10 May 2025
Ann Williams, (nee Mahoney, also recorded as Anne Manry) was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1823, lived in Australia, and collapsed and died in the doorway of the Timaru Hotel, after only 4 or 6 years raising her young family in Timaru, New Zealand 1860.
She was an Irish immigrant living in Ballarat, Australia when she met Samuel Williams. (I haven't found any marrage records, so I am careful not to assume they were married). They moved to Timaru around 1856 with their daughter Rebecca, and had their second child Williams Williams in Timaru 1856. He was the first recorded birth of a European child in the area. The Rhodes had a child a year earlier at the Levels Station Home near Pleasant Point, and the Hoornbrooks had a child in 1854 at Arowhenua Station.
Ann and Sam raised their family in the Rhodes cottage which was built by the shore on what is now George Street in 1851. With the help of the Rhodes, they built the Timaru Hotel in 1860, where Ann collapsed and died in the hotels doorway in November 1860, leaving Sam to raise his 3 and 6 year old children before he remarried and had a third child.
I found Sam's grave easily enough at the Timaru cemetery, but so far... it is a complete mystery where Ann was buried. With the help of the Timaru District Council and the South Canterbury Musuem, we have found her death records, but no information on her plot, let alone her burial.
I wonder if we will ever find her, and if we should errect a memorial to her and her family, maybe to all the mothers who so oftern get missed in the history books, who had the key task of raising their families.
The hunt for Ann, actually started out as a hunt for whaling history... to learn about a chapter in the South Canterbury Jubilee History that was written by Johannes Carl Andersen in 1916... It's a thick, heavy, dense book that smells of that old library decaying animal glue that binds the pages. I'm lucky that my dad Geoff Cloake, has a copy because they are pretty rare, and as much as I love the Museum, I prefer not to read 775 pages in their research room... It's full of nuggets of history and the whaling chapter is really interesting... and now with so much more information available online and people's research, there are interesting stories to find and share... I also have a fantastic book on Early Timaru that used to be in the hands of my great grandfather Bertie Cloake. So History Hunting runs in our family. These books are hard to come by, so I am greatful to be able to flick through the leaves at home.
Sources and great reads for you to learn more:
Jubilee history of South Canterbury by Johannes Carl Andersen. 775 Pages. Published by Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, Auckland, 1916
South Canterbury: A record of settlement by Gillespie, Oliver A.1958 507 Pages
South Canterbury: A record of settlement. Author Oliver A Gillespie, 1958. 507 Pages.
Canterbury (N.Z.) History. New Zealand Canterbury. History, Timaru, Agriculture, Farming, Statistics
Early Timaru. Author Hall-Jones, Frederick George. 1956. 64 Peges. Publisher The Southland Historical Committee
Some historical records of the pre-settlement period, annotated and analysed.
Focuses on the period of whaling to just before the establishment of a permanent European settlement at Timaru.
The author Frederick Hall-Jones generously renounces his claim to copyright at the front of the book.
Samuel Williams Whaler/Publican. First Permanent Resident of Timaru New Zealand. History and Descendants. By Nola Towgood.
Hunting through records and cemeteries, so far the location of Ann's grave is a mystery.
After learning about Timaru's whaler Yankie Sam, I grew curious about his family. There's not a lot of information on Ann, and I now realised why, because she died after only four or six years of living in Timaru. So here is a bit of a run down on the whaling, Sam, Rhodes and my hunt for Ann.
Samuel Williams (Sam, Yankie Sam) c.1817–1883, came to Timaru as a whaler in 1839. He worked in a whaling gang for the Weller brothers, Edward, George, and Joseph, who were pioneering British Australian entrepreneurs. They established one of New Zealand’s earliest permanent European settlements at Otakou near Dunedin in the 1830s, turning it into a major shore-based whaling station. Their enterprise played a crucial role in the early economic development of Otago and helped shape early Māori and Pākehā relations through trade and cooperation. They extended their commercial and whaling operations up and down the South Island’s east coast, see how many whale tripots you can find in Timaru, relics left behind from the whaling days. The whale pots were used to boil down blubber into oil for lamps and soap. They are a reminder of a once brutal industry, which thank goodness only lasted a short two seasons here, and whales are now left to do their thing in the sea.
Sam lived through the decline of the southern whaling era and into the rise of sheep runs and formal colonial settlement.
Sam went to Akaroa to work for the Rhodes after the Weller Brothers whaling enterprise went bankrupt. George Rhodes brought Sam with him on his first exploration of the site in 1852.
Then he raced to Ballarat Australia for his ‘Eureka’ moment when Australia's gold fever kicked off after the discovery of gold in 1851. (For context, as a side note, the gold rush kicked off in Otago's Gabriel’s Gully in 1861, and 1865 West Coast, the value of this gold helped New Zealand to kick-start its emerging economy and establish itself as a young British colony.) For many like Sam, it was the dream of striking it rich, a way out of poverty during the Great Depression.
His presence predated the Rhodes brothers, and he helped them establish themselves. He had deep local knowledge, especially of the coastline, anchorages, and inland access.
Yankie Sam returned with his wife Ann and their daughter Rebecca to settle in Timaru in I think around 1854 but some records suggest 1856. For example this information has me a bit stumped as to when Ann and William arrived in Timaru, as it was recorded that Henry Sewell on his journey south early in 1856, was one of many travellers to camp in this vacant cottage after the Rhodes family had moved out to Levels, a sheep station north-west of the Bay. The Williams family was one of the very early European pioneers to live in the area, and Sam and Ann were parents to the first recorded birth of a European baby in the area in 1856. (His cradle was a gin crate, see if you can find the juniper berry crate at CPlay, which is a wee nod to their son, William Williams, Timaru's first European babe). Their home was a small cottage on the beach, next door to where the landing services building is today. The cottage was built by George Rhodes as his first home with his wife Elizabeth, who, with his brothers, established an enormous sheep station, The Levels, and acquired a lot of land, including all of Timaru's CBD. See if you can spy the plaque on the Landing Services Building.
1857 Archeacon Harper wrote about his visit to Timaru and meeting the "entire white population, Samuel Williams, his wife and son." I don't know why Rebecca wasn't mentioned. He christened William.
