Welcome to the online library about Waipori and its history. We’ve pulled together a collection of resource material, which we hope you’ll find useful. Please contact us if you can suggest any additions to this collection.
Books
On this page we list five books that have been published about Waipori.
Gold beneath dark waters is an encyclopedic work by David Still about the people of Waipori. Murder on the Otago goldfields is the absorbing story of one of New Zealand’s lesser-known murders and a rich account of life at Waipori.
Three smaller books from the 1969-1970 period have useful information about Waipori. Two of these were reprinted in a combined publication for the 150th anniversary reunion of Waipori.
Historical documents
The Waipori Goldfields Charitable Trust is collaborating with the Clutha District Libraries to make historical documents about Waipori widely available.
These documents will be put on the Clutha Heritage website, a digital heritage hub for the Clutha district. You can visit the site and use ‘Waipori’ as a search term, but the key material will be listed here for easy reference.
Two ledgers from Margaret Cotton’s store for 1901 and 1909–1910 are a veritable who’s who of Waipori at that time, as they record who purchased items through the store, what they purchased and how much they paid for the items.
The 1900 accounts book for her husband Robert Cotton’s farm (Waipori Station) portrays the farm in detail, including things like how many ewes were sheared, how many lambs dipped, sales, purchases and employee wages.
Photos
The Trust is also making its historical photos of Waipori available on the Clutha Heritage website. Most of these were collected by David Still.
Maps
We have a small collection of maps of Waipori, both historical maps and more recent ones drawn by people knowledgeable about the area’s history that show where historical features were.
These are invaluable for exploring the rich history of Waipori’s mining, farming and community life.
Social media
Check out the Waipori Gold Facebook page. It’s a forum for discussion and news about the history, heritage, people and current events of the Waipori area.
Journal articles
Allen, Francesca (2016) Survey of the Canton Battery site, Waipori, Otago. Archaeology in New Zealand 59(2): 39–45.
Robinson, Bryce (2018) Structural setting and paragenesis of the mineralised veins in the Waipori goldfield, southeast Otago, New Zealand. MSc thesis, Otago University.
Still, David (2017) The Waipori Goldfield: a brief history, by David Still. New Zealand Goldrush Journal volume 1.
Other resources
Waipori: the dark waters. Audio programme, 1940s. Nga Taonga Sound & Vision.
Waipori gold mining: interview with Syd Knight, 1948. Nga Taonga Sound & Vision.
Thomson, Peter (1875) A hundred miles among the ranges. (A walk that included Waipori, by the correspondent ‘Pakeha’.)