Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery
Location

Miners Cemetery Sign.

There is a very short walk from Gillespies Beach to the historic Miners Cemetery located 1161 Gillespies Beach Road, Westland National Park 7886. It is cloe to 19 km by road from Fox Glacier. Coordinates: -43.41848, 169.82195. C. The beach is about five miles long betwee Gillespies Point / Kōhaihai in the north to Otorokua Point in the south.

Gillespies Beach
By June 1866 gold diggings in South Westland had reached their greatest extent and peak production, having reached Gillespies Beach where prospector James Edwin Gillespie, returning with other miners from a gold-rush hoax at Bruce Bay, had discovered gold in the black sands above the high tide mark here in April 1866. Other prospectors soon took up claims in the area and within a month miners were making profits of £5 to £6 a week. Gillespies Beach grew rapidly by May 1866 having a population of 600 , two butcheries, two bakeries and eleven stores (mostly public houses). Supplies were carried along the beach by pack horse from Ōkārito.

By 1867 there were only about a dozen buildings to be seen, fifty miners, three stores, one butcher and one baker. In 1868 the population was only 17. Tenders were called in December 1873 for construction of a horse track and bridge at Gillespies Bluff, the plans and speecifications for which could be viewed at John Ritchie's store at Gillespies. ^[1]George Lyttel had a butchers shop at Gillespies in May 1874 ^[2]and Whelan and party were building a water race in August ^[3]New claims were being made in November 1875.^[4]

In 1879 it was reported in the 'West Coast Times' that nine married couples living at the settlement had between them produced fifty children. ^[5] By the 1920s, Gillespies was a ghost town, briefly revived from 1933 to 1946 when a large bucket-dredge mined the beach sands and the old town site. There are five walking tracks from the Gillespies Beach campsite and car park, ranging in length from 270 metres up to 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi). A rusting dredge from the 1930s can be seen a short walk north from the settlement.

Because many of the miners were Catholic, a small church was built and a priest would visit from Ross at six-monthly intervals to conduct baptisms and weddings; funerals were conducted by members of the community, and a cemetery is located close to the original settlement.

Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery.

Miners Cemetery
The cemetery was officially established in 1896, but was unofficially used from at least May 1977 when Hugh Cameron was buried there. There are nine marked graves, and several more that are unmarked. One unmarked grave is surrounded by a little picket fence and there is a memorial acknowledging the pioneers.

Burials

Before 1896

Mrs Neilson, wife of the Headmaster at Gillespies Beach School, died in May 1881. Her grave is not marked.^[6]

Hugh Cameron, a pioneer of the Okarito District, died at his residence at Cook's River in late May 1877. An inquest verdict of natural causes was returned and he was buried at Gillespie's Beach Cemetery. ^[7]

Drowned

Patrick Carroll was born 11 May 1873 in Okarito, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand. He was drowned in the Cook River, Fox Glacier, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand 27 July 1890 (aged 17). Patrick drowned when he attempted to cross the Cook River when Robert Currie McIntosh, ferryman was not there. Patrick's bereaved father, Michael Carroll, felt that the ferryman was at fault for the accident. The issue divided the small community, with the Ryan family taking the Carroll’s side, and friends of McIntosh collecting a petition of 45 names attesting to his “courtesy and efficiency”. Ned Ryan blasted the petition, suggesting that some of the names were forged and others belonged to people who hadn’t used the ferry in years.

McIntosh Headstone.

Ferryman Drowned

Robert Currie McIntosh was born 10 December 1843 in Glasgow City, Scotland. He was official Ferryman for the Cook River and Saltwater Creek. After taking a passenger across the creek, he tried to ford Saltwater Creek on his horse at the mouth of the creek. He appears to have been washed out to sea 2 February 1892 (aged 48). His body was found on the beach. He left a wife and seven children.

James O’Leary was born in 1835, County Cork, Ireland. One of the oldest residents in South Westland, he died 22 February 1892 (aged 57) in Okarito, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand. His headstone was erected by Ned Ryan who nursed him in his final three weeks of illness and he died at Ned’s Hotel.

Annie and John Quinlan. Annie McNamara Quinlan was born in 1845 in County Clare, Ireland. She died 17 December 1894 (aged 49) in Okarito, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand. Her husband John Quinlan was born in 1835 in County Clare, Ireland. They married in 1872. John was a trustee of the cemetery and that the nearby creek is marked as Quinlan Creek. He died 15 April 1910 (aged 75) at Gillespies Beach, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand and was buried with Annie in the Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery.

Burials after 1896

Hotel Owner

Edward Ryan, better known as Ned or Neddy, husband of Catherine, was the keeper of a hotel and store ^[8]and one of the few residents of Gillespies Beach who intended to settle permanently. In1899 he fell from his horse aged 57 years. He was followed by his son Thomas, who died of tuberculosis in 1900. Another of his sons, John Edward Ryan, intended to sell the hotel and the family’s run of 1800 acres with 400 head of cattle, 800 sheep and 35 horses along with a 14 room house. Unfortunately, he also from tuberculosis in 1902 at only 31 years of age and was interred with his father.

Eleanor Allen Meyer was born in Scotland in1823. She married Fredrick Gerhad Meyer, born in Germany, in 1871 and they lived at Cook's River (Fox Glacier). Eleanor was feeding her chickens in the afternoon of 1 September 1898 (aged 74) when she experienced a pain in her chest. Her husband who had been chopping wood nearby, tried to help, but was unable to save her. Eleanor was praised for the dedications she showed to her housework until her very last day. Frederick (66) committed suicide in Hokitika in 1905. His was found near Five Mile Beach. He had been embroiled in a court case and had ended his life by taking arsenic.

Edward Ryan was born in 1842 in County Limerick Ireland. Edward had been subject to fainting spells for some time. He was thrown from his horse at Isaac's Beach and died 22 August 1899 (aged 56–57), Karangarua, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand. His funeral was held at Ross and he was buried in the Miners Cemetery at Gillespies Beach. His son, John Edward Ryan was born in 1871 and died from tuberculosis 15 December 1902 (aged 30–31) at his home at Gillespies Beach, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand. He was buried with his father.

James Walsh was born in 1839 in County Clare, Ireland. He died after a short illness 26 April 1899 (aged 60) at Gillespies Beach leaving a wife and large family. Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand

Henry Morrison, a miner, was born in 1839 in England He died after a short illness 5 May 1911 (72) at Gillespies Beach, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand

Links

• FindAGrave
• Ghosts of Gilespies Beach

Sources

1. ↑ 1873 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 2562, 6 December 1873, Page 1
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
2. ↑ 1874 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 2690, 9 May 1874, Page 3
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
3. ↑ 1874 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 2785, 28 August 1874, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
4. ↑ 1875 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 3154, 13 November 1875, Page 3
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
5. ↑ 1879 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 3281, 6 October 1879, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
6. ↑ </div></div> 1881 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Kumara Times, Issue 1611, 25 November 1881, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
7. ↑ </div></div> 1877 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 920, 6 June 1877, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)
8. ↑ </div></div> 1880 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   West Coast Times, Issue 3382, 3 February 1880, Page 3
   Papers Past Article (accessed 28 March 2024)

• May, Philip Ross, The West Coast Gold Rushes, Pegasus, Christchurch, 1967, p185.
• THE WEST CANTERBURY GOLDFIELDS. Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1675, 30 April 1866, Page 2
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillespies_Beach