GY Museum Census Collecting

CENSUS TAKING BACK THEN!

As we’ve all just been doing our part to be counted for the census we thought this month we’d have a look at the census taking of the past. Pictured here is Tom Bryant of Kinloch off to do the census for the Greenstone Riding.

In his day he had to ride to Martin’s Bay as it was part of the Greenstone Riding. Glenorchy fell into the Shotover Riding so the district was divided with Glenorchy and the Bucklerburn in one riding and areas to the west of the Rees River in the other. On horseback it was quite different times for the census taker than logging on to the internet to put in our details!

The census began in New Zealand in 1871 and we thought you’d enjoy seeing some of the results for our region during its first 20 years. What’s interesting is not only how many people there were or weren’t, but the locations that were census taking locales. It gives quite a picture of how different areas have been populated and de-populated over time. It’s also quite something to see the split between males and females. Only once, at Earnslaw in 1891, did the ladies outnumber the gents!

If you’re enjoying our photos of the month, mark the 31st of March on your calendar for an evening of heritage photos and stories from the past in the Hall. More info coming soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the thought of the good ol’ days when Tom Bryant could ride out for a week to Martin’s Bay to do the census.

Any guesses as to what our Head of the Lake population is now?

Census results:

1871 – No specifics for the Head of the Lake, only Queenstown

Place

Total

Males

Females

Queenstown

562

336

226

1874

Place

Total

Males

Females

Glenorchy

62

50

12

Pigeon Island

4

3

1

25 Mile

26

14

12

Greenstone

8

8

0

Kinloch

37

27

10

Routeburn

3

3

0

Lake Harris

3

3

0

Martin’s Bay

23

15

8

1878

Place

Total

Males

Females

Glenorchy

34

22

12

McConnochie Creek

10

5

5

Lake Diamond

19

11

8

1881

Place

Total

Males

Females

Glenorchy

37

29

8

25 Mile

11

9

2

Stoney Creek

38

34

4

Kinloch

37

27

10

Paradise Flat

4

4

0

Greenstone Bush

23

13

10

Dart River

16

14

2

Earnslaw

6

3

3

1886

Place

Total

Males

Females

Glenorchy

58

34

15

Bucklerburn

16

16

0

Stoney Creek

33

32

1

Rees Gorge

48

44

4

Camp Hill

15

10

5

Lake Diamond

3

3

0

Greenstone

5

5

0

Kinloch

20

12

8

Mt Alfred

17

11

6

Mt Earnslaw

2

2

0

Paradise Flat

13

10

3

Routeburn

8

6

2

1891

Place

Total

Males

Females

Bucklerburn

8

8

0

Diamond Lake

13

8

5

Earnslaw

14

4

10

Elfin Bay

15

15

0

Glenorchy

40

24

16

Kinloch

37

23

14

Rees

10

6

4

Rees Gorge

59

28

31

Rees Valley

11

5

6

Dart River

13

13

0