{"id":51,"date":"2014-02-08T20:16:42","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T20:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vern.falkor.gen.nz\/BenSmith\/?page_id=51"},"modified":"2014-02-09T01:27:54","modified_gmt":"2014-02-09T01:27:54","slug":"gold-fever","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/?page_id=51","title":{"rendered":"Gold fever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toward the end of 1849 Martha Smith was expecting her sixth child.\u00a0 Walter was born on 30 October 1845 and Mary Anne on 11 November 1847.\u00a0 One would have thought that she and Ben would have been content to remain in Auckland;\u00a0 but no,\u00a0 once again they were packing for a new venture.\u00a0 This time they had to plan with care,\u00a0 for William Benjamin,\u00a0 the eldest son,\u00a0 was only ten years old and Mary Anne had just celebrated her second birthday.\u00a0 The dream now was not for land but for lovely gold nuggets.\u00a0 Foolish perhaps,\u00a0 but reports from California were good and if a greater independence was eventually to be gained,\u00a0 then any effort was worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Nothing interesting had happened since the Court hearings except that earlier in the year they had attended the first Agricultural and Horticultural Society\u2019s exhibition at Mechanics Bay,\u00a0 Auckland.\u00a0 Ben had won first prize with his carthorse and his friend Mr Crummer had a win with his thoro\u2019bred mare.\u00a0 The day had been enjoyable with Governor Grey in attendance and the Band of the 58th<\/sup> Regiment enlivening the scene with \u201cchoice\u201d music.<\/p>\n

The news of the finding of gold in California reached Auckland in December 1848;\u00a0 it reached Sydney in December 1848 when The Sydney Morning Herald <\/i>reprinted stories of the strike earlier reported in a Honolulu newspaper.\u00a0 The first of the \u201cforty-niners\u201d were soon on their way.\u00a0 The Eleanor Lancaster<\/i> sailed from Sydney for San Francisco on 21 January 1849.<\/p>\n

Aucklanders were excited when The New Zealander <\/i>mentioned that James Wilson Marshall had found gold at Sutters\u2019s Mill on the banks of the Sacramento River,\u00a0 and so a shipload of eager seekers set sail in the schooner Deborah,\u00a0 <\/i>and they arrived at their destination on 21 June 1849.\u00a0 Many ships were to follow with passengers embarking both on ships leaving direct for San Francisco and others,\u00a0 from Australian ports,\u00a0 calling for water and supplies at Auckland.\u00a0 Few ships sailed from Wellington.<\/p>\n

The business community of Auckland was alive to the opportunities for the disposal of their produce and many a ship\u2019s manifest reveals cargoes of potatoes,\u00a0 onions,\u00a0 maize,\u00a0 oats,\u00a0 pickles and cheeses,\u00a0 these goods to be sold on the San Francisco market.\u00a0 When there was little deterioration,\u00a0 the goods sold well;\u00a0 but more often than not,\u00a0 these comestibles were rotten on arrival.\u00a0 The best cargo was considered to be timber and housing materials.<\/p>\n

Early in 1850 three ships,\u00a0 the Shamrock,\u00a0 <\/i>the Fanny, <\/i>\u00a0and the Glouceste<\/i>r (ex Sydney),\u00a0 sailed from Auckland with substantial cargoes of sawn timber,\u00a0 housing timber,\u00a0 houses in frame,\u00a0 nails and bricks.\u00a0 The Shamrock,\u00a0 <\/i>a schooner of 80 tons and carrying three passengers,\u00a0 Messrs Own,\u00a0 Monk and Sherancke,\u00a0 apparently did not arrive at her destination.\u00a0 The Fann<\/i>y arrived safely.\u00a0 The Gloucester <\/i>had departed Sydney with 71 male and 22 female adults and 13 male and 13 female children.\u00a0 She departed from Auckland on 30 January 1850 and her safe arrival was reported in The New Zealander <\/i>on Saturday 3 August 1850:<\/p>\n

Arrival in San Francisco.<\/em><\/p>\n

28 May Colonist,\u00a0 28 Gloucester,\u00a0 2 June Johnson,\u00a0 5 June Reaper,\u00a0 22 June Two Friends,\u00a0 27 June Commodore also Hamlet,\u00a0 Josephine,\u00a0 Sir John Frances,\u00a0 Lallah Rookh,\u00a0 and Spec arrived previously to the sailing of the Daniel Webster on 28 June for Auckland.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was just as well for our story that the Glouceste<\/i>r did arrive safely.\u00a0 On board were Benjamin Smith,\u00a0 Martha and their six children.\u00a0 On 23 March 1850,\u00a0 52 days out from Auckland,\u00a0 Martha had been delivered of her second daughter,\u00a0 Priscilla.\u00a0 One cannot help admire Martha\u2019s indomitable courage and fortitude.\u00a0 Her trials were just beginning.<\/p>\n

