Napoleon Hill Cemetery

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Napoleon Hill, Ahaura District, West Coast, New Zealand

Napoleon Hill Cemetery
Location
Estimated coordinates for the cemetery: -42.36900, 171.69314. In January 1870, a piece of ground was set apart to the left of the track from the Middle Township at Napoleon to Orwell Creek for a cemetery.

Napoleon Hill Cemetery

Access to the cemetery is difficult and requires the use of a four wheel drive driven up a creek bed and permission from the owner of the private land.

Napoleon Hill, West Coast Location
New Zealand topographic map. WGS84 coordinates: -42.36891661, 171.69080270. Napoleon Hill is a peak in Grey District, West Coast and has an elevation of 282 metres. It is situated near Griffin Flat and Fox Flat. ^[1]

Gold Rush
The Ahaura River was prospected unsuccessfully in February and March of 1867, but a tributary of Red Jack's Creek was opened in April. Moonlight's Gully and Nelson's Creek became the two biggest gold digging areas of the district. The larger subcentres were Blackball, Baxter's Creek and Caledonian Creek to the west and Red Jack's, Kangaroo CreeK and Noble's to the east. The Napoleon Hill rush began in 1868. In January 1870, shares on the Napoleon Lead changed hands at good prices and Clarke and Co made an application for 16 acres in Orwell Creek at the point where the Napoleon Lead had been lost. ^[2]

The Middle Township at Napoleon was said to be "improving wonderfully in appearance" by 1870 and that the majority of the business people from the Lower Township were moving up to it. ^[3]

Deaths at Napoleon Hill
Poisoning

Gardiner. A 17 month old girl, the daughter of Charles Gardiner, hotel keeper at Middle Township, was found playing with wax Vesta matches. She became unwell and when she was given and emetic, several wax matches were vomitted up. Although her condition improved, the little girl had convulsions and died 18 January 1870, a few days after the incident. It is likely that she was buried in the area that was to be set aside as the Napoleon Hill Cemetery in 1871.

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Burials in Napoleon Hill Cemetery
Drowning

Hogan The18 month old daughter of Mrs Hogan was drowned at the Middle Township, Napoleon 25 November 1869 and buried in the area which was to be set aside as a cemetery in 1870. A neat enclosure was made around her grave. The little girl had been playing with other children on the terrace behind her mother's house and it is thought that she must have fallen into the water hole at th back of Fox and O'Neill's butchers' shop. She had drowned before she was found. ^[5]

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Mining Accident

Martin Olsen , a Norwegian, was killed at Half-ounce Creek 30 November 1869 and buried in the area which was to be set aside as Napoleon Cemetery in 1870 and known as Duffer Gully. Martin had been working his claim with other miners when a mass of earth fell from the face and buried him. Although he was dug out within five minutes he had already died.
^{[7] [8] [9]}

Old Photo Napoleon Hill Cemetery Graves

Sources

1. ↑ Napoleon Hill [1]
2. ↑ Ross, Philip May, "The West Coast Gold Rushes", Pegasus, Christchurch, 1967, p 230.
3. ↑ Napoleon. Grey River Argus, 6 January 1870, pg 2.
4. ↑ 1870 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 626, 22 January 1870, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 27 December 2023)
5. ↑ NZ BDM Reg No 1868/7339 Hogan NR -
6. ↑ 1869 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 604, 30 November 1869, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 27 December 2023)
7. ↑ 1869 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 604, 2 December 1869, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 27 December 2023)
8. ↑ 1870 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 619, 6 January 1870, Page 2
   Papers Past Article (accessed 27 December 2023)
9. ↑ NZ BDM Death Reg No 1869/7108 Olsen Martin NR