Bruce Bay

According to the oral tradition of local Māori, Bruce Bay was where the explorer and trickster Māui first landed in New Zealand before fishing up the North Island. Before landing, Māui had to kill the two taniwha keeping guard on either side of the bay. This feat is recalled in the name of the headland at the western end of the bay, Heretaniwha (literally meaning "to tie up the monster").{{sfn|Madgwick|1992|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Walters|Walters|Walters|2014|p=188}}

There is archaeological evidence of permanent or semi-permanent Māori settlement at Bruce Bay dating back to the mid-14th century. The inhabitants' diet included fish species including red cod, tarakihi, ling, and barracouta, and it is likely that some of these would have been caught from canoes at sea. Shellfish eaten included tuatua, and green-lipped and blue mussels, while dolphin and seal bones have also been excavated from middens. A variety of stone and bone implements, used for food gathering and preparation, and the shaping of wood, bone and stone, have been found.{{sfn|Allingham|Symon|1999}}{{sfn|Hooker|1986}}

Bruce Bay was the location of Hunt's duffer gold rush in 1866. Prospector Albert Hunt, who had found gold at Greenstone near Hokitika, was granted a claim some 10 km south of the bay and 15 km inland. He was watched by a mob of 500 diggers at Ōkārito who on 26 March forced Hunt to lead them to the claim. He managed to escape, was recaptured and escaped again. By then there were more than 1500 men camped at Bruce Bay. When the angry mob arrived back at the bay, Warden Price was threatened and in the riot that night six makeshift stores were demolished and ransacked.{{sfn|Pope|Pope|1997|pp=390–391}}{{sfn|May|1962|pp=175–176, 188–191}}

The following day, Price swore in special constables at Ōkārito. The ringleaders, William Quinlan and William Ryan, were charged at Hokitika for causing damage to the extent of £664 on freehold property, but the case lapsed as the stores were all on leased land. Weld Town, the township at Bruce Bay with a floating population of over 2000, collapsed as the diggers moved north, although there were still 300 hopefuls there three weeks later.{{sfn|Pope|Pope|1997|pp=390–391}}{{sfn|May|1962|pp=175–176, 188–191}}

Several claims were later established on the coast and inland from Ōkārito (then Westland's third port and centre) to Bruce Bay, with a total population of over 3000 and a peak output in June 1866 of over 12,000 ounces of gold. The largest townships south of Ōkārito were Five Mile Beach and Gillespies with 40 and 11 stores respectively. But the beach-workings and Ōkārito collapsed in late 1866, after a run on the Bank of New Zealand at Ōkārito and Ross in July.{{sfn|Pope|Pope|1997|pp=390–391}}{{sfn|May|1962|pp=175–176, 188–191}}

File:Bruce Bay 1941.jpg

File:Bruce Bay Timbers 1941.jpg

File:Flower Pot Rock 1941.jpg

File:Bruce Bay Timbers tramway 1941.jpg

The site of a proposed township, between the mouth of the Mahitahi River and Heretaniwha Point, was surveyed W. T. Brown, the district surveyor, and was to be called Weld Town, after the former premier, Frederick Weld. Although the name appeared on some maps for many years, the name was rarely used locally and the town was not laid out.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|page=68}} In 1934, work began on establishing a timber mill at Bruce Bay,{{sfn|Hokitika Guardian|1934}} Bruce Bay Timbers Limited, with the mill settlement on the site of the paper town of Weld Town.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|page=68}}{{sfn|Hokitika Guardian|1936}} The mill opened in September 1935,{{sfn|The Press|1935a}} and ceased operations following a storm on 28 February 1945. The storm caused flooding, slips and debris that put the small hydroelectric power scheme on Flagstaff Creek (a tributary of the Mahitahi River) that supplied electricity to the mill out of action.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|pages=87–88}}

The Bruce Bay Timbers mill processed kahikatea, rimu, mataī and tōtara felled on Māori-owned reserves, for which the owners were paid a royalty by the mill company.{{sfn|The Press|1935b}} The mill handled {{convert|1250000|bdft|m3|lk=in}} of timber per year.{{sfn|Weekly News|1941}}