Apart from the Smiths,\u00a0 there were only two named passengers on the Glouceste<\/i>r from the Port of Auckland ,\u00a0 Dr Cook and Captain Nagle.\u00a0 It would appear that Ben was accompanying the timber shipment,\u00a0 some of which would have been carried on his account for he was a prudent and enterprising man.\u00a0 According to The New Zealander<\/i>,\u00a0 an Auckland newspaper:<\/p>\n

The ship,\u00a0 listed A1 at Lloyds,\u00a0 was of 297 tons and her Commander was Captain D Tardiff.\u00a0 She had sailed from Sydney on 23 December 1849;\u00a0 but when about 90 miles from land it was discovered that she was leaking,\u00a0 the pumps being choked or otherwise defective,\u00a0 were unfit to reduce the water she was taking in.\u00a0 It was deemed advisable to return to Sydney where she arrived on the 25th<\/sup> and after examination and repairs she sailed again on the 28th<\/sup> December.\u00a0 She had called at the port for water and other provisions,\u00a0 and will it is said ship some timber also \u2013 J Macky,\u00a0 Agent.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Saturday,\u00a0 26 January 1850,\u00a0 Mr Macky placed the following advertisement in the same paper.<\/p>\n

First Vessel for California.<\/em><\/p>\n

The A1 Barque,\u00a0 Gloucester,\u00a0 D Tardiff,\u00a0 Commander,\u00a0 will sail for the above port immediately;\u00a0 has room for 50 tons of freight,\u00a0 four cabin and eight steerage passengers.\u00a0 For freight and passage apply James Macky,\u00a0 Queen Street.<\/em><\/p>\n

The cargo list appeared in the newspaper on 30 January and read as follows:<\/p>\n

Original cargo from Sydney but shipped Auckland \u2013 100 cases Potatoes (5 tons),\u00a0 30 cases Onions (1 \u00bd tons),\u00a0 1066 pieces of timber,\u00a0 15000 feet ditto,\u00a0 15000 shingles,\u00a0 81 bundles of housing timber,\u00a0 3300 feet sawn timber,\u00a0 74 bags of oats,\u00a0 44 packages of housing timber,\u00a0 375 pieces of timber,\u00a0 4500 pieces of timber,\u00a0 130 bushels maize,\u00a0 43 bushels oats,\u00a0 700 lb onions,\u00a0 8 cases pickles and 48 cheeses.<\/em><\/p>\n

Auckland\u2019s business community was certainly endeavouring to make the most of the opportunity offered!<\/p>\n

We have no evidence from the Smiths about the conditions obtaining in San Francisco at the time of their arrival in May,\u00a0 except that the city had,\u00a0 a few days earlier,\u00a0 been subjected to fire damage and that further outbreaks occurred at intervals.\u00a0 One of the passengers,\u00a0 who arrived at San Francisco in the Fanny<\/i> on 30 August 1850,\u00a0 was to write a letter,\u00a0 which was reprinted in The New Zealander <\/i>on 1 December 1850.\u00a0 This letter would surely have been of more than passing interest to families contemplating the voyage,\u00a0 had it been possible to receive the information it contained at an earlier date.<\/p>\n