Sam's story is reasonably well documented from whaling, farm work, landing service overseer to publican, but Ann's... well, that's taking some digging to understand. My latest quest has been to visit the family's graves, pay respects, and see what is on their headstones. We visited the Linwood Cemetery last week but couldn't find a marked grave for their daughter Rebecca Hobbs (nee Williams), her husband remarried, and we found his and his second wives, and we think we know the vicinity of her burial thanks to a map. But physically, when you go there, you won't find a marked grave.
1868 Photograph of the foot of George Street, Timaru of the cottage built in 1851 by George Rhodes (one of the pioneering pastoralists of South Canterbury.) and his employees by the landing site for ships. This was also apparently the site of an abandoned whaling station, to land stores and ship wool. It was the only habitation between Lake Ellesmere and the Waitaki River at the time. The Rhodes cottage was originally a 20-foot (6.1 metre) hut. It had a steeply pitched roof, which was a common feature designed to efficiently shed rain and possibly snow. It was situated on the beach near the foot of George Street, backed against the coastal escarpment. This placement made it close to the landing service used for transporting wool, highlighting its utilitarian location rather than comfort or scenic views.. The cottage was a simple structure with battened sides, a clay-plastered exterior, and a thatched tussock roof . In 1857, Archdeacon Harper visited Timaru during his journey from Christchurch to Moeraki and was warmly received by Samuel Williams, his wife, and son.
Ann and Sam converted their cottage into a general store and informal inn, providing supplies and shelter to travellers. This marked the beginning of his career as a hotelkeeper and community host. He was Registered as a storekeeper and householder (No. 57) in Timaru's first electoral roll in 1858.
Ann was raising her children when very few Europeans lived in Timaru and when Queen Victoria reigned the new colony. Just to give you an idea of who was around and arriving at the time of William birth... George Rhodes first arrived in the area around 1847-1852s. Frances Stubbs arrived in Lyttleton 1852 and helped bring the first cattle to South Canterbury for the Rhodes Brothers. he said he witnessed Timaru’s first house being built and early settlers living in old Māori grass huts. He worked for Rhodes Brothers, then managed Pareora Station, later founding Timaru’s first auctioneering business, and serving as clerk for Geraldine County. In 1853 William Hoornbrook arrived in the Temuka area to manage the Arowhenua Station. A year later his wife Margaret Hoornbrook joined him as the first white woman to enter South Canterbury. Thier son Richard was the first European baby born in South Canterbury in November 1854 at Arowhenua Station. In 1857 Captain Belfeild Woollcombe arrived in Timaru as the Government's Representative and lived in Ashbury House next door to where the Ashbury Park Kindergarten is now. (Fun Fact: his eldest daughter Laura Russell Woollcombe is said to be the third European child born in Timaru in 1862 and the first certified nurse in New Zealand, her 1892 certificate was presented by Florence Nightinglae.) And Captain Henry Cain arrived the same year 1857 to establish a general store and landing service for Henry Le Cren at the foot of Strathallan Street. (Second fun fact: Le Cren sold his Beverly estate to George Rhodes' wife Elizabeth when she remarried as a widow to Arthur Perry, she went from living in primitive cottage on the beach when she arrive in Timaru to a huge mansion just a 1km away when she died).
Looking out from the Landing Services Building and imagining Ann raising her family here when the sea used to reach the rail. - Roselyn Fauth During the month, the first house built in Timaru, known as Sam Williams’, and for a time around twenty years ago the residence of the Rhodes brothers, station masters, was pulled down. The debris was sold for £15. The property now belongs to the New Zealand Meat-Preserving (N.Z.M.P.) Company, and the removal of the old wooden building was necessary to make room for new premises, which the company reportedly intends to erect on the site. - Timaru Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 936, 27 August 1873, Page 2
1857 Woollcombe arrived as the Government's Representative and Captain Henry Cain arrived to establish a general store and landing service for Henry Le Cren.
Sam and his wife converted the little daub cottage into a general store and offered shelter to travellers. After the addition of a lean-to, the Provincial Government, in 1858 presented Sam with the first publican’s licence ever held in Timaru. Learn more Early travellers who were offered accommodation include; Henry Sewell, Agent for the Canterbury Association; Dr Rayner, who later became the fir Chairman of the Temuka Road Baord and a member of the Provincial Council; Charles Torless and Samuel Hewlings, Surveyors; Belfeild Woollcome, Frist Magistrate, and many other whose distinguished careers are written in the history of South Canterbury. boarding included tea, mutton and leavened bread, blankets and a choice of 2 bunk beds. If the inn was full, the next option was sleeping on the bare ground.
By 1859, when the first plans for St Mary’s Church were being discussed, Timaru was little more than a rugged coastal outpost. Among the few buildings in existence was Sam Williams’ public house on the beach (listed in contemporary accounts alongside Captain Cain’s store and dwelling, an early version of the Royal Hotel, and a tumble-down wool shed). This places Sam among the very first permanent settlers in Timaru. His hotel served not only as a rare place of hospitality and shelter in a landscape lacking roads and infrastructure, but also as one of the town’s few established social hubs. His presence in this early civic sketch affirms his role in shaping the settlement’s beginnings at a time when the entire borough population numbered just sixteen.
1859 The first ship to sail direct from the UK to Timaru, SS Strathallan arrived in January 14 1859 bringing a boost for the towns population, When the immigrants arrived, it was noted in a diary that there were only five houses in sight. And the williams home would have been one of them. Williams was about 42 years old when he was one of the first three people, (The towns magistrate Belfiled Woollcombe and Captain Henry Cain (who both arrived in 1857) rowed out and greet the ship as it anchored off the shore. The Strathallan sailed directly from the UK to Timaru, leaving behind 110 passengers in 1859. One lady on board, wrote in her diary, that if Timaru was a ¼ of the size of London, she would be happy. Imagine her surprise on arrival when she discovered there were only five houses in sight! The Williams home would have been one of those five. At the time, his lean-to addition to the cottage to meet licensing requirements for hotel operation. A settler’s diary entry from that day noted how immigrant women, sunburned from washing clothes on the beach, went to "Old Sam’s" cottage for relief. Sam's wife, humorously advised them to "take a little inside and rub a little outside."
The first function of note was a dance held in Rhodes' Wool shed on Boxing Night, 1859. This was attended by 120 guests who 'did not go home until the morning.' Williamds was praised for 'the excellence of his caterign and his excertions in promoting the prosperity of Timaru'. There's no mention of Ann who I'm sure helped.
