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Pay Dirt - The Westland Goldfields

Hilary Low’s book Pay Dirt is based on the diary and book The Westland Goldfield by prospector William Smart - the man, she argues, that should be acknowledged as the first person to discover payable gold on the West coast. He left Christchurch in 1862 to prospect for gold on the coast, at that stage an uncharted wilderness.

Lyell Creek, Smart & Day’s Store & Camp, 1863. Credit: Drawing by William Smart from ‘The Westland Goldfields’.

Mouth of the Buller River 1868, W. Smart. Credit: Drawing by William Smart from ‘The Westland Goldfields’.

Teramakou Bar about 2 miles up the River near the old Maori garden, W. Smart, Feb 67. Credit: Drawing by William Smart from ‘The Westland Goldfields’

Teramakou Bar about 2 miles up the River near the old Maori garden, W. Smart, Feb 67. Credit: Drawing by William Smart from ‘The Westland Goldfields’.

Mouth of River Grey, Terapuhi’s Pah, Mawhere, south side, Jan 39 ‘63. Credit: Drawing by William Smart from ‘The Westland Goldfields’.

Author Hilary Low

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.