Around 1856 in Timaru, Ann Williams with her husband, the American whaler turned publican Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams, and their two kids, were the first European family to permanently settle in the area. Ann helped open the town’s first hotel, welcomed new settlers, and raised eldest child Rebecca, and William “Flash Billy” Williams, who was was the first recorded birth of a European child in Timaru.

Ann collapsed and died in doorway of the Timaru Hotel on George Street in 1860 at the age of 35, leaving behind two young children and her husband. She was the mother of Timaru's first recorded European birth, and welcomed many new immigrants and early European settlers who visted and moved to Timaru. Today, her grave is not only unmarked, it is unknown. After hunting and hunting, we don't think we will ever find our where she rests. Her story, nearly lost, I believe deserves to be remembered with a small monument by her husbands headstone and grave.

Through the journey of looking for Ann, I have also learned that over 700 people rest in Timaru's cemetery in unmarked graves assigned to row 0. When people couldn't afford a burial, the government stepped in on the condition that a headstone would not be raised. I learned that this was very difficult for some families to accept and often brought shame. Some burials were held at night, some without ceremony. So with your help I would like to also remember those who rest in unmarked graves in front of a large area of lawn where many "pauper graves" as they were known are.

The Timaru District Council has approved the plan. The Civic Trust is supporting the project by enabling us to fundraise through their registered charity account. Mason Les Jones from Aorangi and Harding Memorials has generously donated his time, so we just have to raise funds to:

• Install a memorial rock with a plaque for Ann Williams, using a rock brought from her son’s Larrikin goldmining site in Kumara to be placed with her husbands grave at the Timaru Cemetery. Ann's metal casted plaque  $900 + GST $135 Total: $1,035

• Erect a second memorial boulder and plaque to honour 700+ people buried in pauper graves + those in unmarked graves in Timaru Cemetery metal casted plaque
  Option A – Medium (300x200mm plaque) $1,300 + GST $195 Total: $1,495
  Option B – X Large (400x300mm plaque) $2,600 + GST $390 Total: $2,990
  

As of 08/08/2025 we have raised $1595 of the goal $4,025... Still to Raise: $2,430

"By learning about people from our past, we better understand where we’ve come from and who we are today. Then we can make better choices for our future. These monuments will help ensure that those who rest in unmarked graves... people who shaped our city and region, are recognised and remembered with the dignity they deserve by the community." - Roselyn Fauth

Please contact me, Roselyn Fauth This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the bank details to donate to. 

The Timaru Civic Trust is a registered New Zealand charity, so donors can file a Donation Tax Credit (Rebate) with the IRD to request 33% of their donation back. Once your donation is received, a Donation Receipt for this purpose can be provided upon request by the Trust.

Thank you so much
Roselyn Fauth

Roselyn Fauth with Les Jones from Aorangi and Harding Memorials (a long-standing member of the New Zealand Master Monumental Masons’ Association NZMMMA) planning the monuments and hunting for rocks.

You may be wondering why I have become so passionate about creating these two monuments. It began while I was learning about Timaru’s early whaling history and discovered that a whaler’s wife, Ann Williams, became the mother of the first recorded European baby born in Timaru.

Sam left and returned to Timaru from Ballarat Australia, with Ann and their daughter Rebecca around 1856. They had William Williams in Timaru, and lived in a 1851 cottage built for George Rhodes, on George Street, Timaru where they established an accommodation house. Sam became the first licenced publican in Timaru. In 1860 with the help of George, they built the Timaru Hotel on the same block. Tragically later that year, Ann collapsed and died in the doorway of the Timaru Hotel just four years after she had arrived, leaving behind two young children and her husband. Timaru's first European permanent residents were now missing their wife and mother. Sam, now a widower married his children's' 16 year old governess, Mary Ann Gardner and together had a third child. The marriage did not last, and Mary moved to Hokitika with their daughter. Later, Sam and the two children moved to Christchurch, and William in his 20s moved to Kumara. Sam returned to Timaru and died 1883, aged 66. He rests in the Timaru cemetery behind where the old chapel would have been with a headstone erected by his friends.

My search for Ann's grave revealed something unexpected... while we have records of her death, no one knows seems to know where she was laid to rest. I hunted and hunted with the help of many professionals, we can't find her anywhere. This mystery led me to learn that Timaru Cemetery holds more than 700 unmarked graves, including over 200 stillborn babies. At first, I assumed it was due to a lack of records, but I later learned that those who could not afford burial costs were laid to rest with government assistance, in what were called pauper graves.

I was told that many families felt deep shame at not being able to afford the burial. to the point that some burials were carried out in secret, without ceremony, even at night, to protect the dignity of the deceased. And so, the records were also scare because families purposely hid the information for privacy. Even to this day, the rule still stands, that descendants are not permitted to place headstones on these graves. I suspect to prevent the misuse of public funds. The result is that these lives remain unacknowledged, only found with a search in row 0.

My journey to find Ann has taken me on many side quests and now led to a greater mission: to honour her with one small monument by her husbands grave, and to dedicate a second larger monument to the many who rest in unmarked graves, to recognise them, remember them, and help the community know why Timaru Cemetery holds so many humps and hollows in the lawns.

Cemetery search for row 0 brings up 717 peoples records in the Timaru Cemetery.

Standing on the Coastal Track link, looking West to the lawn where I often see people walking and playing with their dogs. There are over 700 people who rest in row 0 which are the pauper graves, the burials funded by the government.

Looking out North and the East to the area where people rest in government funded burials - Photo Roselyn Fauth July 2025

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. - Lyttelton Times, Volume XIV, Issue 840, 28 November 1860, Page 4.  There was no record published in the Timaru Herald, because the newspaper hadn't been established then. Incidentally, the first edition of the Timaru Herald was printed in the Williams George Street Kitchen.

Here is my deep dive into a history hunt for Ann Williams... First Recorded European Mother in Timaru.

It started with the whalers.... I was researching their brief but significant chapter in Timaru’s early history. Although their Wellerman Whalers time here lasted only two seasons in 1839-1840, I imagine it was one of the first moments Māori encountered Europeans in this part of the world. Remnants of those days are still visible at Caroline Bay and Patiti Point where their whaling tri pots have been put out on display. Among the whalers Long John coffin, Billy the Bull, there is one name that went down in the history books... Samuel (Yankie Sam) Williams. He had sailed out on the Wellermans whale ship the Caroline, and lived at Patiti Point while spotting whales. You may remember the tik tok hit, "When the Wellerman Come"... well that was Sam's employers and it is quite plausible that sea shanty was sung here on our shore. 

The stations at Caroline Bay and Patiti Point were strategically located to exploit the migratory paths of southern right and sperm whales. The shore-based boats typically targeted right whales, which entered bays on the high tide and exited on the ebb. Sperm whaling continued offshore, but the rising demand for baleen (whalebone) shifted focus to right whales. Whales were pulled ashore at Caroline Bay. A small stream called Pohatu-koko, nicknamed Whales Creek, flowed nearby. This site is now commemorated by a whale pot located at the viaduct entrance beneath the railway bridge.

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.

Sam worked for the Weller brothers, but when they went broke, he took a job with the Rhodes family at Kaituna Station in Akaroa. Sam told the Rhodes about the open plains and good sheep country here in South Canterbury. His stories inspired them to establish the Levels Station, one of the region’s most significant early sheep runs. When Sam heard about the discovery of gold in Ballarat, he rushed to Australia to find gold. I'm not sure how successful he was, but what he did find was a wife, Ann Williams (nee Mahoney also recorded as Manry) (born in Cork Ireland 1823), and together they had their first child, Rebecca born in Australia 1854. Around 1856 Sam returned to Timaru with his new family to work for the Rhodes brothers.

They moved into the Rhodes' 1851 shore station cottage at the foot of George Street, on the South side of where the Landing Services Building stands today. IT was recorded that at that time there was no one living in the area, with the Rhodes family now living at the Levels Estage, the Williams' were the first permanent European family to settle in Timaru. You can see the cottage in this photo below. 

This is where their son William Williams was born, September 22, 1856.  It is important to note that while Ann is credited with the first European birth in Timaru, two women Elizabeth Rhodes who lived at Levels near Pleasant Point, and Margaret Hoornbrook who lived at Arowhenua Station had become mothers earlier but seen as "living outside of Timaru". Sadly Elizabeth's four year old son died in 1859, and his headstone is not far from where Sam rests today. I don't know if her son was buried there, or if the stone was just laid in memory.  William Richard Hornbrook, born in Temuka in 1854, is recognised as South Canterbury’s first European baby, William Williams holds the unique honour of being the first born in Timaru.

1868 Photograph of the foot of George Street, Timaru, circa 1868. It was built in 1851 by George Rhodes and his employees. It was the only habitation between Lake Ellesmere and the Waitaki River at the time. The cottage was a simple structure with battened sides, a clay-plastered exterior, and a thatched tussock roof, located near present-day George Street. In 1857, Archdeacon Harper visited Timaru during his journey from Christchurch to Moeraki and was warmly received by Samuel Williams, his wife, and son. A commemorative plaque was placed on the site in 1955. Harper's letters from September 1857 mention encountering an old whaler (Williams) living in a hut with his family near the seacoast. 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

I have stood where I believe their doorway once was. I looked out across the railway lines to the port stores and tried to imagine what Ann would have seen in the 1850s, when the shoreline used to came up to where the tracks are now. Her view would have taken in nothing but stony shore, vast ocean, tussocks, a small stream, and a few cabbage trees. In the few years that followed, she witnessed the arrival of Captain Cain, Lieutenant Woollcombe, Deal Boatmen, their families, and the first wave of UK immigrants, 110 people, arrive aboard the Strathallan Ship in 1859. A lady wrote in her dairy while on the voyage, that if Timaru was a third of the size of London she would be happy... Imagine her surprise when she arrived and there were only five houses in sight! One of which was the home of the Williams.

