David was a foundation Trustee of The Coromandel Heritage Trust. The history of the Thames area was his passion and in the last years of his life he made it his full-time work, as a researcher for families looking for their roots, speaking to groups, taking very interesting walking tours of historic Thames around the old areas, cemetery tours, panning for gold, and giving busloads of visitors a day tailor-made to fit their requirements. David entered into the spirit of these trips with great enthusiasm, dressing for the part. He especially loved working with children, to show them their heritage in a meaningful way. David's family have given his lifetime's meticulous research to The Coromandel Heritage Trust, to be housed in The Treasury.

This collection of 150 photos of early Thames includes photos of the early Thames goldfield as well as several of the destruction caused by devastating floods in the early years. There are people, parade days, churches and the High School to name but a few.

Alistair Isdale (1911 - 2001) was a well-known Thames historian for many years. He was the curator of the Mineralogical Museum at the Thames School of Mines. He contributed a column to the local paper, and wrote tirelessly on various aspects of the peninsula in the early years of its development. He was particularly interested in preserving the written history and artefacts of gold mining in the area. He provided many people with reports about their families, and published books as well as articles in historical journals. Many of his manuscripts are in our collection.

We have a small but growing collection of the documents of Mr T. W. (Toss) Hammond M.B.E. He was an important local historian whose interests included the early days of the goldfields and Maori history and culture of the pre-European days. He was born in Thames in 1869, at the beginning of the goldrush and died in 1967 at the age of 98 years.

The Pioneer Family Register is a collection of forms filled in by people with early family in this region, under the umbrella of The Hauraki Thames Indexing Group. We have had an amazing response to this project, with forms arriving from all over New Zealand, and from overseas - as far away as Switzerland and America. Frequently people have sent in extra information, or provided a photo. These are filed separately. Some have sent in family history books as well.

The forms contain much interesting information about our early settlers - where they came from, the boat they came out on, their interests, their children's names, as well as the dates for these events where known. On the reverse side is the name of the person submitting this information - so a family researcher wanting more information has the address of someone to contact.
If you had early family in this region, please fill out a Pioneer Family Register Form for us and post it back. (Please note that there are two pages here to print and fill out.) Forms are also available from Carson's Bookshop in Thames, or by writing directly to the Coromandel Heritage Trust, PO Box 75, Thames 3540, New Zealand.

We now have 1312 completed forms. Linda Hansen is Digitising them so that they will be easily searchable at The Treasury.

Recently received forms:
The Alley/Nicholas family of Hikutaia,
The Bagnall/ Lamb family of Turua,
The Bain/Dempster family of Waiotahi & Thames,
The Bennett/Mason family of Thames,
The Bowler/Cook family of Thames,
The Bull/McKeown family of Thames,
The Cater/Hannken family of Thames,
The Clout/Paterson family of Thames,
The Coad/Hollow family of Thames,
The Coldicutt/Birdwood family of Thames,
The Cornes/ Moran family of Thames, Paeroa, Te Aroha & Waihi,
The Dare/Herrick family of Thames,
The Driver/Renshaw family of Thames,
The Dunlop/Maxwell family of Thames,
The Fisher/Elvin family of Turua,
The Fisher/Parker family,
The Fisher/Mansbridge family of Thames, Netherton & Paeroa,
The Fisher/ Martell family of Thames, Netherton & Paeroa,
The Fisher/Wyatt family of Thames & Kerepehi,
The Fisher/Gale family of Matatoki & Tararu,
The Fisher/Tetley family of Thames & Netherton,
The Fisher/Bennett family of Thames & Netherton,
The Fisher/Vedder family of Thames & Netherton,
The Heffron/Bjornstad family of Thames,
The Morgan/ Griffiths family of Thames,
The Morrison/Jaggard family of Thames,
The Philp/Burt family of Thames,
The Pollock/Jennings family of Thames,
The Scott/ Lidgard family of Tapu,
The Spencer/Fisher family,
The Taylor/Fisher family of Thames,
The Vercoe/ Chapman family of Thames,
The Vincent/Millis family of Thames & Manaia,
The Whitehouse/Bagnall family of Thames & Turua

We have an active Oral History Group who are collecting oral histories from people in the community with stories to tell. Recorded oral histories are an extremely valuable method for keeping history alive for future generations.
Index of Completed Oral Histories.

Marie Pay has indexed The New Zealand Observer And Free Lance, from 1880 - 1909, with reference to early Thames names and events. There are thousands of names on this index, along with the page reference and a brief comment on the topic. This has been further expanded to include names from all over the peninsula. Great snippets to pad out your family picture - gossip, what they wore to various functions, marriages, scandals and mining information.

Pages commemorating early family or businesses, people or businesses living currently in the region, clubs etc. The information has been submitted by a family member/donor, along with a photo. These pages also acknowledge the donor.
A $100 donation gives you a page. These will later be made into 'books' and prominently displayed in the foyer of The Treasury. Not only do they become an interesting information resource about you or your early family, but we can acknowledge our donors by putting their name at the bottom of their page.