Archdeacon Harper's letters from September 1857 mention encountering an old whaler (Williams) living in a hut with his family near the sea coast. “I spent a pleasant hour with Sam, listening to many colourful yarns of the old days”. Williams shared whaling stories with Harper during this visit; his wife provided directions for Harper's journey to Waimate. The building is pictured in the centre is a landing service building (either the Timaru Landing and Shipping Company or the George Street Landing Service), while Rhodes' original cottage is to the left. South Canterbury Museum 2000/210.095. On the Left is the Rhodes Cottage on what is now George Street. Center is a plan from the New Zealand railways that shows the footprint of the house where Ann and Sam raised their family before they built the Timaru Hotel. Right: The cottage looking worse for wear. Section from Hocken Snapshop hocken.recollect.co.nz/24023
Another big occasion is reported in Nola Towgoods' book on the Williams. "Another big occasion was the third anniversary of the opening of the Timaru Hotel when Mine Host gave a dinner followed by a "select" ball. Guests were again generous in their priase and had good cause to be, for hotel propertors of the day provided food in generous measure and devised many forms of entertainment to attract patronage.
There was a sentence in an archival report of the Timaru Landing Services building, that noted:
By 1857, the hut had been leased to American whaler Samuel Williams, who was in the employ of Rhodes. Williams was granted a publican’s license in 1858 to run the “Timaru Hotel” from the hut, offering accommodation and a general store. Williams relocated to new premises in 1860 (Lyttleton Times 8/02/1860:6). The new premises burnt down in 1862 and Williams transferred his license to a new site located on Great South Road (Stafford Street)."
1858 Samuel William is noted at Timaru Storekeeperm Householder No 57.
"In March 1859 section 20 of Rhodestown was sold for 24 pounds 1 rood and 8 perches to Sam Williams." The deed is dated 13 September 1859 and shows the position of the hotel - the first in Timaru. It was included in the sale of the section. Willias also had a landing place further south fronting section 15 on which stood the Rhodes wool store. This landing was used infrequently. When Williams vacated to move to teh Timaru Hotel, it was occupied by Captain Scott, Rhodes' Brothers Ageng. In 1867 it passed into the hands of S S Griffin who retained it unti l1872, when it was sold for fourteen pounds and demolished to make way for commercial progress. Its such a shame the cottage wasn't retained for its legacy and built history.
To support South Canterbury's development, the Provincial Government was persuaded to send immigrant ships direct to Timaru. The arrival of the Strathallan on January 14, 1859, with 110 settlers, was the beginning of larger-scale settlement.
By January 1860, 40-60 Houses had sprung up in Timaru (one year after arrival). The population was recorded as 200.
1861 Sam remarried after Ann passed away a year earlier to Mary Ann Gardner,, who had worked as a nurse/goveness for his children. Sam and Mary had one daughter, Emily Williams. 1862 Mary Ann left Sam and moved to the West Coast. Sam placed a newspaper advert stating he was not responsible for her debts. March 1862, the Timaru Hotel was destroyed by a fire. Everyone escaped but Sam lost everything but a few record keeping books. This could explain why there are so few photos or objects that have survived relating to Ann.
The idea of South Canterbury becoming a separate province gained traction. From 1861 to 1867, demands were loud. Christchurch reaped more public works while South Canterbury paid the taxes. A compromise was reached in 1867 with the establishment of the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, empowered by Parliament to allocate a share of funds. This succeeded until provincial abolition in 1877.
Early settlers focused on sheep. Farming was rare, and food was imported from Lyttelton and Dunedin. A Herald article from 1864 lamented the lack of local production. In 1867, Clarkson & Turnbull shipped 1,000 bushels of wheat and 50 tons of flour to England as a test. Meanwhile, large runs were converted into freehold estates under Vogel's 1870 reforms. Sixteen estates comprised 437,000 acres. Closer settlement came later through state repurchase and subdivision. Over £1 million was spent, transforming the region into a "land of many homes."
In 1868 Rhodes town and Govenment Town merged into a larger municipal area, which began expanding north and west, incorporating surrounding communities.
The settlement was isolated. Roads were rough and unformed. The mail took days. Cobb & Co. ran 36-hour coach services. The Opihi ferry had a scale of charges and required flag signaling. Rain could halt all dray traffic for days. In 1865, the telegraph line opened to Timaru.
The open sea made landing goods difficult. LeCren and Cain ran surf boat services. Steamers were unreliable, despite government subsidies.
In 1869, a failed attempt was made to revive whaling, once Timaru's claim to fame. An advertisement sought to form a company. Māori had resumed whaling briefly. Captain Crawford planned to outfit crews but public interest was lacking. The plan failed.
The original Rhodes cottage remained until around 1873, after which it was demolished and the site cleared. Despite its rudimentary construction, it stood for over two decades and played a key role in early Timaru’s settlement, economy, and hospitality. Two further bays had been added to the Timaru Landing Services building. Timaru's population would have been around 1000 at that time.
Looking along the coastline from George Street to Patiti Point. Timaru From The Air. Doug Mill air transport and survey business between 1927-1937. - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections FDM-0690-G
A Historic Places commemorative plaque was placed on the George Street site in 1955.
Fun fact the first edition of the Timaru Herald was printed in the "Williams kitchen on George Street" - June II 1864 - Vol 1 No 1. Alfred George Horton, ran the first copies of the newspaper off a printing hand press at the Timaru home of former goldminer and whaler, Sam “Yankie” Williams. That first eight-page issue was published as a weekly, but the paper soon became a daily and became one of the oldest daily newspapers in New Zealand. It followed soon after The Press (weekly from 1861), The New Zealand Herald (1863), and the Otago Daily Times (1861), which claims the title of the country’s oldest daily newspaper.
Left: -Timaru 1859-2009, Celebrating 150 years. Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 12/09/2024, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3330 Right photograph of the first edition hanging at the Pleasant Point Railway Musuem - Photography by Roselyn Fauth.
February 1865 Sam sold the hotel to John Melton; the deed was reportedly held at Timaru Public Library. Williams moved north from Timaru for several years. Became licensee of a Beach Arms at hotel at Birdling’s Flat, a small settlement near Lake Ellesmere. Later operated the old Hotel Wellington in on Thames Street Christchurch. 1879 Sam was employed as a ganger on the Canterbury railways. Died in Timaru on June 29, 1883, at the age of 67, and his headstone was placed by his friends Row 9, Plot 10.