Looking out from the Landing Services Building and imagining Ann raising her family here when the sea used to reach the rail. - Roselyn Fauth 2025

This photo taken several hundred meters in front of her home on reclaimed land, is probably more what Ann's view was like from her house on George Street about 170 years ago!  - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

Here you can see the boat launch at the foot of George Street, the Landings Service Building and beside, in the center the Rhodes cottage. Section from Hocken Snapshop hocken.recollect.co.nz/24023

By 1860, Ann and Sam had partnered with the Rhodes brothers to build the Timaru Hotel. The building was owned by the Rhodes, and Sam owned the chattels inside and ran the business as the first licensed publican in the area. Although he had been dealing grog unofficially for a while.

The population grew from the four of them, to around 400 by 1860. As well as welcoming the early wave of settlers, Ann would probably have witnessed the tragedy when two of the six Deal boatmen (who arrived in Timaru in 1857 hired by Henry Le Cren and Captain Henry Cain to take over the Rhodes landing service), were on a sea rescue and drowned in the shores in front of the Williams 1851 home. Morris Corey (married with 5 children) and Robert Boubius (married) became the first recorded burials in the Timaru Cemetery October 1860. For some reason, Boubius rests in an unmarked grave next to his crew mate.

Grave of the earliest burial recorded at the Timaru cemetery. Marris Clayson Corry was a boatman from Deal who with his crew went to rescue a ship in trouble. Clayson and his colleague William Bowbyes drowned in October a month before Ann died in November 1860.  - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

Just a month after the Deal boatmen's deaths, when the new Timaru Hotel must have given Ann a feeling of progress and promise, Ann collapsed and died in the doorway of the Timaru Hotel she helped establish. She was 35 years old. She left behind two small children, aged around three and five, to be raised by their father, the former whaler now turned publican. After only four or so years, Ann's life in Timaru was over.

This article talks about the person who claims to have burried the second man at the Tiamru Cemetery... Oh I wish I could talk to them today to ask if they know where Ann is... This is a newspaper clipping shared with me, I am unsure what paper or what date...  

Kingsdown
Old Sod House Was Link With Pioneers

The second house ever to be built in the Kingsdown district is now being demolished at Normanby. It was built about 80 years ago by the late Mr E. F. Holmes with the assistance of Mr Tom Reid. Three generations of the Holmes family lived in the house, which was sold to the present owner of the land, Mr P. Rooney, in 1949.

Built of sod, the house is still in fair condition.

The late Mr Holmes came to New Zealand in the ship William Hyde in 1856, after spending two years in Australia. Arriving at Lyttelton, Mr Holmes worked at Longbeach and Geraldine before coming to Timaru. He was one of the early white settlers in Timaru, there being only one other house in the town when he arrived. He was one of the first threshing mill workers and was later a roadman and contractor between Kingsdown and Glenavy.

Mr Holmes started one of the first butcher shops in Barnard Street. His was the melancholy task of burying the second man to be interred in the Timaru cemetery. The coffin was made from a tree felled for just that purpose. Mr Holmes died in 1925, aged 96.

W.D.F.F. Flower Show

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, Christchurch. 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. 

That is where the trail for Ann comes to an abrupt halt... Apart from her official death registration and a single line in St Mary’s burial records, there is no further information about her final resting place. When I went to the cemetery, I found Sam’s grave. It was erected by his friends when he died in 1883. But Ann was not with him. I have hunted and hunted. No headstone. No plaque. No marker.

Looking out to the Timaru Cemetery, wondering where Ann could be.  - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

The hunt for her grave and her story has been quite the journey. What I assumed would be a straight line process has instead been lots of fascinating side quests. In learning about Ann, I have learned so much more about myself. It has made me think more about my own mortality, what I am greatful for, and who I am thankful to share my life with.

Thank you to The South Canterbury Museum, Timaru District Council's Parks and Cemetery team, the Hokitika Museum, Keely Kroening and Tony Rippin South Canterbury Museum. Liz Shae from South Canterbury Genealogy Society, and my father in law who lives on the Coast, Paul Fauth for helping me on the hunt for history about Flash Billy, the Larrikin, and first European kid from Timaru.

Hunting for Ann in the fog at Timaru Cemetery - Roselyn Fauth 2025

Why has her grave been lost?

The records were pretty scarce back then. The Government Registrar Belfeild Woollcombe submitted her record of death, but at the time, the government did not require burial information. St Mary's Church was just getting going in Timaru in the 1860s. Ann was the 12th recorded death on their first page of records. Before the Cemeteries Act was passed, making councils in charge of burials, churches had the responsibility. Timaru had no graveyards (churches with burials on site). And while there were initially two reserves set aside for cemeteries, only one was used, which is the one South of the Timaru Botanic Gardens. It does seem that the burials were segregated at one stage by denominations, and while I tried to come up with all kinds of theories to predict where she could be, I, with the help of many historians profressionals, couldn't find any proof. I don't even know if she was even buried there.

Thank you to Racheal Comer from the Timaru Herald for sharing my hunt for Ann.

The Original Gates, designed by architect Jame's Turnbull. - Photograph Roselyn Fauth 2025

Architect James S. Turnbull made a significant contribution to South Canterbury’s religious and civic landscape through his work on numerous Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic buildings from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. His Anglican commissions include St. Stephen’s Church in Fairlie (1896), St. Peter’s in Temuka (1898–99), St. David’s in Raincliff (1907), St. Martin’s in Albury (1907), and St. Aidan’s in Kakahu (1910), with the St. Thomas Church in Woodbury (1913) completed posthumously by architect Cecil Wood. For the Presbyterian community, Turnbull designed churches in St. Andrews (c.1900) and Albury (1902), the prominent Chalmers Church in Timaru (1902–04), and manses in Temuka (1910–11) and Geraldine (1917). His Catholic works include St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in St. Andrews (1902–03), St. Paul’s in Albury (1903), and the Chapel at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Timaru (1905). Beyond religious buildings, Turnbull also shaped civic spaces, designing the Timaru Cemetery Board wall and entrance piers (1897), the Temuka Pioneer’s Memorial in Victoria Park (1897), and the Fallen Troopers’ Memorial in the Temuka Domain (constructed in stages, 1903 and 1911–12), each reflecting his lasting legacy in both architecture and public remembrance.

The rock for Ann's memorial

Ann was the mother of William Williams, the first recorded European child born in Timaru. Fun fact... his cradle was a gin crate. After her death Sam with his two kids eventually moved to Christchurch. William aged 20 walked with his mates, just like his father on a quest to find gold. He would later become known as Flash Billy, one of the three “Larrikins” who discovered a gold claim in Kumara during New Zealand’s second-to-last gold rush. Depending on the source, the name came either from breaking windows and being chased into the bush by police, or from the celebrations that followed their discovery of gold beneath the forest roots.

Fauth family walking through the Greymouth cemetery on the hunt for William Williams grave.

Larrikins Road, Kumara, hunting for a rock to bring home as a monument to Ann.  - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

Our family travelled to the end of Larrikins Road found a pile of tailings that remained from the old days of gold hunting. Who knows... William may have placed some of those rocks there himself. He raised his family in Kumara with his wife Sarah, and carried on the legacy of Ann through his decedents' veins.

While thinking this, I chose a rock from the pile, covered coastal lichen, and brought it home to Timaru with us. I would like that rock to sit beside Samuel William’s grave with a brass plaque, as a nod in recognition and remembrance to his mother. Because ultimately, while the history books note the achievements and the firsts, as a mother I feel our greatest gift to the world are the children we raise.

Screen shot of the Larrikins gold claim, and the end of the road with a pile of tailings where a special rock was taken for a memorial to Ann. - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

West Coast New Zealand History (6th Jan 2024). Map of Kumara 1891 including Larrikins. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 12th May 2025 06:52, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/31708 Williams sharp Christchurch attire probably stood out among the moleskin-clad miners, and earned him nickname “Flash Billy.”

I would like to thank Les Jones from Aorangi and Harding Memorials, who with his enthusiasm and experience, we now have a plan. He has generously offered to organise and install a monument for Ann using the rock and gift his time. All we need now is a few donations to help us cover the cost of her plaque to attach to it.

But, the plan doesn't end here... while searching for Ann, I discovered something even more heartbreaking.

If you look up the Timaru District Council Cemetery Records, and search for Row 0, you will find 713 people listed. Row 0 is allocated to those who they know were entombed at the cemetery but don't know exactly where. So there are more than 700 people buried in unmarked pauper graves at the Timaru Cemetery. They were buried with financial help from the government, often without ceremony or recognition. Sometimes they were buried at night. And families were not allowed to erect a headstone. I guess because if they could, everyone would take up the option for a free burial. What I learned was, for many families and friends, there was a deep sense of shame in accepting public assistance, and so families deliberately obscured or withheld information for privacy.

Looking out to the Pauper Grave area where government paid for peoples burials. Roselyn Fauth 2025.

I had no idea this was part of our local history. I had assumed that records were missing, or headstones lost. So when I learned that the lack of records was sometimes intentional, I felt so sad for those who rest and for those who grieved in those circumstances. That is why I also want to raise a second monument. A memorial for those who lie in unmarked graves by the community. Council permission has been granted. Les has kindly offered to help. The Civic Trust, a registered charity, has offered to receive donations for the project, meaning that donors can claim 33% of their gift back. So we are ready to get cracking and make these two monuments happen. I just need a hand covering the costs of the two brass plaques. I would be deeply grateful for your support. Help us bring Ann’s name back to the surface. Help us honour those whose graves lie unmarked.

Let us remember the mothers, the settlers, the workers, the families, the children, the lost. 

Thank you.

Help Us Honour Ann Williams and Timaru’s Forgotten

Please email Roselyn Fauth for information on how to donate. She can give you the bank account for the Civic Trust to make a donation via online banking. 

The Timaru Civic Trust is a registered New Zealand charity, so anyone who donates can file a Donation Tax Credit (Rebate) with the IRD to request 33% of their donation back. Once your donation is received, a Donation Receipt for this purpose can be provided upon request.

