The West Coast of the South Island was one of the last areas of New Zealand to be populated by both Maori and European settlers. This was because of its isolated location, with access to the narrow western plain across the Southern Alps, or from the inhospitable coastline. The small Maori population gathered food from the shore, the river valleys and lagoons, settling mainly along the coast. Pounamu (greenstone) was the region's most significant trading asset for Maori. In the mid-nineteenth century the Nelson Provincial Council was more eager than its Canterbury counterpart to investigate the area's potential for colonist settlement. What was then called 'West Canterbury' was not attractive to settlers seeking sheep runs. Shortage of land in Nelson encouraged exploration of 'Nelson South West', and though there were some heartening indications of potential for mineral extraction, it was not until James Mackay visited in 1857 that a positive report for settlement was given. Mackay negotiated the Land Purchase of the West Coast from the Maori on 21 May 1860. Increased interest in the area followed.
Gabriel Reed's discovery of gold in Otago mid-1861 led to the great gold rush and dramatic increase in wealth for that province. This increased enthusiasm for gold-mining elsewhere in New Zealand. On the West Coast there was a rash of minor sightings and many rumours, with a number of claims laid, initially in the Grey River Valley. In July 1864 payable gold discovered at Greenstone Creek attracted an influx of eager prospectors discouraged by the lessening of easy pickings at the Nelson and Otago gold fields. Attention moved further south and diggers trekked via the recently discovered alpine passes while others came by sea, soon making Hokitika the main port of entry to the West Coast. It was in early November 1864 that two experienced prospectors, James Liddle and John Donnelly led a small party south of Hokitika where they found gold in the Totara River and its branch, called Donnelly's Creek. A number of diggers achieved success in the difficult, rugged country but at this time new, nearby fields at Kaniere and Waimea drew greater attention.
Following the discovery of payable gold on the Mikonui River, south of the Totara, by John Redmond in April 1865, claims were quickly established and intense interest in the area between these two rivers resulted. Between April and June claims were made by Irish prospector Michael Donahue on Donahue's Creek and by Jones, a Welshman, who left his name at Jones Creek where he discovered the gold deposits that resulted in the establishment of the town of Ross.
The 'rush' began in earnest from this time with prospectors travelling along the beach from Hokitika and then struggling inland through dense bush to Jones Flat. In August, surveyor John Rochfort marked out allotments on a low terrace beside the creek, with an ensuing great rush for the sections because the great rewards that were being gained here promised a good future. A typical goldfield settlement had grown up as bush was cleared on the higher level of the terrace, with the usual, readily-erected canvas and sapling structures. These were rapidly replaced by more robust timber buildings - dwellings, shops, business premises and most essentially, hotels, to provide liquor and entertainment for diggers with sudden wealth. George-town was the initial name given, soon replaced by Rosstown and then abbreviated to Ross, using the surname of the Canterbury Provincial Treasurer. This locale had never been settled and was only rarely visited by Maori, who had not named it. The population of the diggings area around Ross rose in the weeks following August from around 250 to nearly 4,000. A resident Warden, Justin Aylmer was appointed in early October. On 21 February 1866 he drew a sketch map of the township showing the recently completed courthouse, police station, lockup and survey office beside Bond Street on which a close grouping of many shops and businesses are shown. Among them, the first Bank of New South Wales is identified.
The town's centre around Bond, Bold and St James Streets and extending further up to Park Terrace, was at the edge of the Jones's Flat area where intense mining activity was taking place. The first prospectors had quick success panning the alluvial gold from gravels in stream beds and then soon began sluicing to wash out the rich gold bearing strata along terraces. Initially they simply shovelled material into sluice boxes and then used flows of water of increasingly high pressure to wash out the terrace faces. By September 1865 the systems that had been used at the Ballarat Gold Field were beginning to come into use. The name 'Ballarat of Westland' was coined for Ross as similarities were noted and the potential of this alluvial gold field was realised. Many prospectors had come here from Australia with knowledge and skills to undertake sinking and tunnelling for more effective access to deposits. Shafts were first sunk to shallow levels worked by hand windlasses. As the need for deeper penetration became apparent, groups of miners worked together to undertake more elaborate systems and programmes beyond the means of an individual, some forming companies. 'Deep sinking' to lower levels required greater power for raising and lowering the cage inside the shaft. Horse whims were widely used to provide this power, until the Scandinavian Company decided to employ steam. By January 1867 the company had obtained a steam engine from Melbourne and successfully brought it to Jones's Flat where it began operations over a 38 metre shaft, powering both the lifting and pumping. Other groups soon followed this system with Jones's Flat rapidly covered by various hauling systems and poppet heads.