Although Sam left Timaru in 1865, the building that had housed his hotel endured. By 1888 it was known as the Timaru Hotel, and much of it had been rebuilt or extended. Yet part of Sam’s original structure still remained, including the “old bar parlour” he had run (though it had by then been converted into a private room). The room was small compared to later commercial standards, but it had once served as a meeting place for one of Timaru’s earliest friendly societies. Builders inspecting the site during renovations noted the quality of the original workmanship: timbers of Australian hardwood, carefully morticed and tenoned. Upstairs, the eight small original bedrooms had been removed by this time, but the building had once included thoughtful fire safety features, such as a rear door and rope ladder to escape from the upper floor, unusual for the period and maybe an idea sparked from this first pubs arson attack. The building stood as a rare early example of hospitality architecture in Timaru and a reflection of Sam’s lasting imprint on the town’s development, not just as a settler and entrepreneur, but as someone who helped shape its earliest civic spaces. - https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD18881210.2.20
Ann lived in New Zealand for probably 6 years, and according to the register of deaths at Saint Mary's, she died on November 18, 1860, aged 36. She is on the first page of the book, and the 12th recorded death in the record, so one of the very early recorded deaths at the Church, too.
"PIONEER OF TIMARU. There were some fine fellows of the early whalers, such as Price, Diamond, and others, who made use of the road and once in a while Sam Williams, the pioneer of Timaru, who at times worked with them, might be seen. Sam also did some whaling for the Messrs Rhodes, then upon the Peninsula, and it was he who, when sailing on a Yankee whaler, had spied out the riches of the Timaru block and informed those gentlemen, who, shrewd pioneers, lost no time in doing all that was necessary to secure the country. And right they were! Who would not have liked to have such an opportunity? And it goes without saying, with the necessary “rhino” to plank down. For all had not cash to buy Timaru blocks, or stock to put on them." - PILGRIM DAYS. Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14305, 23 September 1910, Page 5
"PEOPLE AND EVENTS. OLD TIMARU. (By “Old Identity.”)
I arrived in Timaru in the ill-fated City of Dunedin at the end of February 1864. Among my fellow passengers were Mr. Hamilton, Collector of Customs, Lyttelton, Captain Green, Lyttelton, and another who were appointed Commissioners to report upon the feasibility of making a harbour at Timaru. They met for several days at the old Club Hotel. Mr. Hewlings, Captain Cain, H. J. Le Cren, old Sam Williams, and lots of others were examined, and nothing came of it. I made my first survey in New Zealand for them—surveying the position of buoys and torches. The late Captain Woollcombe was then very important in those days, local as Landing Commissioner, and lived on the Estate corner, and in turn was in charge of appointing boats. - AFTER 48 YEARS." Timaru Herald, Volume XCVI, Issue 14905, 25 November 1912, Page 4
"Whales and Early Timaru
What a name in the coastal timescales of the Moeraki and the enterprising whaler. Sam Williams was an American by birth, and spent his youth and early manhood in Yankee whaling ships, and by that means became well-acquainted with the then famous “New Zealand whale grounds.” About the year 1851, as nearly as we can now ascertain, he came to New Zealand, having previously been fitted out by the Weller Brothers, of Sydney, to establish shore whaling stations on the coast of Otago. For some time the party carried on whaling at Moeraki, on Banks Peninsula, and then a section of them came to Timaru, Williams being one, the “boat-steerer,” or head man of the crew. They beached and fitted up their boiling pots at the head of Caroline Bay, and in the gully beyond the second ridge, one of the best well buried fire places was exposed and not washed away by the heavy seas of May last year.
The land it will be remembered by old settlers, formerly extended a considerable distance further seaward at that point. After working those grounds, the party shifted to Patiti Point. These shore parties carried on their business by keeping a lookout from the cliffs for whales when in the offing, and, where a whale “spouted,” was seen, in suitable weather, a boat put off to effect a capture, and if successful the prize was towed to the beach, brought up at full tide, and left inside till dry and easily got off in low water. The blubber was stripped off and the carcass thrown up again on the rocks, the boats and men being placed in watch to await the toll of a vessel which came to take off loads to the factory in the Peninsula or at some port, or more immediate use.
Whalers set each dug out on shore because their trade so sheltered that in it he was really more engaged in quiet, and in fact when the colonists first arrived, the world became almost the main value in the colony. It is said that it had reached up to £20 per ton, and was as good as any known. These early settlers sometimes burned down and shovelled the ground down to which has since been a rock turn to them. They brought down stone, and built a house, the first in Timaru, on the beach near the present site of Mr. Fraser’s grain store, and there established Williams as a sort of overseer. Other stock-owners soon followed the example set by Messrs Rhodes, and in a very short time the value of any country in South Canterbury was taken up under depasturing licenses.
The number of licenses issued was such that Williams was obliged to leave after a time, as he could not afford to pay the cost for travelling, and good many old settlers will remember the high figure they had to pay for rations of salt meat and sea-bread, with a loan of blankets to make a shakedown for themselves on the bare floor, when the spare bunks had been secured by earlier arrivals. After a time a license was obtained, which legalised a branch of business which had by no means been neglected before. When the town began to grow, the Messrs Rhodes built a small hotel on the site of the present Club Hotel, which was taken by Williams, and later he built a house for himself where the present Terrace Hotel now stands. The site had been selected, much younger than himself, at his own wish—viz. the bottle held to his loving wife, and subsequently two others in which he was given fresh starts in all employments—one in accommodation house somewhere on the Peninsula, and the other he rented in Christchurch.
He was always spoken of well by his former acquaintances, sincere in his wants, so the use of old times slipped as he started to be 65, but because he was old, he had, and latterly couldn’t reach a life he led, buying and then fast. In his prime he was a fast galloper, and not to be overtaken. His last application to the court while he was in the service of Messrs Rhodes, whose carting he did for some time, was to have his first wife’s children put in a guardian, as their mother had died, and it was his duty. His first wife, it was said, was a “half caste” of the Maori race." Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2746, 12 July 1883, Page 7
“’TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE.”
(By “Pioneer.”)
[All Rights Reserved.]
