www.tcdc.govt.nz

Thames (a brief history)

The Thames  Goldfields were established by proclamation in July 1867 and the towns of Grahamstown and Shortland sprang up to accommodate the rush of miners.  These areas, along with Parawai and Moanataiari, make up the present town of Thames.  People came from all over the world, including tin miners from Cornwall, whose skills were needed to dig the shafts down to the gold bearing quartz reefs.  Most of the gold was obtained by crushing tons of quartz rock in big stamper batteries.  Gold mining continued through boom and bust periods until the 1930's.  Kauri timber milling was the other main industry in the early days and later with the draining of the Hauraki swamp, dairy farming was established.  Other industries such as engineering, ship building and brewing, as well as shops and hotels kept people employed and shipping was the main form of transportation until the railway line opened in 1899.

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Newspapers

• Thames Star (originally Thames Evening Star)

  • Bound Volumes    1940 - 1998

• Hauraki Herald

  • Bound Volumes    1982 -

• Hill's Index to Thames Newspapers 1868 - 1909

  • Refers to births, deaths and marriages in local newspapers and the New Zealand Herald

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Burial Records

• Shortland Cemetery

  • Sexton's book January 1869 - April 1935

  • Sexton's book October 1896 - October 1936

  • Burial Register August 1883 - November 1917

  • Burial Register November 1917 - May 1988

  • Secretary's book January 1869 - July 1883

  • Sales Register 1883 - 1917

  • Headstone Transcriptions

• Tararu Cemetery

  • Burial Register August 1873 - July 1883

  • Burial Register January 1884 - March 1982

  • Sales Register

• Totara Cemetery

  • Burial Register December 1928 - January 1960

  • Burial Register January 1960 - June 1989

  • Register of Grave Plots

  • Sales Register

• Omahu Cemetery

  • Burial Register February 1901 - June 1989

  • Plot Register February 1901 - September 1985

  • Headstone Transcriptions

• Tapu Cemetery

  • Record of Burials

• Whitianga Cemetery

  • Burial Register

• Tairua Cemetery

  • Burial and Plot Register September 1957 - May 1989

• Whangamata Cemetery

  • Burial Register

Thames-Coromandel burial records are now available online via the Thames-Coromandel District Council website.  Go to    www.tcdc.govt.nz

Then click on:    Services A to Z

                 Cemeteries

                 Online cemetery search (near the bottom of the page)

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School Records

• Kauaeranga Boys School

  • Registers 1891 - 1904

• Kopu School

  • Log Book 1958 - 1971

  • Register 1951 - 1971

• Kennedy Bay School

  • Registers 1894 - 1967

• Parawai School (Now Thames South School)

  • Registers 1881 - 1925

• Parawai School

  • Register 1967 - 1983

• Sandes Street School

  • Registers 1880 - 1903

• Shellback School

  • Register of pupil attendance 1877

• Tararu School

  • Register of pupil attendance 1878 - 1880

  • Register 1907 - 1950

• Thames Central School

  • Registers 1916 - 1930

  • Registers 1946 - 1971

• Thames High School

  • Registers 1880 - 1964

• Thames North School

  • Log Book 1958 - 1971

  • Registers 1950 - 1971

  • Register of pupil attendance 1965

• Thames South School

  • Registers 1926 - 1997

• Waiokaraka School

  • Registers 1879 - 1916

  • Register of pupil attendance 1879-1880

• Waiotahi Creek School

  • Register 1874 - 1912

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Miscellaneous

• Coromandel Peninsula Electoral Rolls

  • Incomplete sequence 1949 -

• Thames Jubilee Booklets

• Books on Thames History/Mining/Timber

• Cyclopedia of New Zealand 1902

• Telephone/Business Directories

• Thames Street Directories

  • 1875-76, 1878-79, 1883-84, 1885-86, 1906

• Material from the 1993 Women's Suffrage Centennial

• Thames Heritage Study

• Maori Heritage of Thames

• Hill's Index to Thames Newspapers 1868 - 1909

  • Refers to births, deaths and marriages in local newspapers and the New Zealand Herald

These are other sites that you may find helpful:

Papers Past

Time Frames

Matapihi

The Treasury

or

Check out the links on our Online Sites page

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