Thank you 

Roselyn Fauth (nee Cloake)

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The monument to those who rest in unmarked gracves is planned to be erected in this space on the edge of the free ground area, where many people go past on the Coastal Track.

Some photos and more information if you want to go into a further deep dive on Ann and her family's lives.

Next time you're in town... see if you can spy a plaque, for the 1851 hut that was built for the Rhodes, and transformed for a home for the Williams family - Timaru's first European permanent residents...

In 1851 Williams helped the Rhodes move stock to South Canterbury.  And oversaw the initial settlement and livestock management. A daub cottage was constructed by Rhodes by the landing site for ships, a the foot of what is now George Street. They used an area by the sheltered shore at Timaru, the site of an abandoned whaling station, to land stores and ship wool. At first George managed the Levels from near Timaru's pre-breakwater landing place, and there he brought his bride, Elizabeth Wood, whom he had married on 31 May 1854 at Lyttelton. The couple then moved out to the Levels, where they built a house and raised a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1855 some sheep were stolen from the Levels Station, by James Mackenzie. George's life was productive but brief. He died of typhoid fever at Purau on 18 June 1864.

The 1851 hut measured 20 feet (6.1 m) with a steeply pitched roof and was initially a home for Rhodes and his wife. A lean-to was added to provide more space for the family. By 1857, Rhodes leased the hut to Samuel Williams, an American whaler working for him. Williams received a publican’s licence in 1858 and ran the Timaru Hotel from the hut. He relocated to new premises in 1860, which burnt down in 1862, leading to the hotel’s relocation to Great South Road (now Stafford Street). Peter Daniel McRae acquired Section 10 and built the Landing Service Building (McRae’s Stone Store) in 1870 which was used for wool and grain storage until 1984. Rhodes’ original hut remained until about 1873, when it was demolished.

In 1984, the Timaru City Council purchased the bluestone Landing Service building and considered demolishing it and using the area as a carpark. The NZ Historic Places Trust placed a protection order to save it. The Timaru Civic Trust was formed, and the building was sold to them for a $1 1988–1989 along with a long-term land lease. With a community effort supporting the Timaru Civic Trust, the building was reopened in 1997, and repurposed for community events and now includes restaurant, function venue, the Information Centre and Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art Centre.

It is fitting as the land owners of the site where Ann once lived, to support the monument project. Thank you to the board for their support.

George St and Stafford St Intersection ca1871 -1878. South Canterbury Museum

A photo os the Old Landing Service Building around 1983. South Canterbury Museum - Catalogue Number2014/008.010

Landing Services building McRae's Grain Store, (commonly now know as the Landing Service Building), on Station Street, Timaru, probably taken in the mid 1980s. Taken before the Timaru Civic Trust, formed in 1986, refurbished and reopened the building in late 1990. South Canterbury Museum 2022/110.11

Photograph of Flockton Well near the corner of George St and the Great North Road (Stafford St), between April and December 1868. The Club Hotel was built to replace the Timaru Hotel which burned down only a few years after it opened by a disgruntled customer who was tried and sentenced to death for arson. The Timaru Hotel is where Ann collapsed and died from Apoplexy, November 18th, 1860. In 1868 The Great Fire of Timaru fanned by a nor wester, tore down the main street and in just three hours destroyed three-quarters of the central business district's shops, offices, stores and homes. Sadly, the Club Hotel was also burned to ashes and rebuilt in brick and stone. The brick for the Club Hotel was made on site from the loess cut away from the cliff there. Loess is dust blown in from glaciers carving rocks).

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 proprietors of the day provided food in generous measure and devised many forms of entertainment to attract patronage.

The Club Hotels neighbourhood in 1874. The Williams Cottage is gone the Timaru Landing Service Building we know today is called Cains Landing Service. Over the Road from the Club Hotel is Gabities Corner, now the Oxford, The Post Office and Timaru Herald and the Criterion Hotel. On the adjacent corner was The Bank of New Zealand. 

Detail, 1875-6 Timaru, Wises Directory-Map. Auckland Librarues Heritage Collections: Map 6537a. No known copyright 

Detai lof Geoge Street and surrounds 1875-6_Timaru _Wises Directory - Auckland Librarues Heritage Collections Map 7-C1660 - no known copyright - Detail Mo-known-copyright

This historic photograph, taken between April and December 1868, captures a westward view along George Street in Timaru, near the corner with the Great North Road (now Stafford Street). In the foreground on the left is Flockton Well, with Mr Haugh Senior standing on the well and his son Robert in front of it. Prominent buildings include the original wooden Bank of New Zealand on the corner (centre), Clarkson and Turnbull across the road (left of centre), the Club Hotel beside the well, and the Russell Ritchie & Co. building on the right-hand corner. The image, mounted on a card with handwritten labels identifying each building, is titled “View Up George St., Timaru” and provides a rare visual record of early central Timaru and its key landmarks during the late 1860s. South Canterbury Museum Catalogue Number2102

Timaru, 1875, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers, Alfred Burton. Te Papa (C.014371)

Timaru Landmark Club Hotel Closes Doors (01 Jul 1970). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 21/05/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/591

The hunt for Ann, actually started out as a hunt for whaling history... after learning how to find the records with the help of history hunting experts, we can't find her grave anywhere. I think it would be nice to remember her. 

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

Tony Rippin at South Canterbury Museum giving Roselyn Fauth a quick hand to triangulate people's burials around the time ann passed to see if there is a pattern. The process threw a few questions and theories, but nothing to hang our hat on. Photography By Roselyn Fauth 2025

Date and Place of Death: November 16th, 1860, Timaru. Age: 35. Rank or Profession: Publican's Wife. Cause of Death: Apoplexy. ;Signature, Description, and Residence of Informant: Rich'd Smith (Barman, Timaru). When Registered: November 18th, 1860.  Signature of Registrar: B Woollcombe (Government Registrar for Timaru) - Source: New Zealand "Registration Act, 1858"

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. Photography by Roselyn Cloake with permission of the South Canterbury Museum 2025. William is recorded above. In 1860 Morris Corey and Robert Boubius became the first individuals to be buried in the Timaru Cemetery following a drowning incident off the coast of Timaru. They were part of a group of six experienced boatmen who had emigrated from England to Lyttelton in 1859 and were employed by Le Cren and Cain to work on their landing service at Timaru. The group included John Wilds, Morris Corey, Robert Boubius, Henry Clayson, William John Roberts and John J. Bowles. Boat handling was a perilous occupation and Henry Clayson also drowned shortly after arriving. He was replaced by Phillip Foster, another boatman from Deal.

- 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.

Robert Cole is listed on the governments death record of Ann as the witness to her death.

Hunting through records and cemeteries, pauper graves in the distance. Center, the St Mary's Death Records her death November 19 1960. Right: Ann's husband Samuel Williams grave.

Sam was buried in 1883 a year after the cemetery chapel was built. His grave would have been very close behind the chapel.

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?

Arial Photo by Whites Aviation of the Timaru Cemetery- National Library PA Group 00080 WA 71959 F

Hunting for Ann at the Timaru Cemetery, looking towards the North, where the first recorded graves of the 1860s are. - Roselyn Fauth 2025

The Fauth Family visiting Greymouth from Timaru, on a history hunt at the 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.

From whaling connections through his father, to being part of Timaru’s first pub, losing his mother at a young age, working as a carpenter in Christchurch, and raising nine children while toiling in the goldfields, imagine the change he witnessed. His life is just one of many stories of early European settlers who helped lay the foundations of community life we know today. From sleeping in a gin cradle on the East Coast to becoming the West Coast’s Fancy Billy, a goldmining Larrikin from Timaru, his journey must have had grit and spirit to make the most of those times.

William Williams, was born in Timaru in October 1857 and died in Greymouth in 1936. William would have be around six years old at the time he experienced his parents Timaru Hotel burn down, two years after the hotel opened and his mother Ann died. He worked for a time in Christchurch as a carpenter, then walked to Kumara in the 1870s in search of gold. One of the stories says veteran miners deceive them about the best spots to go hunting, but they strike gold anyway. Their claim is dubbed “The Larikins”. William was one of those infamous trio of "Larrikins" and was nicknamed "Flash Billy" Williams due to his Christchurch attire. Their gold discovery was significant in the area, during the second to last New Zealand gold rush in Kumara.

William married Sarah Ann SHIMPLETON (Born: May 31, 1862 in Tasmania, Australia, Died: June 23, 1939, Greymouth, New Zealand). They Married: December 24, 1879, Kumara, West Coast, New Zealand

Left: Signpost for the Larrikins Road. Center: Section of an information sign at Kumara about the Larrikins. Right: looking down Larrikins Road. Larrikins was one of the most prosperous gold-bearing leads in the Kumara district. Located near Dillmanstown on New Zealand’s West Coast. Mining operations at Larrikins Lead continued into the 1890s, although the workforce gradually declined from five men to three by 1896.- Photography by Roselyn Fauth 2025

Exploring the Kumara bush on a wander into Londonderry Rock. There are lots of tailings and mining gear left behind from the days when the gold rush was on and Kumara was a craze of people hunting for gold deep below the forrest floor in the glacial gravels.

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West Coast New Zealand History (17th Dec 2022). Kumara from the air showing Goldfields and Dillmanstown and Larrikins.1959.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 12th May 2025 06:38, from ;https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/31706

The Larrikins was the name given to one of the richest gold leads on the Kumara Goldfield, located near Dillmanstown on New Zealand’s West Coast. There are a few stories on how they got their name, one was when they discovered in the early days of the Kumara Gold Rush by a mischievous group of miners known for causing trouble in town, breaking windows and committing minor crimes. These antics led authorities (notably, the “Man in Blue”) to investigate them, but the group had fled to the bush, where they began digging for gold. Ironically, their rebellious escape led to the discovery of valuable gold, which sparked a mining boom at the site that came to be called Larrikins Lead. The troublemakers became folk heroes, and their mischief was soon forgotten. The main figures associated with the claim were Frank Payne, Sam Deans, and Billy Williams. Their team, called “Payne and Party,” worked the site using substantial water power from Holmes’ water race. Mining operations at Larrikins Lead continued into the 1890s, although the workforce gradually declined from five men to three by 1896.

