An Examination of the Administrative System on the Otago Goldfields, 1861-8

Abstract

This thesis surveys the administrative system which functioned on the Otago goldfields during the years 1861 to 1868. The system rather than how it was put into practice has been emphasised due to nature of existing documents. It is regrettable that the records of the Gold Fields Department have not survived as there are many gaps in the story of practical administration. However, sufficient has been pieced together on this side to allow some assessment of the administration as a whole. A short chapter has been devoted to the statutes affecting goldmining for they have a very direct bearing on much that concerns administration and a slight background knowledge of them is necessary to a readier understanding of the rest of the narrative. For convenience and to provide continuity another short chapter on the history of the gold discoveries in Otago has also been included. After describing the actual machinery of the Gold Fields Department the administrative era, as it were, has been divided into three periods: the early or Makeshift Administration, the Administration during the Mid-Sixties, and the administration during the last two years or the Years of Upheaval.