These notes and sketches, anecdotes and descriptions, rough and ready, will probably, with the others which have preceded them, and will yet give a fair idea of what life was in the early days of the old pioneer. They refer mostly, as is natural, to the Northern portion of Canterbury, where the influence of the pilgrims was felt. It took almost ten years before Timaru, as a township, was founded. Until then, it had its few enterprising runholders, its whalers, its coasters, and “men of all work,” its policeman, and its pub; and some jolly young bloods, such as Harry Poyntz and the rest of them, in Timaru nursed beach and thundering seas, bristly surf and wave on wave.
Little by little, down the northern flow, Northern pilgrims and observers found their way southward to the heart of a country with its farming prospects; and those who are still alive, may recognise in the sketches some things that they saw, or heard of, in the days back of sixty, and their descendants may feel an interest in reading a few details of them, as it was.
To them has come, they have inherited, the energy and enterprise of the men who turned the shingle and tussock, and one of the most important places in New Zealand—Canterbury, and, truth, North and South—has realised the pilgrims’ idea of a British settlement, and is indeed a splendid seat of enterprise on the part of British men. Without doubt, and its temporary “booms,” almost without minerals of any sort, and relying upon its people and its soil, aided in no grand climate, pays yearly dividends in products from the land that have placed it in the forefront to-day—builds. It is possible that at present, in all the wide world, it may be said without boasting, there is no better, or more regularly reliable patch of country of its size, or, as a better example of colonisation.
Sixty years have passed and gone, and how few are left of those who saw early Canterbury; and already one begins to think how ere soon will be left who remember the early people, and saw them in the life, saw them as they were, their ways, their appearance. All will have vanished as a dream. Who now can see the “wharf,” the original corner—beside what is now the quay—one besides Peacock’s in the Tunnel corner or near the home of old Ronald Davis, at the entrance? or remember the “Mitre,” or “Cameron” of the “Robin Hood,” or of the “Queens,” or Mr. E. Hargreaves, the first iron store, or the first red store (“Union Bank”), or Miles’s first store, or the Maori camping ground, and the Hospital, or Mrs. Cradd’s boarding house, or Dean’s whaleboat from Parnassus, or Mr. Robert Heaton Rhodes and his speech of, all, all, prominent—the George Scotts and his woolly horse, little Doctor Wyles, and his “hamper,” and the bullocks and the bush camp and all. Dr. William Donald, the father of them all. The names of the old friends, their ways, their dress, their generous behaviour, and locked them up with the fine old fellow named William. He was a cool and audacious combined. The doctor was a Scot with a sarcastic humorous calm, a fresh air nose, twin orbs into any mystery, coming down in a slope from a broad retreating forehead, broad shoulders, middle height, perhaps 5ft. 7in. He was the typical man who was Lyttelton then, who received immigrants as they came, doctored their ailing and counselled the bright girls amongst them; saw them well housed in the barracks, and shipped round to Christchurch, or on their way to the township, to the plans, and, in its very infancy, to Timaru. Some, how few will remember the old climb up the hill, who will comprehend the old well-understood phrase, “Over the hill”—“she’s over the hill,” meant that.
Who will remember the old sailormen, Peter Tomson, and Joe Foster, the Woods, C. T. Turner’s crafts, the Camerons, the small craft men, post men, shoemen, the Beaths, the Burnses, the Bischoffs and Swansons, all the rest of them? Who will be able to tell the old dining days of the “Blue Jacket” and the “Glencoe,” and “Himalaya” and “Gamecock” and “Sunflower,” and Bull’s Ferry, and the other small sailings and the little “Antelope,” the “Minstrel” and the “Pretty Jane,” the “Maori” and the “Schooner Star,” or even the “Samson” and the “Bruce,” and tell of Dale and Macrossans and the rest? Timaru men who remembered the “firsts” of firsts, in Sam Williams’s days, knew them well. He was one of the old timers, and it is good that such recollections are not yet extinguished. History grows cold to remember the old unshivered coast and the rough-shod sons of the sea." - A RETROSPECT. Timaru Herald, Volume XCIII, Issue 14376, 16 December 1910, Page 5
The 1888 article marking the opening of the Timaru Herald’s new offices on Sophia Street includes a short history of the paper that acknowledges its humble origins in a building once used by “Old Sam Williams.” The first edition of the Herald was printed on 11 June 1864 in a small two-roomed cottage with a lean-to, formerly used by Williams as the kitchen of his Club Hotel on George Street. The paper’s early connection to Sam Williams highlights his foundational role in Timaru’s settlement and infrastructure—offering not only one of the first public houses but also inadvertently providing the birthplace of the town’s newspaper. The article’s respectful aside—“may the turf rest lightly o’er his grave”—shows that even decades later, Sam was still remembered as a pioneer who helped shape the fledgling town. - OPENING OF THE NEW OFFICES OF THE TIMARU HERALD. Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3615, 3 May 1886, Page 3
- Lyttelton Times, Volume XIV, Issue 840, 28 November 1860, Page 4.
In 1860, Ann Williams passed away, leaving what looks like a profound void in the life of her husband, Samuel Williams. As her grandson later wrote, her death deprived Sam of the stability, sound guidance, and steady influence that his restless spirit and easygoing business habits relied on. Ann had been the heart of their home and the grounding force behind their early success in Timaru, remembered not only as a devoted mother but as a kind and capable woman who helped shape the beginnings of the town.
Yellow circle marks the grave of Samuel Williams, Ann's husband. His headstone was erected by his friends. At the time there would have been a chapel and his grave would have beem behind it.
Left: View of the Timaru Cemetery. Yellow circle is Sams grave. Right: The 87-year-old chapel at the Timaru Cemetery designed by Maurice de Harven Duval. The chapel had not been used for burial services for over 50 years, with the last conducted by Archdeacon H. W. Harper who retired in 1911. In recent years it had been used to store the cemetery's small tractor and other equipment. Structural damage, borer infestation, and weak mortar made most of the building unsalvageable, aside from the iron roof. A proposal after the First World War to renovate the chapel failed due to lack of interest, and a 1935 plan to convert it into a crematorium was rejected. There are no plans to build a new chapel at the site. - Timaru Herald, 20 Apr 1968. Timaru Cemetery Chapel Demolished (20 Apr 1968). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 10/05/2025, aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/2037
Left Samuel Williams grave errected by his friends has no mention of Ann. Right Elizabeths grave has a grave for her son who died a year before Ann in 1859. Was Elizabeths son buried here before Ann?