Discovery & Rush Era (1860s–1870s)

The Hokitika gold discovery (mid-1860s) launched a wave of prospectors into the West Coast. Kumara’s gold was discovered by sly-groggers near the Teremakau River in the 1870s. News spread quickly, drawing thousands from Australia, Otago, and Canterbury, including Māori war veterans. Kumara rapidly expanded from a handful of diggers to a population of nearly 5,000. Richard John Seddon arrived early, establishing a store and hotel, and would later enter politics. Kumara’s survival depended on supply routes from Hokitika; a tramline to Greymouth was built but roads remained rough and unreliable. The town was planned with a grid layout, wide streets, and public amenities such as hotels, dancing halls, and business centres. Surrounding settlements; Dillmans, Cape Terrace, Greenstone, and Westbrook, contributed to a thriving local economy.

Williams married, raised a family in Larrikins, and became a local identity. His group contributed to Kumara’s early growth and community spirit.

FOR SALE. ONE FIFTH SHARE in SHRIVES and PARTY’S EXTENDED CLAIM, at the break. For further particulars, apply to WILLIAM WILLIAMS at the claim, or at bis residence, Hillmans Road.  - Kumara Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7916, 5 September 1896, Page 2

Medinella Fauth points to the plaque on the Timaru Landing Services Building - Photo Roselyn Fauth. When the Williams family vacated the cottage to move into the Timaru Hotel, it was occupied by Captain Scotte, the Rhodes’ business agent. In 1867, it passed into the hands of S. S. Griffin, who held it until 1872, when it was sold for fourteen pounds and demolished to make way for a commercial building.

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 Storekeeper, 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. William 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 the Timaru Hotel, it was occupied by Captain Scott, Rhodes' Brothers Agency. In 1867 it passed into the hands of S S Griffin who retained it until 1872, when it was sold for fourteen pounds and demolished to make way for commercial progress. It's such a shame the cottage wasn't retained for its legacy and built history.

In 1859, at 42 years old, Samuel Williams was one of the first three men to board the Strathallan to welcome Timaru’s new settlers, alongside Mr. Woollcombe and Captain Cain. A diary from that day recounts how immigrant women, sunburnt from washing clothes on the beach, sought help from “Old Sam’s,” where Ann Williams, described as a kind Irish lady, offered them a mystery remedy in a pannikin—suggesting they rub a little inside and outside, advice they half-followed. By 1860, Samuel opened Timaru’s first permanent hotel, the Timaru Hotel (now the Carlton Hotel), in a building erected by George Rhodes, with Williams owning the furnishings.

By January 1860, 40-60 Houses had sprung up in Timaru (one year after arrival). The population was recorded as 200.

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 a 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. 

Rebecca Hobbs (nee Williams) geni.com/Rebecca-Hobbs  Rebecca Williams Hobbs, Born 1854. Died 12 Feb 1896 (aged 42) Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand. Burial Linwood Cemetery, Linwood, Christchurch. Plot, Block 27. Plot 115

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 is buried in section 24 an unmarked grave. The cemetery was damaged 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.

William Williams grave at Greymouth

Here you can see the boat launch at the foot of George Street, the Landings Service Building and beside, in the center the Rhodes cottage.  Landing Services Building and Rhodes' hut at the foot of George Street, c.1870 photograph believed to be by William Ferrier (University of Otago Hocken Digital Collection C/N E6970/9). Section from Hocken Snapshop hocken.recollect.co.nz/24023

The original 1851 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.

Retrolens arial photography survey of the George and Turnbull Street Corner 26 2 1958 - Cropped Image 

Retrolens arial photography survey of the George and Turnbull Street Corner 23 5 1938 - Cropped Image

Shore change from 1851 compared to 1958. Amazing how far the shore has built out since the cottage was built by the shore in 1851. This railway survey is over a 1958 arial survey photograph.

Timaru Landing Services Building has a plaque on the wall for the first European House in Timaru. Samuel Williams lived there with his family. 

The grave of Timaru Whaler, Samuel Willams (Yankie Sam). He died at Timaru on June 29, 1883, at the age of 64. A bluestone monument erected by his friends describes him as the oldest resident of Timaru.

Williams sister Rebecca married George William Hobbs, a blacksmith and farrier. Together they have six children. Rebecca died in 1896, aged 42, and is buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch. We went to find her grave, but while her plot is noted on a map, there is no headstone there.

Rebecca and Williams had a half sister, Emily WILLIAMS. Sam married the children's governess when she was 19, in 1861, after Ann passed away, and had his third child with her, when she was two, Mary left Sam and moved to Hokitika with their daughter. Emily was born on October 07 1862, Timaru. Died July 23 1942 Gore. Emily married Arthur James GIBB April 12 1888, All Saints Church, Dunedin. Emily's mother (Sam's second wife) was Mary Ann GARDINER. Born: 1845 in Surrey, England. Died: January 17, 1888, Dunedin. They married: March 02, 1861, St Mary’s Church, Timaru, NZ

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.

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 erected by his friends, has no mention of Ann. Right Elizabeth's grave has a grave for her son who died a year before Ann in 1859. Was Elizabeths son buried here before Ann?

LEFT A try pot used at the Weller Bros Whaling Station near this place 1839-1840. The Wellers’ workers caught whales and rendered the blubber down into oil in try pots for two seasons. Members of the whaling gang were the first white men to live even temporarily in South Canterbury. RIGHT Looking up towards the viaduct near the Evans St and Wai-iti Rd intersection, where the stream runs underground. Photograph courtesy of Roselyn Fauth

Whales Creek Railway Viaduct at the foot of Wai-iti Rd and Evans Street, Timaru, New Zealand, 1904-1915, Timaru, by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (PS.001051) 

Some years ago, Councillor Mathers, on behalf of the Timaru City Council, acquired an old try-pot that had once been used at Patiti Point Station. This, along with other relics of the primal industry, is to be found on a concrete pedestal in Caroline Bay Domain. It could be that those whaling implements were handled by Samuel Williams. Adverse reports on the 1840 whaling season, coupled with the financial difficulties of Weller Brothers, Sydney, were accepted as the reason for the closing down of their Timaru Station about March 1841—eleven months after its establishment. The whole of the shore party had of necessity to disperse to other whaling posts, some going to Otago, but the majority went to Banks Peninsula where they were engaged by Hempleman at his Paraki Station. Williams accompanied the party north, where his experience as a whaler was again in demand, for he was given charge of the Island Bay Fishery then owned by the Greenwoods. In 1848, he transferred to George Rhodes' station at Goashore (Akaroa), where he remained until his departure for Australia.

Whale Pot at Patiti Point, Timaru. - Photography by Roselyn Fauth 2025.

FDM-0690-G-TimaruFromTheAir-Caroline Bay harbour and town-DougMill-air transport and survey business from a hangar at Hobsonville Point between 1927-1937- Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections FDM-0690-G

Plot quest for early mother’s resting place 01 June 2025
The Timaru Herald. 27 May 2025. Rachael Comer

Roselyn Fauth shows a rock she found on a recent trip to Larrikins on the West Coast that she hopes to include in a memorial she is planning at Timaru Cemetery. Special thank you to Nola Towgood who compiled an incredible book on the Williams family. I wanted to reach out to her to thank her personally and was saddened to read she passed away in 2015. I saw comments online with her obituary that she had dedicated two years of research into the William's family who the descendants were very grateful to her for. The Book is available to read at the South Canterbury Museum Archive. https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-timaru-herald/20250527/281483577305052

Nola Towgods family history book on the Williams Family at the South Canterbury Museum, compiled from 20 plus years of research. Nola is a descendant 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 twp great grandaughters, Ava and Tilly. 

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 perchesto 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.

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, age 19, 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. In 1868 Rhodes town and Govenment Town merged into  a larger municipal area, which began expanding north and west, incorporating surrounding communities. 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.

According to the book "Samuel Williams Whaller/Publican, First Permanent Resident of Timaru, New Zealand, History and Descendants, written by Nola Towgood

"In the 1830s, when Sam arrived in Australia, he was engaged by Messrs Weller Brothers, shipowners in Sydney, a trading firm with extensive whaling interests in Otago. In 1838, Weller Bros. decided to establish a station at Timaru, and Sam, as part of the original party, came out in the firm's sailing vessel Caroline. A small party appears to have been operating there in 1839, but the main party brought over from Australia in the barque Sarah Ann Elizabeth did not arrive until April 1840. Octavius Harwood, foreman and clerk at Weller’s Otago Station, records Samuel Williams as being leader of this party and boat steersman and harpooner at the new station—a rather responsible position for one so young.

Some years ago, Councillor Mathers, on behalf of the Timaru City Council, acquired an old try-pot that had once been used at Patiti Point Station. This, along with other relics of the primal industry, is to be found on a concrete pedestal in Caroline Bay Domain. It could be that those whaling implements were handled by Samuel Williams. Adverse reports on the 1840 whaling season, coupled with the financial difficulties of Weller Brothers, Sydney, were accepted as the reason for the closing down of their Timaru Station about March 1841—eleven months after its establishment. The whole of the shore party had of necessity to disperse to other whaling posts, some going to Otago, but the majority went to Banks Peninsula where they were engaged by Hempleman at his Paraki Station. Williams accompanied the party north, where his experience as a whaler was again in demand, for he was given charge of the Island Bay Fishery then owned by the Greenwoods. In 1848, he transferred to George Rhodes' station at Goashore (Akaroa), where he remained until his departure for Australia.

The year 1849 saw preparations under way for the reception of the Canterbury Association Pioneers. Their agent and chief surveyor, Captain Joseph Thomas, then engaged on a comprehensive survey of the Canterbury Block, required first-hand information concerning the resources of the land extending south of the Association’s territory. He requested the enterprising surveyor Charles Torlesse to undertake this task. Before setting out on his mission, Torlesse consulted Samuel Williams, then living at Goashore, Akaroa Peninsula, regarding the nature of the land in South Canterbury.

