Tragedy on Mt Nobbler: #1 Setting the Scene

This tale is told in three parts, across three posts:

• #1 Setting the Scene (this post)

• #2 The Tragedy Unfolds

• #3 Two Inquests and a Funeral

Mt Nobbler is in the Kakanui mountain range in Central Otago, New Zealand. It stands at 1,550 metres (5,085 feet) high. Central Otago is towards the bottom end of New Zealand’s South Island, as can be seen in the map below.

The Kakanui range separates the Waitaki valley in the north from the Maniototo plain (a high, flat area where the Kyeburn Diggings are located), and the upper part of the Taieri valley to the southwest.

Travel from the Kyeburn Diggings to the summit of Mt Nobbler is over several kilometres of terrain that, in some places, can be difficult in bad weather, especially when snow covered.

It was on Mt Nobbler that Alphonso Philip Beer, Robert Blanchard, James Meikle, and Thomas Meikle, all from the Kyeburn Diggings, died in 1891.

Alphonso was born on 21 September 18621 at the Kyeburn Diggings to Priscilla [Spargo] and Philip Beer, a miner at the Kyeburn Diggings. He was listed in his birth registration as 'Alphonsa Phillip' but later records list him as ‘Alphonso Philip’.

Alphonso's parents were immigrants to New Zealand. His father, Philip, was born at Ramsgate in Kent, England in 18332 and appears to have grown up in Cornwall where he met and married Alphonso's mother, Priscilla. She was born in 1840 at Constantine in Cornwall, England3.

Philip and Priscilla married in Cornwall in 18584 so they left England sometime after that. They settled in the Kyeburn Diggings sometime before September 1862 when Alphonso was born. They lived in a sod house with an iron roof5.

Alphonso was the oldest child in the family. Like his father, Alphonso worked as a miner6. He was aged 28 and living with his parents in the Upper Kyeburn when he died on Mt Nobbler.

Robert was born in about 18687 at the Kyeburn Diggings. In 1872, he was baptised in a Presbyterian Church in the Mt Ida District8. This would most likely have been the Naseby Presbyterian Church. It was built in 1872. Naseby is about 16km from the Kyeburn Diggings.

Robert’s parents were Mary Ann [Robinson] and Anthony Blanchard. Anthony was a miner at the Diggings. Both Robert and Mary Ann were immigrants to New Zealand. Robert’s father Anthony was born in London, England in about 18359 and appears to have come to New Zealand in about 186310. At this stage, it isn’t clear where Mary Ann came from. She was at the Kyeburn Diggings by May 1864. That is when the birth of their oldest son, Anthony, was registered in the Mt Ida District11.

Robert was the third oldest child in the family. His parents married on 14 September 186412, four months after their first child, Anthony was born13. The family lived in a stone house with a thatched roof14.

Robert was 23 years old when he died on Mt Nobbler. He was living with his parents in the Upper Kyeburn and, like his father, he was working as a miner15.

James was born at the Kyeburn Diggings in about 187216 and baptised in that same year at a Presbyterian Church in the Mt Ida District17. As with Robert, this would have been at the Naseby Presbyterian Church.

James’ parents were Annie [Bolger] and James Meikle, a miner at the Kyeburn Diggings. James Snr and Annie were both immigrants to New Zealand but I haven’t yet been able to track down where they came from.

James and Annie married at Naseby on 20 August 186918. It is likely, therefore, that they met one another after emigrating to New Zealand. The family lived in a house made of sod with a thatched roof19.

James was 19 years old when he died on Mt Nobbler. He usually lived with his parents in the Upper Kyeburn but occasionally stayed in a hut at McCready’s Station when he was working. James worked as a rabbiter in the area and often worked with his brother, Thomas. McCready’s Station was a high country sheep station located between Upper Kyeburn and Mt Nobbler. McCready’s sheep run extended into the Kakanui mountains towards Mt Nobbler.

Thomas was born on 22 January 187920 at the Kyeburn Diggings. He was just 12 years old when he died on Mt Nobbler. That was on 31 July 189121. The previous day he had enjoyed a day of rabbiting with his brother James. However, the weather had deteriorated rapidly towards the end of the day and Thomas became too weak to make the journey home.

There was a school at the Kyeburn Diggings. However, it appears that Thomas’ attention was on rabbiting rather than school. At that time, primary school education in New Zealand was free, compulsory and secular for all New Zealand children of European origin (Pākehā) between the ages of 7 and 13. This had been the case since November 1877 when the Education Act 1877 was enacted.

Education was considered to be a universal right for all children up to Year 8. While Māori children were not compelled by the 1877 Act to attend school, they were entitled to attend the free schools if their parents wanted them to. Primary school education was made compulsory for Māori in 1894.

Despite schooling being compulsory by law for children like Thomas, school attendance was not well enforced in those days. Children were required to attend only on half the number of days that their school was required to be open. It was common for parents to keep their children out of school, especially in rural areas where the children were needed to help support the family22.

It appears that the Meikle family was reliant on both Thomas and James’ rabbiting efforts.

It was James and Thomas’ day of rabbiting on 30 July 1891 that set a chain of events into motion leading to a tragedy unfolding. More about that in Part #2:

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The information in this post is drawn from my one-place study website on the weare.xyz platform

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BJNL's Genealogy