DescriptionThomas Dickson was born in 1841. In 1863, aged 22, he immigrated to New Zealand. He set up a store on the Otago goldfields at Bohemian Gully.
When the the gold started running out at Bohemian Gully, Thomas shifted his business to the leading ridge between Waipori and Gabriel's Gully. It operated as a hotel providing accommodation to those travelling to the Tuapeka from Dunedin, West Taieri and Waipori.
In 1865, Thomas married Margaret Atkinson at St Paul's Church, Dunedin. The couple had two daughters together. Margaret had immigrated, with her father Richard, from Ireland in 1864.
On 23 December 1865, Thomas left Margaret and Richard to care for the hotel while he was away on business. While Thomas was away, a man named Jones, stabbed Richard while he was hanging meat. His object was probably robbery, but when Margaret intervened Jones escaped, inflicting a wound on her as he went.
Margaret fired a shot out the window of the hotel alerting nearby miners. Doctor Campbell was called, however, Richard died of his wounds on 30 December 1865. He is buried in the Waipori Cemetery.
Despite the tragedy, the family continued to operate the hotel.
Thomas died on 25 August 1873.
Margaret continued to run the hotel until she remarried to Robert Cotton in May 1875.
This information comes from pages 99-100 of 'Gold Beneath Dark Waters | The People of Waipori,' by David Still.PhotographerUnknown Date1870RightsThis item is out of copyright. ContributorWaipori Goldfields Charitable Trust