Upon his return in April 1849, Torlesse stayed with Captain Stokes at Akaroa Peninsula, where he wrote his report which included an account of the magnificent tracts of sheep country awaiting development in South Canterbury. Rhodes’ Station on the Peninsula was a pivotal point for travellers in those days, so we conclude the brothers had from Torlesse a first-hand account of land opportunities in the regions he explored. This report, coupled with the convincing opinion of Williams and other whalers, influenced the Rhodes to invest in the potentialities of the Timaru district and make their exploratory and notable journey south. They were seeking land well away from the hampering restrictions of the Canterbury Association, which under its charter would exercise jurisdiction over Banks Peninsula where the Rhodes' property was located.

No one knew better than Samuel Williams the extent and potential of the vast unoccupied areas of South Canterbury. In 1850, he escorted his friends George and probably Barney Rhodes overland to the first-class pastoral areas in the vicinity of Timaru. Afterwards, they sought a licence for 150,000 acres in all, and it is reported that Samuel Williams, for a short period, was caretaker of this property. Although neither by training nor inclination was he fitted for a farmer, in some measure it can be claimed that he played a part in the establishment of the pastoral industry of South Canterbury.

The discovery of gold at Ballarat in 1851 fired Williams' adventurous spirit once more and no doubt he trekked to Australia that year. There is no record of his being married before he left New Zealand, and as his daughter Rebecca was born in Ballarat in 1854, we must conclude he married Ann Manry shortly after his arrival in Australia.

Like many another on the goldfields, Williams was undoubtedly disappointed and disillusioned and sought the earliest opportunity to return to Timaru. Henry Sewell, financial adviser to the Canterbury Association, records in his journal (February 1856) that he spent a night alone in Rhodes' old cottage, so we assume that it was after this date that Williams arrived. George Rhodes, then living at “The Levels,” welcomed his old friend and gave him the daub cottage on Caroline Bay beach. Here, in this first dwelling, to Timaru’s first permanent residents, Samuel and Ann Williams, was born the first white child, William Williams, on September 22, 1856. His cradle was a gin case.

"Colonel O. A. Gillespie, in his book South Canterbury: A Record of Settlement, gives a clear picture of this first pioneer cottage. He writes that when George Rhodes and his employees erected a small cottage on Timaru Beach in 1851, there was not a single habitation between Lake Ellesmere and the Waitaki River. This was the first house erected in South Canterbury and was a simple structure of battens tied to posts, the outside plastered with clay and the roof thatched with tussock. It stood just south of the seaward end of George Street in front of the present Loan and Mercantile Agency Company’s store. The site was indicated by a suitable plaque placed in George Street in 1955.

The following year, 1857, was notable, for Archdeacon Harper on his first journey south from Christchurch to Moeraki was hospitably received by the entire white population of Timaru—Samuel Williams, his wife, and son. The Archdeacon makes no mention of the daughter Rebecca, who must have been somewhere in the vicinity. This proves that the old whaler and his family were the first permanent citizens of Timaru and the fact that they were living in the township’s first primitive dwelling is of double historical significance. In his “Letters” dated September 1857, Harper writes: “I rode towards the sea coast not liking to lose my way inland and coming on a bay enclosed by low cliffs, found a solitary hut occupied by an old whaler, his wife and son.” Mrs Williams gave him dinner and he records also: “Sam Williams showed me some of the try-pots still remaining on the beach and I spent a pleasant hour with him listening to his yarns of old days.” Before the Archdeacon proceeded on his way to Waimate, Williams gave him directions to avoid swamps and creeks along the track. It was Archdeacon Harper who christened Williams’ son.

The first sheep were brought to the Rhodes’ “Levels” Station in 1851 and thereafter Canterbury land was rapidly opened up for pastoral purposes. Stations had their quota of shepherds, farm hands, and servants, all of whom formed the nucleus of a scattered township which was surveyed by Government officials in 1856. Up till this time, the duty of supplying the travelling public with accommodation fell upon station owners, but the steady increase in the number of land seekers, Government officials, surveyors etc., created a demand for proper accommodation houses. To meet the needs of this growing population, Samuel Williams and his wife converted their cob cottage into a general store and offered accommodation to a number of early travellers, among whom were Henry Sewell, Dr Rayner, Charles Torlesse, Samuel Hewlings, Mr Woollcombe, and many others. Itinerant travellers had good reason to remember the high prices charged for a night’s board and lodging, which consisted of tea, mutton, leavened bread, and a couple of blankets for a doss down in rough bunks. If those were occupied, there was no alternative but the bare floor.

In April the following year, Williams applied for and was granted the first publican’s licence. In 1858 there were only four accommodation houses in the Timaru district—those of John Giles at Orari, Joseph Deans at Arowhenua, Henry Cain, and Samuel Williams of Timaru. The first three were granted Provincial accommodation licences, but Samuel Williams, who had been operating as a publican (without a licence), was finally legitimised.

It was during the middle 1860s that things went awry in Williams’ domestic affairs. About 1860 his wife Ann (née Manry) collapsed and died at the doorway of Timaru Hotel. Her death was a great loss to him, depriving him of the stability and sound guidance his restless nature required. In 1861, he married Mary Ann Gardner, the governess of his children. Of this marriage, there was one child—Emily. The disparity of 25 years between their ages created situations that proved too much for the old whaler. Disharmony followed, and Williams resorted to the Court to claim outstanding debts. In February 1865, he sold his Timaru Hotel interest to John Melton and left the town for some years. The Deed of Sale is now regarded as an historical record. It has been framed and is exhibited in the Timaru Public Library.

Later, Williams became licensee of a hotel at Birdling Flat and Hotel Wellington in Christchurch (now part of P & D Duncan buildings). Both were prosperous businesses in those rough and pioneering days when men drank heavily and hotels were the only places of entertainment. He remained in Christchurch for some years but ultimately returned to his old haunts where he died. He was buried in Timaru, just inside the cemetery gates and to the rear of the caretaker’s house. A blue stone over his grave states that he died June 29th 1883, age 64 years. The stone was erected by a few friends of the deceased, who was the oldest resident and pioneer of Timaru."

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. 

1820-1895 :Tauamotu. Timaru. Camp of natives windbound. 17 October 1848 - Looking south along the beach line near Timaru towards a figure on the beach at a small campsite with a boat drawn up on shore. Mantell's three Maori porters are walking above the beach on flat land studded with cabbage trees towards a low hill - natlib.govt.nz/134166

The whaling industry played a vital role in shaping Timaru’s early economy and development. From the whaling ships that probably gave Caroline Bay its name, to the wreck of the Prince Consort, the history of the sea is still alive in the town. The playground near the whaling station and the ship barrel inside the ship structure are reminders of this fascinating past. By understanding these stories, students can better appreciate the local heritage and the ways in which history influences our surroundings.

Hall-Jones, Frederick George., Early Timaru: some historical records of the pre-settlement period, annotated and analysed.. Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 01/03/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/161

Red Map. Plans of Native Reserves in Canterbury - Caroline Bay, Native Reserve 8 - 10 chains to 1 inch (1:7920), Item Code:R25179855 - https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/IE40916334

First edition of the Timaru Herald. It was printed in a small room, a detached kitchen in the George Street cottage on a hand press. It was printed once a week. At the time there was a "rough and ready" settlement of about 150 houses and 1000 people paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/THD19140611.2.64.10

In the hunt for the grave of Ann Williams I found her death notice in the Lyttleton Times. I was asked by WuHoo Timaru Facebook followers why the local papers did report her death as well. So here's a blog to explain. In the 1860s Timaru's news was reported by newspapers outside of the region. Papers like Lyttleton were acused of slanting the story to support their harbourworks. It was time that Timaru took the propoganda into their own hands, and so on 11 June 1864 the first editions was printed. The Herald was founded by Alfred George Horton and Ingram Shrimpton. The first issue was printed on 11 June 1864. The original publication was weekly. The first edition was printed in the Williams Kitchen! "First edition of the Timaru Herald. It was printed in a small room, a detached kitchen in the George Street cottage on a hand press. You can see early editions here: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/timaru-herald

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18008, 13 July 1928, Page 1 (Supplement) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/timaru-herald/1928/07/13/17

Elizabeth Wood married George Rhodes on the 31 May 1854 at Lyttelton. A few weeks after their wedding the couple headed south, enduring many hardships as they crossed the plains to George's station 'The Levels'. George died in 1864 and in 1867 the widowed Elizabeth remarried local lawyer Arthur Perry. Elizabeth passed away in 1890.

This is the best description I could find to imagine what the cottage was like:

The Levels homestead during the late 1850s. South Canterbury Museum, 2015/154.074. 

Looking North over Timaru City and its coastline. Once the stomping ground of whalers and then home to Sam, Ann, and the Williams kids William and Rebecca. Photography By Geoff Cloake

The grave of Samuel Williams errected for him by his friends. Timaru Cemetery. General Section, Row 9, Plot 10.