Tony Rippin at South Canterbury Museum giving Roselyn Fauth a quick hand to triangulate peoples burials around the time ann passed to see if there is a pattern. The process threw a few questions and therories, but nothing to hang our hat on. Photography By Roselyn Fauth 2025
The Museum team has shown me how to use their records. At one moment there was a glimmer of hope that we found the row and plot, but it was for a 1 year old with the same name who died six years later. It's so easy to want to join the dots and jump, I'm getting better at slowing down and validating information. So in short... we didn't find a plot. I am now contemplating... do I buy a death certificate for $30 to see what it could reveal?
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/.../search...
The fact that she is so hard to find, and that she could be some of the very first people to be buried in the cemetery, and was only here for 6 years, (1854-1860), Maybe the records don't go back that far? Maybe she wasnt buried here? Or I wonder if she has been buried in the pauper section at the cemetery??? Maybe I need to work out where the first 12 were buried for some clues... and find out more about the pauper sections history.
Samuel Williams died in 1883 and was buried by his friends. There used to be a chapel here, and Sam's grave would have been behind it. Not too far behind him is the grave of Elizabeth Perry. She used to be married to George Rhodes who employed Sam, and their Rhodes house is where Sam and Ann raised their family. Elizabeth's child George William Wood was born at the Levels near Pleasant Point in 1855, who died August 9 1859 at Timaru, aged 4 years., a year before Ann passed away. I wonder if he was buried here when he died which would mean he was buried before Corry who is noted as the first burial at the cemetery in a museum cemetery guide? Interesting that Sam's head stone is not directly where the grave is marked on the map. Maybe the map is an indication only?
Grave of the earliest burial that I could find in Timaru cemetery. Marris Clayson Corry was a boatman from Deal who with his crew went to rescue a ship in trouble. Clayson and his collegue William Bowbyes drowned ion October a month before Ann died in November 1860.
There are a few unmarked graves in this area, so maybe Ann is here? Interestingly Cory's grave isn't perfectly aligned to his headstone. I wonder why. And we can see that his friend Boybyes is burried a plot over from him. I don't know why there are plots with no names associated. There is a Williams here, but she is Rebecca Williams who died 1866. She is not related to Ann, because her daughter Rebecca is buried in the Linwood cemetery.
If you didn't know, (like me), a pauper grave is a burial site for someone who died without the financial means or family support to pay for a funeral or headstone. I think its really sad there's no signage or monument in this area to explain why there are many humps and hollows, and so few marked graves. Wouldn't it be lovely to erect something in their memory? I wonder why this hasn't been done... or maybe there is one and I have missed it?
Looking out to the Pauper Grave area where government paid for peoples burials. Roselyn Fauth 2025.
Anyway, if anyone wants to sponsor a death certificate for Timaru's first European babies mother, or help me look into a monument at the cemetery for the pauper's... I'd be stoked. WuHoo Timaru is about the hunt, finding free fun, and stumbling on a wuhoo - a huh! and didn't know that, or found it! moment... Learning about the whaling history is certainly doing that for me. I wrote this for Mother’s Day:
To those who are beside us,
To those who pat themselves on the back,
To those who watch their daughters and granddaughters create their own story chapters...
And to the mothers who came before,
We hold you in our hearts with deep gratitude.
Your stories, and your care continue to shape the world we live in, past and present.
With love I remember and thank you, today and always.
I'm working on a whale hunt to share with you, the progress is here: feel free to help me hunt out the story wuhootimaru.co.nz/whale-tales-trails-hunt
Register of Deaths, Saint Mary's Church Timaru Parish records of deaths. Ann appears to be listed as number 12, November 18, 1860, 36 years.
Burials in the Parish of Timaru Canterbury, N.Z. 1860
No./ When Buried / Name and Surname / Age / Name of Parents or
Husband / Place of Residence / By Whom the ceremony was performed
1 May 15th. 1860 Helena Mary-Ann 15 Months Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
2 May 15th. 1860 Caroline Percival 2 Mo. Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
3 July 11th. 1860 Perriman 3 weeks “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
4 June 29th. 1860 Henry Clayson 23 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
5 Sep 1st. 1860 Charles Kennedy 25 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
6 Sep. 2nd. 1860 John Henry Wilson 7 weeks John Wilson (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
7 Sep. 15th. 1860 _ Roberts 7 weeks “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
8 Sep. 24th. 1860 James Day 32 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
9 October 4. 1860 Henry Fredrick Maslin 7 mon Caleb Maslin (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
10 October 16 1860 Dennis Corey 30 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
11 October 16. 1860 William Bowbyas [Bowbyes] 33. Yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
12 Novem. 18 1860 Ann Williams 36 yrs Samuel Williams (S) Timaru Geo. Foster
Burials in the Parish of Timaru Canterbury, N.Z. 1860
No./ When Buried / Name and Surname / Age / Name of Parents or
Husband / Place of Residence / By Whom the ceremony was performed
1 May 15th. 1860 Helena Mary-Ann 15 Months Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
2 May 15th. 1860 Caroline Percival 2 Mo. Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
3 July 11th. 1860 Perriman 3 weeks “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
4 June 29th. 1860 Henry Clayson 23 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
5 Sep 1st. 1860 Charles Kennedy 25 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
6 Sep. 2nd. 1860 John Henry Wilson 7 weeks John Wilson (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
7 Sep. 15th. 1860 _ Roberts 7 weeks “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
8 Sep. 24th. 1860 James Day 32 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
9 October 4. 1860 Henry Fredrick Maslin 7 mon Caleb Maslin (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
10 October 16 1860 Dennis Corey 30 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster Inscription reads "In Loving Memory Of Morris Clayson Cory, Drowned off Timaru October 6th 1860, Aged 30 years. In the midst of life we are in death. Also Elizabeth Thompson Wife of the Above Who Died March 20th 1913, Aged 85 Years. Reunited after many years. H.B. Hall." His spouse Elizabeth Thompson Cory born 1828 was buried there 1913. Section General, Row 27, Plot 17.
11 October 16. 1860 William Bowbyas [Bowbyes] 33. Yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
12 Novem. 18 1860 Ann Williams 36 yrs Samuel Williams (S) Timaru Geo. Foster
On a side note... to find Ann, I wanted to find the people who died around the time she did, to see if there was a burial pattern and make a educated guess on her plot. This is the fun when hunting for history, you can easily go on side quests and find gems of info that give insight and context to Timaru's early pioneering lives. I wonder how Ann reacted to the death of the two men, and if she helped their widows and children.
