with all judicial and financial matters; in fact, he was the administrator of the affairs of the West Coast. When Westland obtained local self-government, Mr. Sale was county secretary till the post was abolished, and then he sat as a member of the Westland County Council. The first Mayor of Hokitika was the late Hon. J. A. Bonar, afterwards a member of the Legislative Council. The corporation was created in the year 1867, and in that year the late Sir George Grey, then Governor of New Zealand, visited the West Coast, and was entertained at a banquet by the citizens of Hokitika. During the year 1868, riots known as the Fenian Riots, took place in the town. The excitement arose over the Irish Home Rule agitation, and was intensified by the news of the execution of the three Manchester “Martyrs,” and the attempted assassination of the Duke of Edinburgh by O'Farrell, at Sydney. At the time there were thousands of Irishmen digging at Hokitika, and most of them were sympathisers with their brethren at Home. The trouble and tumult that ensued resulted in a trial in the Supreme Court, before Mr. Justice Richmond. The ringleaders were found guilty, but the Judge, in passing the sentences, tempered justice with mercy, and in due page 485 course peace and goodwill reigned amongst all parties. In the early days of Hokitika bushranging on the Coast showed that dangerous characters lived amongst the residents. One of the earliest incidents in this connection occurred on the 3rd of September, 1865, when Mr. Walmsley, a gold-buying agent, was “stuck up” between No Town and Twelve Mile, and robbed of gold and notes to the value of £4000. The next year was made distressingly memorable by the desperate and revolting deeds of the Levy-Burgess-Kelly-and-Sullivan gang of bushrangers, who in the middle of June murdered four men named Fehx Mathien, James Dudley, John Kempthorne, and James de Pontius. After the arrest of the gang, Sullivan turned Queen's evidence, and it was through his agency that the guilt of the murderers was established, and the men condemned to death.

That was forty years ago, and the Hokitika of to-day is a quiet business-like place, with the improvements usually found in modern towns. The town is situated 120 miles west by rail and coach from Christchurch, in the county of Westland, of which it is the capital town, and is in the electorate and provincial district of Westland.

Hokitika was originally called Okatika, and it was on the 20th of December, 1864, that Captain S. A. Leech (who died at Westport on the 30th of November, 1905) crossed the bar in the s.s. “Nelson,” thus opening up the navigation of the river. The next vessel to cross the bar was the schooner “City of Nelson,” which was followed by the schooner “Colleen Bawn” and afterwards by the s.s. “Wallaby.” In January, 1865, the first large vessel to anchor in the roadstead was the “Claud Hamilton,” of the Panama Company. Hokitika was then a medley of tents and shanties, which rapidly increased in number. However, early in the year 1865, the first building, occupied as a branch of the Bank of New Zealand, was erected; and it was in December 1864, that the first town allotments were marked off by Warden Revell, after whom the main street was named. About the first week of March, 1865, Westland was proclaimed a goldfield. The original town of Hokitika stood on a sandy beach, overgrown by pine trees and scrub, through which it was not easy to travel.

Hokitika. Ring, photo.

page 486 The town grew with exceptional rapidity, and during the years 1865 and 1869 the gold exported from Westland was valued at about seven millions sterling, and the population during the period varied from 10,000 to 50,000 persons. At one time the Customs revenue of the port of Hokitika was second only to that of Auckland.

At Present The Chief Public Bodies Of Hokitika Are The Hokitika Borough Council, The Hokitika Harbour Board, And The Westland County Council. The Local Volunteers Consist Of The First Westland Rifles, Known As No. 1 Company Of The Second Nelson Battalion Of New Zealand Rifles. Hokitika Has Three Banks; The Bank Of New Zealand, The National Bank, And The Bank Of New South Wales. It Has Also A Savings Bank, And Two Industrial Building Societies. The Government Departments Within The Borough Include The Lands And Survey Office, The Stock Office (With A Resident Inspector), The Customs House, The Chief Post And Telegraph Office, The Railway Station, The Supreme Court, Stipendiary Magistrate's And Warden's Court, The Police Office, The Gaol And Mental Hospital. The Charitable Institutions Of The District Consist Of A Benevolent Society, The Westland Hospital, And The Local Hospital And Charitable Aid Board. Hokitika Has A District High School, A Public School, And The Roman Catholic Convent Has Schools For Primary And Secondary Subjects; And Westland Has A Board Of School Commissioners, As Well As An Education Board. Hokitika Has Four Churches; Namely, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist And Presbyterian; Two Daily Newspapers, “The West Coast Times” And “The Guardian”; And It Is The Headquarters Of The Westland Agricultural And Pastoral Association, The Hokitika Horticultural And Poultry Society, And The Westland Acclimatisation Society. There Are Also Cricket, Football, Tennis And Racing Clubs. The Westland Institute Is A Literary Club With A Library, A Reading-Room, And A Museum, And There Are Various Other Literary Societies. Freemasonry Is Represented By The District Grand Lodge, English Constitution; Lodge Pacific, Under The Same Constitution; And Lodge Westland Kilwinning, New Zealand Constitution. Hokitika Has Several Engineering Works And Iron Foundries, A Sawmill, Two Breweries, And An Acrated Water Factory. The Lighting Of The Town Is Undertaken By The Local Gas Company. A Clock Tower, Begun In February, 1902, And Finished In May, 1903, Commemorates The Coronation Of King Edward VII, the despatch of 130 men from Westland to South Africa, and the names of Westland troopers, who lost their lives while on service with New Zealand contingents in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. During the seventies the population of Hokitika varied from ten to twelve thousand, but at the census of 1901, it stood at 1946.

Amongst people who do not know the place, there is a vague erroneous impression that Hokitika is very tame with respect to scenery, and unusually damp in the matter of climate. But fine views of Mount Cook are obtained from the Terraces, and though more rain falls at Hokitika than at Wellington, the capital of Westland gets more sunshine than the capital of the colony. It is said that in spring the Westland pastures are three weeks ahead of those of Canterbury, and three weeks later in going in the winter. This no doubt testifies to the humidity of the climate, but then it is also a testimony to its mildness.