February 19th, 1865. Estate of Samuel Williams to Be Auctioned Following Court-Ordered Sale. THE SUPREME COURT – AUCTION NOTICE. Messrs. Stubbs & King have been instructed by the Receiver of the estate of Samuel Williams, publican of Timaru, to sell by public auction the entire contents of his estate. The auction will take place on Thursday, February 19th, 1865, at the Timaru Hotel, commencing promptly at 12 o’clock noon. Items for sale include all stock-in-trade, furniture, utensils, goods and chattels, as well as one horse and a few head of cattle. Terms: Cash. - Timaru Herald 

8 April 1940 LANDING OF EARLY SETTLERS  During Timaru's centennial celebrations, the historic landing of early settlers from the Strathallan was vividly re-enacted, spotlighting burly pioneer Samuel Williams, who had played a pivotal role in the region’s founding by persuading George Rhodes to settle at the Levels and operating an early accommodation house; his legacy was honored alongside other key figures in a richly staged pageant that brought Timaru's early colonial spirit to life. - Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21623, Page 8 

Sam and Ann's Timaru Hotel was destroyed in 1862 by fire. The Rhodes owned the building and Sam owned the chattles inside.
"The Timaru Hotel, occupied by Sam Williams, was destroyed by fire on March 7th, with Williams losing everything while heroically saving his lodgers, and Hugh Williams was later arrested and charged with arson following an inquest. We have received an authentic account of the destruction of the Timaru Hotel, occupied by Mr. S. Williams, which was consumed by fire at about 2 o'clock in the morning on March 7th. The fire was first discovered by the cook of the hotel, who immediately raised the alarm. However, the flames had already reached the roof above the verandah rooms. Despite attempts to extinguish it by the many townspeople who quickly gathered, it soon became clear that the fire could not be controlled. Efforts were then focused on saving Mr. Beswick’s store. There were fifteen people sleeping in the hotel that night. Though everyone managed to escape, the dense smoke and uncertainty about the fire’s origin left no opportunity to retrieve personal belongings. Most guests suffered some degree of loss. The greatest loss fell upon Sam Williams, who is now absolutely ruined, having saved only his books. He could have recovered some property but instead dedicated all his energy to rescuing the hotel’s occupants. He is to be commended for prioritizing human life over personal possessions. The fire originated in a small parlour at the back of the hotel, partially formed by the verandah. This room had not been used for a day or two. When first seen, flames were emerging from the window and roof. Though there was little or no wind, the fire spread so rapidly that within two hours, only two blackened chimneys remained—standing like memorials to the building’s destruction. The building belonged to Messrs. Rhodes and was insured, but the furniture, which belonged to Sam Williams, was not. Suspicion of arson quickly fell on a man named Hugh Williams, who had been heard threatening Sam Williams the previous night with phrases like "I'll blow him to blazes." He was apprehended by police the next morning and claimed he had spent the night sleeping under a tussock. A Coroner’s inquest was held the following day. Several witnesses, including Hugh Williams, were examined. All agreed the fire started in the aforementioned parlour. The hotel’s staff testified that no one had entered the room after 10 or 11 o’clock that night. Mr. Williams himself had shut the window when closing up for the night—but when the fire was discovered, it was found wide open. Further testimony highlighted repeated threats made by Hugh Williams, as well as his odd behavior during the fire. After hearing all the evidence from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the jury returned a verdict: “The fire was the act of an incendiary, and in their opinion, Hugh Williams was the man who set fire to the building.” Hugh Williams has since been examined by the Resident Magistrate at Timaru and committed for trial at the next court sessions." - Lyttelton Times, Volume XVII, Issue 979, 29 March 1862, Page 4

Medinella Fauth with a piece of whale bone found at Patiti Point - Photo Roselyn Fauth

Medinella Fauth very excited to have the South Canterbury Museum staff identify her find as whale bone.

Whalebone Corner: Corner of Taiko, Claremont and Fairview Roads, west of Timaru. This intersection is known as 'Whalebones Corner'. Ever thought, if I stuck some whale bones near my house, it would make it easier to find? Worn by weather for over 100 years, you can see the remnants of four whale bones which were brought out from the whaling station on Caroline Bay about 1870. Mr John Machintoch, who built the house on the farm Kingsborough about the tome instructed John Webster to collect the bones on a dray and to place them a the intersection so the visitors could be easily directed to Kingsborough. Since then, this intersection has always been known as The Whalebones Corner. (Take care is stopping here and park well away from the intersection).

Māori and Marine Mammals. Māori did not traditionally hunt whales but harvested meat and bone from stranded animals. Whalebone was used for tools and ornaments such as rei puta made from sperm whale teeth. Māori oral traditions, including the story of Paikea, portray whales as ancestors or navigational guides. Sperm whales were valued by later whalers for spermaceti, used in lamps and lubricants, and for ambergris, used in perfume.

Early Seal Hunting. Upon arrival in Aotearoa around 750 years ago, Māori ancestors hunted seals extensively, leading to a significant decline in seal populations prior to European contact. By the late 1700s, approximately 1.8 million fur seals remained, but within 50 years of European arrival, numbers had fallen to around 10,000.

First European Contact. For most Māori, early contact was with sealers and whalers rather than naval explorers like James Cook. These early Pākehā often resembled shipwreck survivors: sunburnt, weather-beaten, and wearing salt-encrusted, bloodstained clothing. They came from a wide range of regions including Europe, Asia, the Pacific, America, and Australia. In 1773, James Cook and his crew hunted seals, using the skins for rigging, the fat for oil, and the meat for food. Chinese and later British techniques for processing seal fur made it highly valuable, sparking a commercial rush. Between 1804 and 1809, 1.5 million seal skins were exported from New Zealand. The first recorded commercial sealing trip was made by the Britannia in 1792, which left sealers at Dusky Sound. These men often lived in harsh and isolated conditions, sometimes stranded for years. Sealing was secretive, physically demanding, and poorly documented. Many sealers were former convicts or stowaways from Australia. Sealers were the first Europeans to arrive in large numbers, particularly in Fiordland and Rakiura (Stewart Island) during the 1790s. Their presence was generally temporary and focused on extracting as many seal skins as possible.

Development of Whaling. Whaling was dangerous and involved pursuing whales in small boats, a practice known as the "Nantucket sleighride." The industry was vital to the global economy, as whale oil fuelled the Industrial Revolution. Offshore, or pelagic, whalers hunted primarily sperm whales. Shore-based whalers targeted southern right whales, which were slow-moving, buoyant, and calved close to shore. These operations launched longboats from coastal stations and processed the whales on land. The first known whaler to reach New Zealand was Eber Bunker in 1791. In the late 1820s, Jacky Guard identified rich whaling grounds in Cook Strait.

Interactions Between Māori and Sealers. Sealers traded food and flax with southern Māori and some became permanent members of Māori communities. The term Pākehā Māori refers to Europeans who lived among Māori, often marrying into local iwi and acting as translators or intermediaries. Some acquired high status and received moko, as in the case of Barnet Burns. Not all relationships were peaceful. The Sealers' War (1810–1821) between southern Ngāi Tahu and sealers resulted in around 74 deaths and the destruction of several settlements. Sealing also disrupted Māori and Moriori access to traditional food and clothing sources.

Growth and Decline of the Whaling Industry. Whaling became one of New Zealand’s earliest major industries, with both offshore and shore-based operations beginning in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Ship-based whalers, mostly from Britain, America, and France, hunted sperm whales in offshore waters. Shore whaling stations were established along the east coast of the South Island and in parts of the North Island, targeting southern right whales in coastal bays and harbours. The first shore station in New Zealand was set up at Dusky Sound in 1829. Others followed in locations such as Cloudy Bay, Otago, Banks Peninsula, and Timaru. Māori played an essential role in the industry as crew members, traders, and through intermarriage with European whalers. Their contributions were critical to the success of many whaling stations, and these relationships fostered the development of early bicultural communities. The whaling industry peaked during the 1830s and 1840s. It declined as whale populations were overhunted and economic markets shifted. Whaling continued on a smaller scale into the 20th century until New Zealand banned all whaling in 1964. The legacy of the industry remains in place names, family histories, and cultural stories across Aotearoa.

The Sheltering Place: Yankee Sam of Timaru - whaler, settler, publican (26 Jul 1975). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 21/04/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1096

What happened to Sam's Second wife?

Mary Ann Gardner was a teenage immigrant from Surrey who arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand in 1858 aboard the Indiana with her parents Henry and Caroline Gardner, her sister Sarah, and her brother Henry. Although just thirteen, Mary Ann was curiously classified on the passenger list as a "single woman," hinting at the expectations placed on her as a potential domestic servant. Another sibling, Elizabeth Caroline Gardner, was born the following year in Christchurch, marking the family’s new beginnings in the colony.

Within a few short years, Mary Ann was working as a governess in Timaru for widower Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams. I dont know when she started working for himm but I assume it was after his first wife Ann passed away. At sixteen, Mary Ann became his second wife and stepmother to his two young children, Rebecca and William. She and Sam had one daughter together, Emily, born in 1862.

The marriage didn't work out, and Mary Ann eventually left Sam, taking Emily with her. By the late 1860s she had formed a relationship with James Coles, a butcher from Somerset known for driving the first cattle across Arthur’s Pass. Together, they had four children: James Edward, Blanche Hayman, George Henry, and Henry George. After James Coles died in 1878, Mary Ann raised her children between Hokitika and Dunedin, enduring personal loss, economic pressure, and family separation. Her eldest son James died young, while her youngest, Henry George, later served as Town Clerk of Hokitika for two decades.

Mary Ann’s parents also faced challenges. Henry Gardner ran a bakery in Sandietown near Timaru and died in 1899. His grave is not far from Sam's and it is strange to stand there and imaging that he was Sam's father in law for a short time. Mary Ann's sister Caroline moved to Dunedin with their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, who signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition. Elizabeth had children outside of marriage and later wed Philip Henry Brady. Sarah, Mary Ann’s elder sister, seems to have vanished from the records, and her brother Henry does not reappear in known sources that I could find either... well so far anyway.

Mary Ann died in Dunedin in 1888, aged about 43. Although her life was not recorded in headlines or history books, she lived through the upheavals of immigration, widowhood, blended family life, and economic survival. Her story, stitched together through ship manifests, cemetery records, newspaper notices, and the suffrage roll of her mother and sister, reflects the resilience of women whose contributions to colonial life often remain hidden in the margins.

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/suffragist/mrs-e-c-lewis Elizabeth Caroline Gardner was born in 1859 in New Zealand – the daughter of Henry Gardner, a baker, and Caroline. In the late 1870s the family settled in Sandietown, near Timaru, where Henry ran a bakery. Things do not appear to have gone well, as in October 1880 Henry put an advertisement in the paper stating: 'Any debts contracted by Mrs H Gardner and daughter, Elizabeth Gardner will not be acknowledged by Mr Henry Gardner, baker, Timaru.' Elizabeth had two children with William Henry Lewis, a mechanical engineer, in 1881 and 1885. When she signed the suffrage petition Elizabeth was living in Steep St, off Maitland St in Dunedin. Her mother was also living there. Elizabeth married Philip Henry Brady in 1908. William Lewis died at their daughter’s house in 1911 and Elizabeth also died at their daughter’s residence on 28 September 1926. She is buried with William in the Southern Cemetery.