He wrote:<\/p>\n

We dropped anchor on 30 August in this port \u2026\u00a0 The town of San Francisco is on the beach,\u00a0 and may contain about 30,000 population of all shades and nations \u2013 but such a town!\u00a0 Why there are not as many houses here as in Auckland;\u00a0 the richest merchants\u2019 warehouses,\u00a0 banks,\u00a0 hotels and offices being no more than tents or sheds made of unburnt bricks,\u00a0 and roofed with canvas or calico.\u00a0 Property is a mere drug on the market \u2013 there are as many goods lying in the sheds as would furnish a large city for years to come;\u00a0 indeed,\u00a0 there are many ships lying in the harbour now not discharged,\u00a0 as their cargoes would scarcely pay the expenses of landing.\u00a0 But to turn to the sunny side of the picture.\u00a0 All the accounts we have heard of this place fall short of the reality \u2013 money is looked upon here as dirt;\u00a0 the commonest labourer,\u00a0 if he has good health,\u00a0 is about t the best off \u2026\u00a0 Timber\u00a0 is exceedingly scarce and likely to be so for some years to come;\u00a0 the timber that belonged to the passengers per Fanny sold by auction at from \u00a360 to \u00a370 per thousand.\u00a0 There is plenty of timber in this country \u2013 but although sawing would yield a high price,\u00a0 yet the great majority of people prefer going to the mines and to take their chance.\u00a0 Town land is rather dear.\u00a0 My intention is to get used to the climate before I go to the mines.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now of the mines:\u00a0 there are vessels leaving here every day for the settlements on the rivers;\u00a0 these are always full of passengers.\u00a0 The fare is an \u201counce\u201d or sixteen dollars; \u00a0they land you about hundred and fifty miles up.\u00a0 Then there are wagons to convey luggage from the landing place in various directions to the mines 30 or 40 miles off.\u00a0 At these places the diggings commence and each person pitches his tent;\u00a0 they may amount in all to 300 or 400 tents at one of these encampments.\u00a0 The owners \u2013 for the greater part scatter themselves all over the country looking for gold \u2013 coming back to the encampment occasionally for a supply of provision.\u00a0 There are but a few instances of theft known,\u00a0 as the Lynch Law is summary.\u00a0 The Americans and English here appear to be of one nation from the similarity of language and they look upon all others as foreigners nor will they allow the Mexicans,\u00a0 Peruvians,\u00a0 etc,\u00a0 to dig at some of the rivers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now I would not advise you not to come here by any means;\u00a0 the people who come here should be of strong constitution,\u00a0 used to hard work and have no encumbrance in the way of family,\u00a0 they should likewise be strictly temperate.\u00a0 The chief complaints are diarrhoea,\u00a0 cold with rheumatism,\u00a0 fever and ague\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ben,\u00a0 Martha and family travelled all the way to the diggings and made their headquarters in a covered bullock wagon \u2013 the kind we frequently see in movies of the old Wild West.\u00a0 While Ben went prospecting,\u00a0 Martha taught her children their lessons and cared for them;\u00a0 however,\u00a0 after Mary Ann had the misfortune to fall down a well,\u00a0 and the luck to be rescued,\u00a0 Martha decided that she had had enough of prospecting,\u00a0 and that the family had better move on once more while there were still funds available from their trading ventures.\u00a0 Ben had not been a successful miner.\u00a0 San Francisco had little to offer as a place for permanent residence;\u00a0 it was a town of lawlessness and crime and no place for families.\u00a0 The Smiths decided to return to England,\u00a0 and this they did,\u00a0 but not to stay.\u00a0 In England they embarked again for the antipodes on the Euphrates,\u00a0 <\/i>557 tons,\u00a0 sailing from Plymouth on 10 February 1852 for Sydney,\u00a0 arriving on 25 May 1852.\u00a0 Once more Ben succumbed to the lure of goldfields.\u00a0 It was a small success at last,\u00a0 and so there was a visit to Adelaide.\u00a0 They decided not to settle there and sailed from Sydney to New Zealand in the Raven <\/i>with sufficient money not only to buy land and livestock but also to cushion the family through periods of difficulty.\u00a0 The passenger list of the Raven<\/i> reported in The New Zealander <\/i>of Saturday 26 March 1853,\u00a0 confirms their arrival date at Auckland.<\/p>\n

Arrival \u2013 March 23,\u00a0 Raven ex Sydney,\u00a0 brig 170 tons,\u00a0 James Thompson.<\/em><\/p>\n

Passengers,\u00a0 Mr and Mrs Watson,\u00a0 Mr and Mrs Rivale,\u00a0 Mr and Mrs B Smith and six children,\u00a0 Mr and Mrs Harrison and four children,\u00a0 Messrs Dougherty,\u00a0 Inglis,\u00a0 Rice,\u00a0 Janes,\u00a0 John Dod,\u00a0 Bloxland,\u00a0 Roberts,\u00a0 Robinson,\u00a0 William Cork,\u00a0 E Cook William Shael,\u00a0 Michael Rice,\u00a0 T Gordon.\u00a0 The brig Raven did not leave Sydney till Saturday twelfth instant.\u00a0 She arrived on Wednesday last only one day after the H B M Fantome although the latter sailed on the fifth.\u00a0 The Raven has brought 100 sheep and six horses which have been landed safely and in good condition.<\/em><\/p>\n

