Edward Peters

Edward Peters, otherwise known as Black Peter, was a farm hand and pioneer gold prospector who first reported finding gold in the Tokomairaro River which would later become part of New Zealand's first workable goldfield: the Tuapeka Goldfield, including Gabriel's Gully.

Peters was born in India and came to New Zealand in 1853 having previously worked in the California goldfields. Despite his discovery, he died a pauper in Dunedin, the significance of his efforts never truly being recognised during this lifetime due to a combination of racism and local politics at the time.

Early life

Edward Peters was born in Satara in Maharashtra state, India, around 1826, though this is uncertain. a Eurasian This initially took him to California where he would participate in the gold rush of the late 1840s. It is most-likely he adopted his Christian name between leaving India and arriving in the west. but this remains uncertain and poorly documented.

New Zealand Peters would eventually make his way to New Zealand onboard the sailing ship Maori where he had enlisted as the ship's cook. The Maori initially departed from Gravesend, England, arriving at its final destination, Port Chalmers, Otago, on 27 August 1853. On 31 August 1853 Peters decided to disembark the ship, despite the fact he did not have permission from the British Authorities allowing him to set foot in a Crown colony.

Gold discovery Map of the Tuapeka Goldfields with reference to the location of Edward Peters' early gold discoveries. Edward Peters had some experience in the goldfields of California, although some sources have stated he had no prior knowledge of gold mining. This, and knowing what to look for, were enough to encourage Peters to occasionally prospect for gold in the streams he would routinely encounter while working with livestock. There are several recorded stories of Peters finding gold in the wider Tuapeka district, all of which significantly pre-date the discovery of the gold by Gabriel Read in the gully named for him: Gabriel's Gully.

Unlike some of his contemporaries (e.g. Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly), Peters was never secretive about his finds, always willing to talk gold and show the locations of where he found them. On this occasion, Peters was delivering food to other shepherds using a bullock cart and had crossed the Tuapeka River at Hopkin's Crossing, Evans Flat.

Peters would return to Evans Flat several times to work the gravels in the Tuapeka River. The findings were always meagre but Peters persisted, and on several occasions he was accompanied. John Thomson, the ferryman at Molyneux (Balclutha) and a black American man prospected the area and found small amounts of gold almost everywhere they tried. The Woolshed Diggings were the first large find in Otago and were significant enough for Otago province's chief surveyor, John Turnbull Thomson, to describe it in 1858 as "the best sample of gold yet brought to town", and indicated a workable goldfield. Newspaper reports of the time referred to the Tokomairiro goldfields, though little interest was aroused. The reward was applied for on Peters' behalf, potentially in 1857 and certainly in 1861. Both times the requests were dismissed.

Despite the claim being 'fully examined'

Why Peters' claim was rejected is not clear but it likely involves elements of racism, local politics and the bad timing of his application which post-dated Gabriel Read's own discovery. A veteran of both the Californian and Victorian gold rushes (though with little success), he had come to Otago on news that gold had been struck in the Mataura River. Gold in the Mataura was meagre and coal turned out to be more lucrative, so Read was forced to look elsewhere. Convinced to remain prospecting in the province by councillor John Hardy, Read eventually encountered John Lillie Gillies at Tokomairiro in May 1861.

Like Edward Peters, Gabriel Read did not hesitate to share his findings for the benefit of the rest of the Province. He wrote a letter to Major John Richardson, Superintendent of Otago Province, which was duly published in the Otago Witness. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the letter caused great excitement throughout the country and confirmation soon came that the gold was 'easily obtainable and in large quantities'. following Gabriel Read and William Baldwin's gold discovery there in July 1861.

Apart from his application for the Otago Provincial Council's £500 reward in July 1861, Peters' story is lost to history until 1885 when he again appears in newsprint. By now, Peters was in his late fifties, crippled, infirm and living in Balclutha.

Legacy A permanent monument celebrating the efforts of Edward Peters was erected in the Mount Stuart Recreation Reserve by the Glenore Manuka Trust in 2009 – the 150th anniversary of Peters' gold discovery. The memorial was driven largely by the Trust's chairman, local Glenore resident, farmer and historian Alan Williams, who also published Edward Peters' biography.

The memorial was opened by the Governor-General Anand Satyanand, New Zealand’s first governor-general of Indian ancestry.