Meet Samuel Williams Father in Law

Screen shot of a Timaru Cemetery Search. Looking for Mary Ann Gardner's father's grave.

Sometimes when visiting a grave you get wee surprises that lead on to more side quests. While the Councils cemetery search told me where to look, I didn't expect to find anyone burried with him, let along another man, a "friend of the family". According to Timaru Cemetery records, James Rae died at the age of 72 and was interred on 15 January 1902 in Section General, Row 3, Plot 220. Reads Patient Sufferers Gone To Rest.

I couldn't believe it when Sue Rine reached out to meet. She is a decendant of Ann Williams - 3 x great granddaughter of Sam and Ann Williams. It was amazing to hear her stories of the family.  - Photo Roselyn Fauth July 2025

Les Jones and Roselyn Fauth Rock Hunting

What would Samuel Williams Think?

William Vance, What would Sam Williams think?: Whale Creek on Bay Being Imprisoned, Water from Stream Attracted Early Whalers to Timaru (Nov 1959). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 21/04/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/6197

Williams Family Timeline & Legacy in Timaru

Early Life and Whaling Career of Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams (1817–1883)
c.1817 – Samuel Williams is born, most likely in Taunton, Massachusetts, USA, to Thomas and Lucy Williams.

1836 – A Samuel Williams is listed as crew aboard the Charles and Henry, a whaler from Edgartown, Massachusetts. This may have been Sam’s first foray into the Pacific whaling industry.

c.1839 – Sam arrives in New Zealand from Australia as part of a whaling crew employed by the Weller Brothers of Sydney. The Wellers were major operators of shore-based whaling stations and had just established one at Timaru (Motumotu/Caroline Bay).

The Weller Brothers and the Timaru Whaling Station

1839 – Weller Brothers, prominent Australian-based whaling entrepreneurs, set up a station at Caroline Bay.

1839–1841 – The station operates successfully, producing over 130 tuns of whale oil in two seasons.

Sam is part of Thomas Brown’s gang, working as a boat-steerer and harpooner. He lives in temporary huts near the Pohatukoko Stream.

1841 – The Weller Brothers go bankrupt. Their whaling operations, including Timaru’s station, are shut down. Sam stays behind in New Zealand.

Work with the Rhodes Brothers and Exploration of South Canterbury
1844–1848 – Sam works for George Rhodes at Island Bay, Akaroa. He becomes a trusted employee and later influences the Rhodes to explore South Canterbury.

1850 – Sam guides George and Barney Rhodes south, helping them discover excellent sheep-grazing country.

The Rhodes Brothers then lease “The Levels,” a massive pastoral run extending between the Opihi and Pareora rivers.

Gold Rush and Marriage in Australia

1851 – Sam travels to the Ballarat goldfields in Victoria, Australia.

Marries Ann Mahoney (also known as Anne Maury), an Irish immigrant from Cork.

1854 – Their first child, Rebecca, is born in Ballarat.

Return to Timaru and Settling

1856 – Sam, Ann, and Rebecca return to Timaru. Sam works again for George Rhodes.

George Rhodes gifts Sam the old beach cottage at the foot of George Street—possibly the first European residence in Timaru.

1856 (Sept 22) – William Williams, the first European child born in Timaru, is born. His cradle is famously a gin crate.

The family convert the cottage into a general store and accommodation house, laying the foundation for Sam’s career as a publican.

Timaru’s First Publican

1858 – Sam receives Timaru’s first publican’s license. The family’s accommodation becomes the Timaru Hotel.

1859 – The Strathallan ship arrives with new settlers; Sam is one of three to greet them.

1860 – Sam builds a new Timaru Hotel (funded by George Rhodes), and it becomes a central social hub.

1860 (Nov 16) – Ann Williams collapses and dies in the door of the Timaru Hotel on George Street, leaving Sam with his two young children.

Second Marriage and Family Turmoil

1861 (March 2) – Sam marries Mary Ann Gardiner, a governess and widow, at St. Mary’s Church, Timaru.

1862 (Oct 7) – Their daughter Emily Williams is born.

c.1865 – Mary Ann leaves Sam, taking two-year-old Emily with her out of Timaru. Their marriage was troubled, marked by a 25-year age gap and discord.

Losses and Relocation

1862 – The Timaru Hotel burns down in an act of arson. A disgruntled customer is convicted and sentenced to death.

Sam rebuilds, but his fortunes wane.

1865 – He sells the hotel to John Melton, then leaves Timaru with his children.

Late 1860s – Sam runs hotels at Birdling’s Flat and Hotel Wellington in Christchurch.

Later Years and Decline

Sam’s later life is marked by hardship and instability. He appears in court several times involving theft and unruly patrons.

Despite support from the Rhodes family, he struggles with drinking and financial issues.

1883 (June 29) – Samuel Williams dies in Timaru, aged 66. A bluestone monument, erected by townspeople, honors him as the oldest resident of Timaru.

Rebecca Williams (1854–1896)

Remains in Christchurch after the family’s move north.

1871 – Marries George William Hobbs, a blacksmith and farrier.

Together they have six children.

Rebecca dies in 1896, aged 42, and is buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch.

William Williams (1856–1939)

As a young man in the 1870s, William works as a carpenter in Christchurch.

He and friends walk to Kumara on the West Coast and celebrates his 20th birthday on the way, they are off to find gold in the second to last gold rush of New Zealand.

Their claim is dubbed “The Larikins” and is remembered by that name to this day.

William settles in Kumara, raising his family there, and is buried in Greymouth Cemetery with his wife

Sam Williams arrived at Timaru around 1839 with one of the Weller Brothers whaling gangs that worked from what is now the viaduct area of Caroline Bay. 

Distribution of northern and southern right whales based on logbook records dating from 1785 to 1913. - From Townsend CH (1935) The distribution of certain whales as shown by logbook records of American whaleships. 19. Zoologica (NY): : 1–50+6 Charts.

Map showing the distribution of whales across different seasons in the mid-19th century. Whaling connected Ngāi Tahu to the global economy in the early 19th century, providing new and sometimes mana-enhancing opportunities for trade, employment, and travel. As the whaling industry declined from the 1840s, some whalers (like Edward Weller) proved transient visitors. Many others, like Howell, remained with their families, though most were not as wealthy. Former whalers turned to fisheries, agriculture and trade. Their mixed communities formed the basis for settlements around the southern region such as Timaur's first perminant European resident Samuel Williams (Yankie Sam). Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library, CC BY-SA

Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1878. Very good overall. Color lithograph from 'The Instructive Picture Book' depicting two sperm whales, a whaling long boat between the whales, a waterspout in the middle ground and a whaling ship in the distance. This color lithograph made using a complicated printing method involving wood engraved detail, hand color and color lithography for the sky portion of the print; this is a multi-block color stone lithograph. With 'Antarctic Regions' below the image, and 'Sperm Whale' to the right; Plate LX in the upper right . - antarctic-regions-sperm-whale-antarctic

Whaling Timeline based on South Canterbury A Record of Settlement 1958 - Oliver Gillespie

1828–29 – Beginnings of Shore Whaling in New Zealand. Shore whaling began along the New Zealand coast as a more economical alternative to offshore whaling. Whaling season ran from 1 May to October, aligning with whale migration patterns.

1830 – Shipping and the Caroline. The schooner Caroline arrived in Sydney from New Zealand with 800 seal skins and flax. The brig Caroline (100 tons) and barque Caroline (196 tons) brought whale oil from New Zealand, reflecting early whaling traffic.

1831 – Joseph Price Arrives. Joseph Price arrived in New Zealand aboard the Caroline and later served as chief officer on the Harriet.

1832 – Weller Brothers Begin Otago Operations. George and Edward Weller, based in Sydney, started whaling operations along the Otago coast.

1836–1839 – Price’s Shore Stations & Move to Timaru. Price was in charge of three shore stations and allegedly moved one to Timaru. The brig Harriet, associated with the Wellers, was later sold in December 1839.

1838 – Massive Whaling Activity Reported. 151 whaling ships visited the Bay of Islands in one year; 12–36 seen off the South Island.

March 1839 – Whaling at Timaru Begins. A gang of Weller-employed whalers lands at Timaru. Octavius Harwood records the Dublin Packet sailing to “Temudu” with 13 Europeans and provisions. First note from Brown at Timaru arrives on 31 August, reporting 70 tuns of oil.

May–October 1839 – First Full Whaling Season at Timaru. Try pots, blubber processing, and hunting operations set up. Noted location advantages: clay cliffs, sheltered waters, reefs, fresh water supply.

20 May 1839 – Woodham Sent to Mutumutu. Harwood journal: Woodham sent to establish a fishery 4 miles south of Temudu.

10 October 1839 – Sutton’s Agreement for Mutumutu Station. Sutton replaces Woodham to manage the new station.

4 December 1839 – Major Land Purchase. The Wellers purchase one million acres including Caroline Harbour and Mutumutu. Payment: sundry goods worth £52. Officially witnessed and validated by Māori chiefs.

January 1840. Edward Weller writes to George: Timaru and Taiairi fisheries need casks.

15 January: Letter confirms land bought at Timaru Flat from Tuabriak for £10.

April–December 1840. April: Harwood returns from Sydney; stores delivered via Sarah and Elizabeth.

May: 18 men at Timaru station. 23 September: Brown has 65 tuns of oil. 11 December: Spectacular arrives with Weller and Brown’s gang. 4 January 1841: More provisions sent.

Early 1841 – Collapse of Weller Firm. February: News of bankruptcy reaches Harwood.

26 April: George Weller places affairs in trust. Harwood confirms station ran two full seasons and was prepping for a third. 

