Origins and Living Conditions of the Miners

The men (and to a smaller degree, women) who moved to Otago in the late 1800’s were a diverse group with different cultures and approaches to procuring gold. The Europeans, originally from cities and goldfields in America, Europe and Australia, left behind the known and ventured into uncharted territory seeking quick fortunes. The Chinese miners, mostly from rural agricultural backgrounds in China, journeyed to new lands with different languages and customs also in search of their fortunes.

Most miners had similar dreams, arrive at a goldfield and strike it rich. Rarely did any miner wish to work a field for more than a few years, their shared goal was to accumulate enough gold to return to their various homes with money to support families and/or start independent businesses to allow for the further accumulation of wealth. It is clear that most miners, separated as they were by customs and often times languages, shared similar dreams, and on the goldfields of Otago, countless stories of European and Chinese miners both failing and succeeding were recorded.

Arrival of Miners

The majority of European miners came from the goldfields of Victoria. However, America provided considerable numbers to the fields as well. The Chinese miners, at first from Victoria as well, began coming from China eventually. The majority of Chinese from China came from one province, as with the majority of the Chinese Diaspora in the world, Canton (the area surrounding Hong Kong). Also, some miners from Mongolia came to the goldfields of New Zealand. The living conditions of the miners in New Zealand mirrored those of miners in other countries, including the markup of everyday items by local merchants.