Morris Corey, Robert Boubius first recorded burials in Timaru cemetery after drowning off Timaru in 1860. A group of six experienced boat handlers who had emigrated from England to Lyttelton, were engaged in 1859 for work on Le Cren and Cain's landing service. The men were John Wilds, Morris Corey, Robert Boubius, Henry Clayson, William John Roberts and John J. Bowles. Being a boatman was a dangerous profession. Clayson drowned soon after his arrival and was replaced by Phillip Foster, also from Deal. - Timaru's boatmen 1852-1886 timdc.pastperfectonline.com/Library/99B7D311-5859-455F-A4F8-681060219260
Cory was 29 when he emigrated with his wife and four children on the ship the Mystery 1858. The third son, Henry died the same year he was born, and was replaced the following year by another Henry. They had four children by 1854 and 5 when Cory drowned. The Deal Boatmen were on a mission to help the schooner Wellington in a storm with snow and rough seas Corey and Bowbyas drowned. A public fundraising effort was quickly organized, with donation lists placed in local businesses and the Lyttleton Times office, to support the widows and children of the deceased boatmen. The incident highlights both the dangers of early coastal shipping and the bravery of local lifesaving efforts. It also reveals the fragility of settler family life in colonial New Zealand, where such losses could leave families destitute.
In 1864, the Alexandra lifeboat arrived in Timaru to assist when heavy surf made it too dangerous for regular boats. In 1867, the Volunteer Timaru Rocket Brigade was established with the arrival of rockets from England. In 1868, control of the beach was passed to the Timaru Gladstone Board of Works to undertake harbor works. In 1869, Duncan Cameron, a member of the Alexandra lifeboat crew, drowned when the boat capsized.
Ann and Sams children
The cased and coloured ambrotype pictured here. ... shows Rebecca and William Williams, the children of one of our earliest settlers Samuel and Ann Williams. Rebecca Hobbs born 1854 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, and died 1856 buried in Linwood Cemetery, Christchurhc. It would have been a relatively rare and expensive item for a working man like Sam. His story, which also mentions his son William Williams, born 1856 in Timaru, was the first European child born in Timaru and used a gin crate as his crib. - Courtesy of the South Canterbury Museum 3438.
Above: The Fauth Family from Timaru, on a history hunt at the Greymouth Cemetery, paying our respects at the graves of Sarah and William Williams. Chris, Medinella 10, Annabelle 6, and Roselyn Fauth. Chris grew up in Greymouth and his ancestors lived in Kumara. The family go on adventures to find free fun, and share their stories to inspire others to learn about the past and have meaningful fun with their families for free.
Visit to the Linwood Cemetery to find the grave of Rebecca Williams. She married William Hobb, but when Rebecca died, he remarried. So William Hobbs is buried with his second wife. Rebecca Hobbs nee Williams i burtied in section 24 an unmarked grave. The cemetery was damamged in the Christchurch earthquakes and it was sad to see the destruction. I guess it is too mammoth a task to restore the headstones, and make sure they didn't fall down again.
If we can't find her grave, maybe we can create a memorial to her. We collected a rock from her sons Larrikin Gold Claim tailings near Kumara. Maybe this could be incorporated into a monument?
Along Larrikins Road, at the back of Dilmans town near Kumara, lies a pile of lichen covered rocks, remnants from the gold mining days known as tailings. Ann's son Williams Williams was Timaru's first recorded European baby to be born in the area, and was nicknamed Flash Billy by the goldminers for his fancy Christchurch attire, and was one of the three Larrikins who discovered one of the West Coast’s richest gold-bearing leads in the 1870s.
There are two stories on how the trio earned that nickname, one from breaking windows and being chased into the bush by the cops, the other having a bit lair up one night after their discovery of a gold seam deep in the Taramakau glacial gravels. From sleeping in a gin cradle as a baby on the East Coast, to raising his family on the West Coast, it is fun to imagine the change he witness and the life he lived. I think Ann could have scrunched her nose at his Larrikin behaviour, but maybe would have been proud of her sons contribution to gold mining history, and his legacy through his children.
We chose a rock from the roadside and brought it home as a way to remember the Williams family. Our next step is to work with the Timaru District Council and the South Canterbury Museum to explore the possibility of creating a memorial to the family here in Timaru, maybe even to all the mothers who are often missed in the history books, using this very rock. Photography: Roselyn Fauth, 2025
In 1839 the Sydney-based Weller brothers established a short-lived whaling station at Timaru. By the time Walter Mantell made this sketch, in 1848, the station was deserted. Mantell, Walter Baldock Durrant, 1820-1895 :MotuMotu, Timaru. Oct 20 Friday 1848.. Mantell, Walter Baldock Durrant 1820-1895 :[Sketchbook, no. 2] 1848. Ref: E-333-006. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
Long before Timaru had streets, churches, or breakwaters, there was Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams... boatman, whaler, trader, and one of the region’s earliest settlers. While others brought wealth and sheep, Sam brought the knowledge that helped to make the settlement possible.
When the Rhodes brothers arrived in 1852 with 7000 sheep. It was Sam who guided them, showing them where to land, where to build, and how to read the coast. He lived through the end of the whaling era and knew the Māori place names, the tides, and the safe paths inland.
The Rhodes brothers built their first hut at the foot of what’s now George Street, following Sam’s advice. The hut was used by the Rhodes brothers as their first station base until they moved inland. The building became known as “Sam Williams’ old hut”. It was eventually dismantled and sold for £15 when the New Zealand Meat-Preserving Company (NZMP) Company developed the site. The Rhodes brothers leased the surrounding land from the Canterbury Association, and later acquired large pastoral runs through official processes.
I dont think Samuel Williams would have contemplated a monument. But the town he helped others reach and settle is itself a monument to his legacy. While Ann could be seen as only a short chapter in that story, I see her as a huge part. She welcomed visitors and new settlers, raised her children, grew the business and helped to create those early European foundations when there were only a few houses in the area.
