Thomas Gabriel Read (21 August 182531 October 1894) was a gold prospector and farmer. His discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully triggered the first major gold rush in New Zealand.

Life

Read was born on 21 August 1825 in Tasmania, Australia. The eldest of ten children, his father was businessman and banker George Frederick Read and his mother, Margaret Terry, was the daughter of a miller and the senior Read's second wife. After working on the goldfields of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in the 1850s, Read travelled to Otago,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, on board the ''Don Pedro II'', having heard rumours in September 1860 of gold being found in

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line rail ...

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. He arrived in Otago in February 1861. On 25 May 1861, he discovered gold close to the banks of the Tuapeka River in

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, at Gabriel's Gully, which is named after him. Read wrote to Otago Superintendent John Richardson on 4 June to confirm the discovery, which led to the

Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

. The Otago Provincial Council awarded Read £1000, having earlier advertised a £500 reward for "the discovery of a Remunerative Goldfield within the Province of Otago", even though an Indian man, Edward Peters, was the discoverer of the first workable gold field in Otago in 1858 and had two applications rejected. In 1864, Read returned to Tasmania with his £1000 windfall; he invested £155 of this to purchase Smooth Island. In 1869, he married his cousin, Amelia Mitchell (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Wilson); they remained childless. Read was admitted to the New Norfolk Hospital for the Insane in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in April 1887, suffering from

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...

. He remained at that hospital until his death on 31 October 1894 aged 69. The cause of death was

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

. He was buried in an unmarked grave in New Norfolk.

References

External links

''Gabriel Read'' in 1966 ''Encyclopaedia of New Zealand''

''Dunedin's Golden History'' Gabriel Read and the Otago Gold Rush on DCC website

Biography of Thomas Gabriel Read
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa {{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Gabriel 1825 births 1894 deaths Gold prospectors Australian gold prospectors New Zealand gold prospectors People of the Otago Gold Rush New Zealand farmers Australian emigrants to New Zealand Lawrence, New Zealand People from Tasmania

Life

References

Further reading

External links