The mill settlement provided accommodation for mill workers and their families, and included a store, billiard room and cookhouse. A bush tramway conveyed the processed timber from the mill to the nearby Flower Pot Rock, from where the timber was loaded by flying fox onto lighters that took it out to ships anchored offshore. The timber company also built a bridge across the Mahitahi River, giving access to the settlement.{{sfn|Hokitika Guardian|1936}} The bridge was washed away following heavy rain in May 1942.{{sfn|The Press|1942}} It suffered damage during the storm in February 1945, and again in November the same year, and in July 1946 the timber company ceased making repairs to the bridge and its approaches, essentially sounding the death knell for the settlement.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|pages=89–91}}

A school opened to service the mill settlement on 8 June 1936, initially with 14 pupils.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|pages=70–71}} The school was named Weldtown, as the school at nearby Jacobs River was already called Bruce Bay School. However, from the start of 1937, Bruce Bay School was renamed Jacobs River School, and Weldtown School became known as Bruce Bay School.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|page=81}} In July 1945, the two schools consolidated at Bruce Bay, with pupils from Jacobs River conveyed to Bruce Bay. However, in late 1947 Bruce Bay School closed, following the demise of the mill and safety concerns over the Mahitahi bridge, and Jacobs River School reopened.{{sfn|Pullar|1990|page=5}} Jacobs River School remained in operation until 27 January 2013, by which time there were four pupils.{{sfn|Mussen|2012}} After the school's closure, the buildings and land were purchased by Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio.{{sfn|Te Pānui Rūnaka|2014}}

A police station was established at Bruce Bay in 1938,{{sfn|New Zealand Herald|1938}} and closed in 1944.{{sfn|New Zealand Police Gazette|1944}}

The bay and locality take their name from the paddle steamer PS Bruce, which plied the waters of the West Coast and transported miners during the West Coast gold rush.{{sfn|Rainforest|2020}}

