The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]
Woodstock
Woodstock.
Woodstock is situated on the main south road, about four miles from Hokitika river. The township, which at the census of 1901 had a population of 189, is a mining one, and is in the county of Westland, and in the electorate and provincial district of Westland. It has two hotels, four stores, and a public school, in addition to the residences of the settlers; a gold dredge is at work, and some hydraulic sluicing is still carried on. There is also a sawmill driven by water power. Most of the residents of Woodstock are connected with the mining claims of Rimu, about a mile further to the south. The business of the post office is conducted at one of the local stores. Church services are held regularly in the district, and there is regular coach communication with Hokitika.
The Woodstock Public School is situated on the south bank of the Hokitika river, about a mile from the Kanieri School. When it was erected, about twenty years ago, the river was unbridged, and it was used as a side school till the Rimu “rush” set in, when it was considerably enlarged and separated from the jurisdiction of the Kanieri School Miss Staines then took charge, with Miss Milner as assistant. The school so increased in numbers that it was found necessary to appoint a master, and Mr. Mackay took charge in 1886. The building, situated on a five acre reserve, with about an acre for a playground, has accommodation for 150 scholars, and as many as 120 have been in attendance at one time. The school has been extremely successful in mining scholarships, and as many as four have been held at one time. The annual examinations for some years past show the percentage of passes to have been very high, and for discipline the school has led the Westland district.
Mr. William Donald Mackay , Headmaster of the Woodstock Public School, is assisted by Mrs Mackay, with Miss Irwin as pupil teacher. Mr. Mackay was born in Skye, Scotland, in 1859, and went to Victoria with his parents in 1862. He was brought up and educated in Melbourne, and came to New Zealand in 1878. For nine months Mr. Mackay assisted at Kumara School, and was teaching for a similar term at Ross. Mr. Mackay is married to a daughter of Mr. Kildahl, solicitor, of Ballarat, Victoria.
Wells, David William, Draper and General Storekeeper, Woodstock. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand, Hokitika. This business was established in 1895 by the present proprietor, who has successfully carried it on an extended its operations. Mr. Wells was born in Waikouaiti, Otago, in 1864. He was brought up and educated at Kanieri, and was apprenticed to the storekeeping business under the late Mr. T. Learmont, with whose firm he remained for over twelve years, and only resigned through being incapacitated by illness. Two years later he was appointed storeman to Mr. P. Hansen, of Woodstock, and retained his position until he established his present business.
Woodstock Gold Dredging Syndicate , Woodstock. This company is a private one, and is the third proprietary which has worked the Woodstock dredge; the Woodstock Dredging Company, and afterwards the new Woodstock Company, having both been unsuccessful. The dredge is a large and powerful one-necessarily so, as a portion of the ground is very rough. The pontoons are 106 feet long by thirty-two feet beam. Power is derived from a twenty-five horse power boiler, and the main engine is of twenty horse power; the Payne winches are driven by a pair of Marshall engines. The ladder is seventy feet long, and the buckets have a capacity of four and a-half cubic feet. A complete electric lighting plant is installed, and both are and incandescent lamps are used. The claim is sixty-eight acres in extent, and the dredge has many years of work ahead of it.
Ring, photo. Mr. D. Williams.