The family moved into a house in Durham Street,\u00a0 Auckland,\u00a0 and Ben Smith recommenced work as a carpenter.\u00a0 He had arrived in Auckland just early enough to be able to read a Proclamation made by Sir George Grey in April 1853:\u00a0 that under the new Constitution granted by Her Majesty,\u00a0 Queen Victoria,\u00a0 to the people of New Zealand,\u00a0 the Provinces would be created of Auckland,\u00a0 New Plymouth,\u00a0 Wellington,\u00a0 Nelson,\u00a0 Canterbury and Otago and that town lots and rural lands would be sold under conditions as set out in the Constitution.\u00a0 Clause 7 of Section 3 made provision for the sale of rural lands outside the hundreds.\u00a0 This land was to be sold by Auction or at a fixed price of 10 shillings per acre in certain circumstances.\u00a0 Accordingly,\u00a0 \/Ben was able to purchase 222 acres in the Papakura Rural District for the sum of \u00a399.18.0 \u2013 the property he named \u201cThe Travellers\u2019 Rest\u201d.\u00a0 The Deed of Grant was issued on 25 July 1854 and the purchase recorded on page 78 Auckland Gazette <\/i>1854 \u201cSchedule of Rural Lands sold at Auction 1 \u2013 28.2.1854 for Lands sold under the New Regulations of 4 March,\u00a0 1853\u201d.<\/p>\n

The schedule set out the following:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Locality<\/b><\/td>\nquantity sold<\/b>acres, roods<\/b><\/td>\npurchasers<\/b><\/td>\namount<\/b>\u00a3. s. d.<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karaka<\/td>\n197<\/td>\nWilliam Buckland<\/td>\n88.13.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ramarama<\/td>\n200<\/td>\nJ. Reid<\/td>\n100.0.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Papakura<\/td>\n222<\/td>\nB. Smith<\/td>\n99.18.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n111<\/td>\nG. Groucher<\/td>\n49.19.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maraitai<\/td>\n83<\/td>\nMary Campbell<\/td>\n39.8.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mahurangi<\/td>\n9<\/td>\nM.\u00a0 Angrove<\/td>\n4.3.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waiwauwau<\/td>\n87<\/td>\nWilliam Swanson<\/td>\n39.3.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waitemata<\/td>\n139<\/td>\nRice Owen Clark<\/td>\n62.11.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Whangaroa<\/td>\n100<\/td>\nJoseph Graham<\/td>\n47.10.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n608<\/td>\nJ. C. Johnstone<\/td>\n276.12.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n83<\/td>\nditto<\/td>\n37.7.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n237<\/td>\nditto<\/td>\n106.13.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karaka<\/td>\n600<\/td>\nJames Burtt<\/td>\n237.0.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n293<\/td>\nJ. Williamson<\/td>\n131.17.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ramarama<\/td>\n316<\/td>\nditto<\/td>\n142.4.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waikato<\/td>\n332<\/td>\nJ. C. Johnstone<\/td>\n149.8.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karaka<\/td>\n227<\/td>\nG. Simpkins<\/td>\n102.3.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n100<\/td>\nJ. Green<\/td>\n45.0.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n192<\/td>\nT. S. Forsaith<\/td>\n86.8.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n147<\/td>\nRev J. Hobbs<\/td>\n66.5.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n112, 2<\/td>\nRev J. Buller<\/td>\n56.5.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n182<\/td>\nJ. Green<\/td>\n81.18.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n161<\/td>\nJ. Williamson<\/td>\n72.9.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ditto<\/td>\n169<\/td>\nRev. Thomas Williams<\/td>\n76.1.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Auckland Provincial Government Gazette<\/i>,\u00a0 issued Friday 31 August 1855, listed Benjamin Smith of Papakura,\u00a0 Settler of Freehold Estate,\u00a0 eligible as an elector for the Southern Division of the Auckland District.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toward the end of 1849 Martha Smith was expecting her sixth child.\u00a0 Walter was born on 30 October 1845 and Mary Anne on 11 November 1847.\u00a0 One would have thought that she and Ben would have been content to remain in Auckland;\u00a0 but no,\u00a0 once again they were packing for a new venture.\u00a0 This time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82,"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51\/revisions\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensmith.falkor.gen.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}