File:Bruce Bay (locality) MRD 08.jpg

Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae opened at Bruce Bay on 23 January 2005,{{sfn|Devereux|2005}} with its name recalling the landing of Māui on the nearby beach.{{sfn|Māori Maps}} The marae is the tribal meeting ground of the Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio hapū (sub-tribe) of Ngāi Tahu, and includes a wharenui (meeting house) called Kaipō and a wharekai (dining room and kitchens) called Pōkē.{{sfn|Māori Maps}}{{sfn|Walters|Walters|Walters|2014|p=186}} Bruce Bay was without a marae for 140 years, with the community hall used instead during this time.{{sfn|Walters|Walters|Walters|2014|p=186}} The land for the new marae was made available through a land swap with the Department of Conservation, and the building of the marae was enabled after the Ngāi Tahu Treaty settlement. Artists that contributed to the new marae include Fayne Robinson, Puhanga Tupaea, Tungia Baker and Bevan Climo.{{sfn|Walters|Walters|Walters|2014|p=186}}{{sfn|Madgwick|2005}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite report |last1=Allingham |first1=B. J. |last2=Symon |first2=A. J. |title=Report to Te Runanga o Makawhio on the salvage excavation of a fourteenth century midden at Bruce Bay, South Westland |year=1999 |url=https://dl.heritage.org.nz/greenstone3/library/collection/devreports/document/Allingham2;jsessionid=78698E8EE4775C0B04AE0417844DCE8C |access-date=2 October 2020}}
• {{cite news |first=Monique |last=Devereux |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10007570 |title=Large gathering to watch opening of remote marae |date=22 January 2005 |work=New Zealand Herald |access-date=18 July 2013}}
• {{cite news |work=Hokitika Guardian |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19341024.2.54 |title=Late locals |date=24 October 1934 |page=6 |access-date=18 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|Hokitika Guardian|1934}} }}
• {{cite news |work=Hokitika Guardian |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19360727.2.5 |title=South highway |date=27 July 1936 |page=2 |access-date=18 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|Hokitika Guardian|1936}} }}
• {{cite report |last=Hooker |first=Raymond H. |url=https://dl.heritage.org.nz/greenstone3/library/collection/devreports/document/Hooker101 |title=Archaeology of the South Westland Maori |date=June 1986 |publisher=New Zealand Forest Service |access-date=2 October 2020}}
• {{cite book |last=Madgwick |first=Paul |title=Aotea: a history of the South Westland Maori |year=1992 |ISBN=0473016702 |publisher= P. Madgwick |location=Hokitika}}
• {{cite news |last=Madgwick |first=Paul |title=Maori actress dies |date=27 July 2005 |work=The Press |page=13}}
• {{cite web |url=https://maorimaps.com/marae/te-tauraka-waka-māui |title=Te Tauraka Waka a Māui |website=Māori Maps |access-date=24 September 2020 |ref={{harvid|Māori Maps}} }}
• {{cite book |last=May |first=Philip Ross |title=The West Coast gold rushes |year=1962 |publisher=Pegasus Press |location=Christchurch}}
• {{cite news |last=Mussen |first=Deidre |title=Class dismissed for last time at tiny school |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/schools/8101565/Class-dismissed-for-last-time-at-tiny-school |date=20 December 2012 |work=The Press |access-date=20 November 2021}}
• {{cite web |last=Nathan |first=Simon |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/west-coast-region/14/5 |title=Opening of Te Tauraka Waka a Māui marae |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=1 September 2016 |access-date=24 September 2020}}
• {{cite news |work=New Zealand Herald |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19380716.2.146 |title=Police progress |date=16 July 1938 |page=17 |access-date=10 December 2021 |ref={{harvid|New Zealand Herald|1938}} }}
• {{cite news |work=New Zealand Police Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZPG19440614.2.8 |title=Miscellaneous information |date=14 June 1944 |page=468 |access-date=10 December 2021 |ref={{harvid|New Zealand Police Gazette|1944}} }}
• {{cite book |first1=Diana |last1=Pope |first2=Jeremy |last2=Pope |title=South Island: Mobil New Zealand Travel Guide |edition=7th |year=1997 |publisher=Reed |location=Wellington}}
• {{cite news |work=The Press |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19350918.2.104 |title=New timber mill on West Coast |date=18 September 1935 |page=16 |access-date=18 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|The Press|1935a}} }}
• {{cite news |work=The Press |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19351021.2.46 |title=West Coast news |date=21 October 1935 |page=9 |access-date=19 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|The Press|1935b}} }}
• {{cite news |work=The Press |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19420519.2.44 |title=More washouts on West Coast |date=19 May 1942 |page=4 |access-date=19 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|The Press|1942}} }}
• {{cite book |last=Pullar |first=A. A. |title=Wilderness Days in Bruce Bay |location=Christchurch |year=1990 |publisher=A. A. Pullar |ISBN=0473010038}}
• {{cite web |url=https://rainforest.nz/around-franz-josef-bruce-bay-and-lake-paringa/ |title=Around Franz Josef: Bruce Bay and Lake Paringa |publisher=Rainforest |year=2020 |access-date=24 September 2020 |ref={{harvid|Rainforest|2020}} }}
• {{cite news |work=Te Pānui Rūnaka |url=https://tepanui.co.nz/2014/07/jacobs-river-school-reunion/ |title=Jacobs River School reunion |date=2 July 2014 |access-date=20 November 2021 |ref={{harvid|''Te Pānui Rūnaka|2014}} }}
• {{cite book |last1=Walters |first1=Muru |last2=Walters |first2=Robin |last3=Walters |first3=Sam |authorlink1=Muru Walters |title=Marae: te tatau pounamu: a journey around New Zealand's meeting houses |publisher=Godwit |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-77553-723-6 |location=Auckland |oclc=891672551}}
• {{cite news |work=Weekly News |url=http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/HeritageImages/images/photos/AWNp/1941/AWNS_19410903_p024_i000_b.jpg |date=3 September 1941 |page=24 |title=Developing the resources of South Westland |access-date=19 October 2020 |ref={{harvid|Weekly News|1941}} }}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.westlanddc.govt.nz/bruce-bay |title=Bruce Bay |publisher=Westland District Council |access-date=24 September 2020 |ref={{harvid|Westland District Council}} |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613122620/https://www.westlanddc.govt.nz/bruce-bay |url-status=dead }}

{{Refend}}

{{Westland District}}

{{Westland landforms}}

Category:Westland District

Category:Landforms of the West Coast Region

Category:Bays of New Zealand

Category:1866 in New Zealand

Category:West Coast Gold Rush