To assist sluicing activities, companies also provided capital to fund construction of lengthy water races which often included extensive fluming to cross deep gullies. The intense mining activity was undertaken by great numbers of prospectors crowding the sites. In the period between 1865 and 1870 population peaked at 3,500 with some 47 hotels operating. Life for Ross residents was accompanied by continuous noise as the shafts were worked around the clock.
Unlike most other alluvial gold fields, there was a sense of permanence at Ross as the many successful operations that extended widely around the town regularly produced a rewarding output. In 1870 it had a population of 2,400 and was New Zealand's most stable and productive field. Although this stability prevailed, from the first years of the 1870s individuals were beginning to be attracted away to quartz fields in Reefton, Thames and the Coromandel. Also, the difficulty of pumping water from the Jones's Flat deep shafts was becoming more acute, despite the construction of an underground drainage tunnel. In March 1876 Jones's Creek flooded disastrously, causing havoc in the tunnels and shafts and sealing the closure of deep mines on the flat. This coincided with increased use of sluicing methods used around the area by both small groups and larger companies, resulting in the character of Jones's Flat changing as piles of tailings appeared around the deep excavations. These were created by hydraulic sluicing with both elevators and incline trams bringing tailings to the surface. Output continued at a satisfactory level to handsomely reward the various companies, but the amount of activity had reduced.
By 1880 the population of the area was 1,800 and this gradual decline continued as prospectors seeking easier pickings departed. In this year the Ross United Mining Company was formed. For seven years they successfully worked a new deep shaft by draining a section of the underground works, using pumps powered by an overshot water wheel. They had laid claim to a large area of Jones's Flat which was mined hydraulically. The plant was able to work day and night with electric lighting. The whole area was worked over by 1898 when the company ceased operating and went into liquidation. This was the end of 33 years continuous mining on Jones's Flat, which became totally overgrown again in the following decades. The centre of the town was beginning to develop along Moorhouse Street and the reduction of the Bold, Bond and St James Streets' importance continued until most historic features had gone.
In 1889 the Ross Borough had 320 regular miners; this reduced by 1906 to less than 30. Several companies continued profitably with improved technology, including the hydraulic mine on Mont d'Or, which rises at the north-west edge of the town. This mine, working Ross's 'mountain of gold', operated for several decades and was given individual mention in the 1906 Cyclopaedia as the 'celebrated, dividend paying mine'. Plans were initiated in 1898 to dewater the deep levels under Ross Flat by providing a water generated power system for electric lighting for Ross and to operate pumps and winches. This came to fruition in 1909 under the management of the Ross Goldfields Company and was opened with grand ceremony on 8 September. The famed 'Roddy Nugget' a huge piece of coarse gold weighing 99 ounces (2.73 kilograms) caused even greater excitement when it was discovered by fossickers in Jones's Creek two days later. It was named after the Honourable Roderick McKenzie, Minister of Mines, and was eventually purchased by the New Zealand Government and sent to King George V to mark the occasion of his coronation on 22 June 1911. Another big event for Ross in April 1909 was the completion of the rail link between Ross and Hokitika.
The pumping out of underground water had only limited and short term success for the mining company through the twentieth century's first decade. The high cost of pumping and the minimal yields of gold that were discovered led to the company abandoning this mining venture in 1916. Remaining companies followed suit. After the First World War mining for the alluvial gold that remained around Ross was no longer economically viable. Timber milling, farming and limestone quarrying replaced gold mining for the Ross labour force. Phillip Ross May, the historian who was born and brought up in Ross, noted in 1969 the unique qualities of this historic gold town, containing:
the gold mining world in miniature...The deep ground at Ross was a piece of Victoria, the high gravels of Mont d'Or a little California, the dredging claims [on nearby rivers] Otago, and the bush and the rain - those ubiquitous elements which governed local mining - were peculiarly Westland.
There was a brief resurgence of interest during the Depression years. No great schemes were carried out, though several were proposed at odd intervals. Ross remained quiet, uninterrupted by the continuous machinery noise of the past half century.
In October 1988 Birchfields Ross Mining Ltd began opencast mining of the Ross Flat with modern technology allowing successful pumping of water from the mine's base at 100 litres a second. Gold still lay in sufficient quantities at the deep levels that the early miners gave up trying to access. In 1988 it was a viable enterprise to mine to a depth of 90 metres across a 400 metre site. At this date it was the largest opencast alluvial gold mine in the Southern Hemisphere. Since the mining finished the site has been restored, with creation of a lake encircled by paths and planting.
In 2007, with a population of 291 recently recorded, Ross appears to those who drive directly through it as a typical country town. A visit to the Registered Historic Area within the Goldfields Historic Reserve and Heritage Area allows for full understanding of the town's remarkable past when from 1865 to 1914 this place at Ross was the most productive alluvial gold field in New Zealand.
