Tom Hungerford

A serial novel on the Goldfields, revived in book form
for the 150th celebrations of the town of Lawrence

Jim Sullivan of Radio New Zealand National’s "Sounds Historical" programme has edited a Victorian melodrama set during the Otago gold rush of the 1860s, and published serially in the Tuapeka Times from August 1872 to February 1873.

Written by William Baldwin, after whom the world’s steepest street is named, the book tells the story of Tom Hungerford, an Irish immigrant who arrives with his loyal servant, learns of the discovery of gold, and finds himself appointed as a goldfields commissioner, with the challenging task of managing the range of characters who have rushed to the diggings. He also encounters Nelly Fitzherbert, the daughter of the local Colonel, whom he subsequently rescues from drowning in the Clutha river. Just how happy the ending is to be Baldwin leaves in some respects to the reader's imagination, but the trajectory of the plot offers strong hints of marriage and prosperity.

Published as the second in a series of New Zealand Colonial Texts, Tom Hungerford is a surprisingly accurate picture of life on the goldfields, enriched with novelistic elements. Baldwin certainly understood the technique of concluding chapters at moments of suspense, and he has drawn some memorable characters, particularly the servants and ruffians.

The Department of English at the University of Otago is pleased to have been part of making this work available once more to a wide readership, enhanced by Sullivan’s excellent introduction and selection of evocative historical photographs and a map used by men rushing to the area.

This book will interest readers of regional history, students of New Zealand literature, and all those who are in awe of the hardiness of those who braved the Central Otago climate in hopes of the elusive nuggets.

Printed by mck design and print in Dunedin, the book will be available for sale at the Otago Goldfields Heritage tent in Gabriels Gully this weekend, and from the Department of the English at the University of Otago after that.
Copies are $20 or $25 posted anywhere in NZ.

Contacts:
Shef Rogers, Dept of English, U of Otago:
e: shef.rogers@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
p: 03-479-8892

Jim Sullivan
history@xtra.co.nz