- https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD18840606.2.17
Looking North over Timaru City and its coastline. Once the stomping ground of whalers. Sam, Ann and the Williams kids William and Rebecca. Photography By Geoff Cloake
Nola Towgods family history book on the Williams Family at the South Canterbury Museum complied from 20 plus years of research. Nola is a decsendant from Ann and Sam Williams. She passed away Peacefully in Tauranga on Friday 27th March 2015 aged 85, married to Iam Towgood, mother of Jenny and Chris Wilson, and Rob and Helen. Nana to her grandchildren, Sonya, Rhys and Libby, Craig and Mitzi, and Mark; Kylie and Russell, Blake and Chelsea, and Alice. And very special nana to her 2 great grandaughters, Ava and Tilly.
The Sheltering Place: Yankee Sam of Timaru - whaler, settler, publican (26 Jul 1975).
Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 28/07/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1096
Yankee Sam of Timaru — whaler, settler, publican
By Traveller
Timaru’s first permanent resident was a young, adventurous American whaler who became the city’s first publican. They called him Yankee Sam.
A personal history of the early pioneer, Sam Williams — by one of his grandsons, Mr P. M. Williams — is in the archives of the South Canterbury Historical Museum.
In 1857, Archdeacon William Harper remembered riding through South Canterbury on his first journey south from Christchurch and meeting a family in a cottage near the beach at Timaru.
“I rode towards the sea coast not liking to lose my way inland,” he wrote in a letter, “and coming on a bay enclosed by low cliffs, found a solitary hut occupied by an old whaler, his wife and son.”
That old whaler was Williams. The hut was the one built by George Rhodes.
“Sam Williams showed me some of the trypots remaining on the beach,” Archdeacon Harper wrote, “and I spent a pleasant hour with him listening to his yarns of the old days.”
Williams was born about 1817. His birthplace is unknown. Some descendants think when he was an infant he lived in Canada and moved to the United States as a boy.
Drifted
Then, Williams, his grandson wrote, “with other nondescript adventurous youths, drifted to Australia.”
Australia didn’t keep him long the first time. By 1840, he was the leader of a whaling party from Sydney. A boat steerer and harpooner, he was a member of a party located at “Timaroo” which closed down after 11 months.
Williams stayed on until the station closed and was next heard of whaling for the Rhodes brothers at their Island Bay, Banks Peninsula, station in 1844. In 1848, he transferred to the station of George Rhodes at Goashore.
Then South Canterbury beckoned again in a roundabout way. Captain Joseph Thomas, agent and chief surveyor for the Canterbury Association Pioneers, started a survey of the Canterbury block in 1849. He needed first-hand information on land south of the association’s territory and asked Williams about its resources.
Rhodes
Captain Thomas’ later report on the region influenced the Rhodes brothers to invest in the southern district.
“They were seeking land well away from the hampering restrictions of the Canterbury Association, which would exercise jurisdiction over Banks Peninsula,” Williams’ grandson wrote.
In 1850, Williams escorted his friends George and Barney Rhodes into the unoccupied areas of South Canterbury. Later, the Rhodes brothers sought a licence for 150,000 acres.
A gold strike in Australia excited Williams, and he left New Zealand for the goldfields of Ballarat in Victoria in 1851. He married Anne Manry in Australia, and their daughter, Rebecca, was born in Ballarat in 1854.
The goldfields held little luck for Williams, and he returned to his territory, apparently working for George Rhodes — then living at Levels — in 1856 and 1857.
Cottage
Rhodes gave him the daub cottage on Caroline Bay beach. Timaru’s first white child — Williams’ son William — was born there in 1856 and had a gin case for a cradle.
The cottage stood just south of the seaward end of George Street and was the scene of the christening of William by Archdeacon Harper on his first trip south.
South Canterbury was slowly getting its first permanent settlers, aside from the large runholders at that time, and there was a need for accommodation houses. Williams and his wife converted their cottage to a general store and offered shelter to travellers. That was his real start as a hotelkeeper.
In 1858, the provincial government presented him with Timaru’s first publican’s licence. A lean-to was added to the cottage by the time the Strathallan immigrants arrived in 1859.
Strathallan
Williams was 42 years old when the Strathallan arrived, and he was one of the three people — Mr Woolcombe and Captain Cain were the others — first aboard to meet the settlers.
One diary from that day, January 14, 1859, says:
“Immigrant women had a washing day on the beach and their arms got blistered in the sun. They went to Old Sam’s to get some cream to rub on their arms, and Mrs Sam, a genuine kind old Irish lady, said she had no cream, but she brought something in a pannikin, and told them to take a little of it inside and rub a little outside. They followed half the advice — the latter half.”
By 1860, Williams opened the first permanent hotel, the Timaru Hotel, which has become today’s Carlton Hotel. The building was erected by George Rhodes, but Williams owned the furnishings.
Wife dead
About that time his wife, Anne, died.
“Her death was a great loss to him,” his grandson wrote, “for it deprived him of that stability, sound guidance and controlling influence that his restless nature and easy business methods required.”
He married his children’s governess in 1861. Their marriage was not always a happy one. “The disparity of 25 years between their ages created situations that proved more than the old whaler could cope with,” his grandson wrote. “Disharmony followed.”
Still, the hotel prospered. In the June 11, 1864, Timaru Herald is an advertisement — “Timaru Hotel, S. Williams Proprietor. This hotel is situated in the most pleasant position, affording a view of the country around as well as the sea. Stabling, holding paddock and every convenience for Man and Horse.”
The first Timaru Hotel was destroyed by a fire which started when one of Williams’ customers was refused liquor by the publican and sought revenge. The man was sentenced to death, but the hotel was reborn.
Inflation
A poem from those days indicates that inflation was already a worry to some of the patrons. Called The New Chum in Timaru, part of it says—
This morning, while walking, I felt rather pale
So I went in, and called for a quart full of ale
Which I drank, laid down sixpence, and sauntered away
When Old Sam bellowed out, “it’s three shillings to pay.”
By the powers, Micky darling, ’twas only his wife
Pretty creature — that saved me from taking his life.
Williams sold the Timaru Hotel to John Melton in 1865 and moved north from the city for several years. He became licensee of a hotel at Birdlys Flat and then the old Hotel Wellington in Christchurch.
But he came back to Timaru eventually and died here on June 29, 1883. He was 67 years old.
His grandson wrote: “He shared the fate of many unskilled and uneducated pioneer adventurers — inability to contend with well-organised and experienced men of business of a later period.”