January 1844 – Bishop Selwyn Visits Site. Describes the deserted whaling station at Timaru. Edward Shortland visits on 18 January, confirms old whaling huts.

October 1848 – Mantell Surveys the Area. Finds huts still standing at Motumotu. Notes primitive structures and cabbage trees. Alfred Wills marks “Weller’s old try works (North Station)” near Maori Park.

1849 – Charles Obins Torlesse’s Account. Confirms whaling ships anchored near Timaru. Suggests Caroline Bay as main whaling site, Mutumutu as short-lived.

1857 – Captain Henry Cain Reports Try Pots. Reports whaling pots near Whale’s Creek. Finds site still marked by residue from early whalers.

1861 – Arthur Rose Locates Whaling Site. Customs official marks site at Caroline Bay.

1862 – Final Whaling Revival. New station started at Patiti Point. Whale caught on 18 July, boiled down later. Public complaints lead to closure.

1864 – Last Recorded Whaling Act. Pieter Kippenberger fined after cutting up a whale on the beach without paying workers.

1880 – Timaru Herald Reflects on the Past. Article recalls early station at Whale’s Creek and how erosion had changed the coast.

It is interesting to see the changes to the coastline. This rapidly changed when the new harbour was built.

The naming of Caroline Bay according to this book:

• The name Caroline Bay in Timaru is believed to have been derived from the whaling barque Caroline, which was owned by the Sydney firm R. Campbell and Company.
• The Caroline was one of the earliest whaling ships to operate in the region, engaging in bay whaling along the New Zealand coast.
• In the early 1830s, the Caroline was captained by Blenkinsopp, who was based at Port Underwood in Cloudy Bay, New Zealand.
• In 1834, Blenkinsopp used the Caroline to transport several escaped convicts from Sydney to his shore station in New Zealand.
• After Blenkinsopp, the Caroline was captained by Cherry, who was later killed by Maori near Mana Island.
• The ship was subsequently commanded by James Bruce.
• In 1837, the Caroline was purchased by John Jones, a prominent figure in the New Zealand whaling industry, who operated several shore stations from Waikouaiti to Preservation Inlet.
• The Caroline may have been the same 400-ton barque that was wrecked at New River Heads on April 1, 1860.
• This ship had been purchased by Jones, Cargill, and Company, who intended to convert it into a store ship at Invercargill.
• The name Caroline Bay in Timaru is a lasting reminder of the ship's influence on the region's whaling history.
• A try-pot from the whaling era, found near Patti Point, is now displayed at Caroline Bay, further connecting the area to its whaling past.

The Caroline was a significant whaling ship that operated in New Zealand waters during the 1830s, contributing to the early whaling industry in Timaru and other regions. Its legacy is preserved in the name Caroline Bay, and its history reflects the broader impact of whaling on New Zealand's coastal communities.

- Nomenclature section (pages 60-61) for the details about the whaling ship Caroline and its connection to Timaru.
Early Timaru: Some Historical Records of the Pre-Settlement Period, Annotated and Analysed"
By F.G. Hall-Jones
Published in 1956 by the Southland Historical Committee

"70 tun was ready to be collected at Timaru station". A tun of oil is by volume, 1 tun = 8 barrels. A wine tun is 252 gallons. Signwriting was incorporated to cargo of the shipwreck to intrigue visitors into learning more about the stories that inspired the playground. One barrel is a nod to the first known shipment of whale oil that was at Caroline Bay waiting to be collected. The other barrel is a nod to Timaru's first shipwreck the Prince Consort. William Williams, the first European born in Timaru, was the son of Samuel William, also known as "Yankie Sam," a whaler who had joined a whaling gang in the area in 1839. In 1886, Samuel Williams returned to Timaru to work for Rhodes, where he ran a small accommodation house and became the town's first publican. An interesting piece of local history is that his son's cradle was made from a gin crate. - Photo Roselyn Fauth

Edward Weller, along with his brother Joseph Weller, was among the first permanent European settlers in southern New Zealand. In the 1830s, the Weller brothers established a shore-based whaling station at Otakou on the Otago Peninsula, which became one of the most important and active in the country. The Weller station at Otakou served as a major base for whaling operations and trade, attracting a wide range of workers and playing a significant role in early colonial development. Edward had business interests across the South Island, extending his influence well beyond Otago. He married Paparu (Isabella) Tahuriorangi, a Māori woman from the Rotorua district, and had several children with her. Weller's story reflects the early economic ventures of European settlers and the interactions between Māori and Pākehā during the pre-colonial and early colonial period. https://www.toituosm.com/collections/smith-gallery/wall-1/edward-weller

Whaling Chapter - Jubilee History of South Canterbury 1916

Transcription from Historical Book (Pages 44-45)

CHAPTER III. APPEARANCE OF THE WHITE MAN.

On 17th February, 1770, Captain Cook gave the name of Banks to what he considered to be an island “twenty-four leagues in compass” lying five leagues from the coast of Tovy Poenammoo, as he spelt Te Wai-pounamu, the native name of the South Island of New Zealand. As his ship lay a little to the south of Banks Island (now Peninsula), some of the crew thought they saw land to the south-east. Cook thought it was only a cloud, but in order that there might be no doubt, he steered towards it, but after running 28 miles and seeing nothing, he wore south at 7 in the evening, running along the Canterbury coast all night and until noon next day, when he hauled to the westward. A moderate breeze was blowing from the north, but at 8 in the evening it became unsettled, and at 10 fixed in the south. During the night it blew so violently that the canvas was reduced to close-reefed topsails. At 5 o’clock on the morning of the 19th February they bore north-west, with a fresh gale at south, and at 10 o’clock they saw the land at a distance of about 30 miles. At seven in the evening they were 18 miles from the shore, with a depth of 32 fathom water. As will be seen by the course marked on the chart, they tacked on and off. At 4 o’clock on the morning of the 20th they reached a point about 3 miles from the shore, with 13 fathom water. Cook now gave the first description of the coastline, which had hitherto been obscured, as indicated by its being indefinitely laid down on the chart. He said that the surface to about five miles from the sea was low and flat, but it then rose into hills of considerable height: it appeared to be totally barren, and no signs of habitation were seen. They stood off and on during the 20th and 21st, and on the 22nd, at sunset, the weather, which had been hazy, cleared up, and they saw a mountain which rose in a high peak, bearing N.W. by N., and also saw the land more clearly than before, lofty and mountainous in appearance. On the 23rd, they had a “hollow swell from the S.E.” and expecting wind from that quarter, they kept plying between 7 and 15 leagues from the shore, in from 70 to 44 fathom water. In the evening a light breeze sprang up from the north-east, and the course was shaped south.

When Cook sailed west on the 18th, he thought, from descriptions the Natives north had given him, that he would weather the island: they said it could be circumnavigated in four days. He was standing in towards the Waitaki: the country he described on the 20th was probably the coastland of the southern Hunters Hills. On his chart, the coastline is laid down much too far to the west, and this is one of the weakest parts of his otherwise excellent chart. Banks Peninsula was still thought to be an island until 1809, when Captain Chase of the Pegasus discovered it to be a peninsula. The Canterbury coastline, however, was still laid down much too far to the west on all maps until the survey by the Acheron in 1849-50. In September, 1788, Lieutenant Bligh, of the Bounty, sailed past the South of New Zealand, and in November, 1791, Vancouver landed in Dusky Sound. The first sealing gang was stationed at Dusky in November, 1792, being left there by the Britannia on her way to the Cape of Good Hope. At the end of 1794 the first spars were taken from New Zealand at Thames by the snow Fancy. By 1805, several vessels were engaged in fishing about the New Zealand coasts, and trade may be said to have begun in earnest. All the vessels in question came from Sydney. From 1805 onwards New Zealand was constantly visited by an ever-increasing stream of sealers, traders in flax, and whalers. When the South Island was frequented, it was almost entirely the northern and southern sounds, Dusky and Queen Charlotte, and the near headlands, known by Cook. The east coast, especially northwards of Moeraki, was hardly touched, owing principally to the absence of harbourage. By 1830 Banks Peninsula had become a centre for traders in flax and supplies such as pork and potatoes, and in 1835-6 shore whaling was established at Peraki, west of Akaroa Harbour.

In 1831, G. and E. Weller, of Sydney, commenced an establishment for whaling in Otago, gradually extending operations northwards, and during the three years 1836 to 1839 three shore stations were established by them, two being in Otago, the third at Timaru. The station at Timaru was shifted to that place from Blueskin by Joseph Price, or by the captain of the Harriet, of which Price was chief officer. These stations were worked on behalf of the Weller Bros until the end of the season of 1840, when the Wellers failed. They were pushing on operations vigorously in that season, as may be gathered from the fact that they had surveyors at work in Port Levy in September, 1840. A party of surveyors intended for Timaru, was in April, 1840, landed, instead, at Ohahoa, a bay near Lake Forsyth. The Wellers evidently intended laying out land for speculative purposes; but of their extensive claims, comprising over 3,500,000 acres in the South Island, said to have been purchased in 1839, nothing apparently resulted. The exact date of the opening of the station at Timaru is doubtful, but the party ceased work before the season of 1840 was half over, for they were at Price's fishery at Ikoraki, Banks Peninsula, on 1st July, 1840, and next day they were at Hempleman's fishery at Peraki, where they "signed articles." Sam Williams was one of the party at the Timaru station; he acted as storeman, but apparently did not sign on at Peraki with the others; he was whaling for Rhodes at Island Bay in 1844.

Section of Street Art by Koryu, Breath of Life, Kathmandu Carpark. Whale Eye. Mural was supported by Tiamru Civic Trust and Alive Vibrant Timaru. Whale eyes may be small relative to their body size, but they have good vision even in dim light. These are on the sides of their head for a better view of their surroundings.

Section of Street art by artist Toothfish. Plankton. 

Standed whale at Patiti Point Timaru - Geoff Cloake

Saving a whale at Caroline Bay - Geoff Cloake

Whale stranded at Caroline Bay - Geoff Cloake

Humpback Whale-Geoff Cloake