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A history of Blackball: Law and Order on the diggings.1865 - 1869.
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DescriptionThefts and murders were common on the goldfields of the West Coast. Thieves roamed freely from field to field. Highwaymen, for example, made away with £4000 after holding up a bank on the road between No Town and Twelve Mile. A draper was robbed of £1400 by masked men with a shotgun one day near Totara Flat. And a ‘sticking-up case’ caused ‘a sensation’ in 1866 when three masked highwaymen committed robbery under arms at Blackball.
The robbery began when Henry Hammett, owner of the store on the flat, heard his dog bark. He looked out a door. Next thing he saw was ‘a double-barrelled gun presented to his head.’ Two other men, one with a single-barrelled gun and the other a revolver, stood further back. The masked men ransacked the store. Hammett and two customers were tied up with flax.
The two most well known highwaymen in the district were murderers as well as thieves. One was an Irishman, Thomas Noon alias Kelly. The other was an Englishman, Richard Hill alias Burgess. They murdered men wholesale.
‘It appears that the number of victims,’ noted a shocked editor, ‘is nearer thirty than twenty.’
Others seem to have been murdered by other gangs. A man whose dead body was found by travellers one day in 1869 ‘on one of the beaches near the Blackball Creek’ led a newspaper to say there was ‘something fearfully suggestive’ in the large number of ‘accidental deaths’ in the district.
Diggers dealt with crime on the goldfields by taking justice into their own hands. The first diggers to get to a field would hold a meeting to talk over and vote on an agreed code of ‘digger law.’ Although unwritten, these laws were very effective in bringing wrongdoers to book. We know of no such event in Blackball but one famous digger trial took place in 1867 at nearby Moonlight. A man was caught robbing a hotelkeeper of her cashbook. After ‘a fair trial’ the man was found guilty and driven off the field subject only to ‘a little personal chastisement.’
Date of Photo1865 - 1869Map[1] ContributorStevan Eldred-Grigg
The robbery began when Henry Hammett, owner of the store on the flat, heard his dog bark. He looked out a door. Next thing he saw was ‘a double-barrelled gun presented to his head.’ Two other men, one with a single-barrelled gun and the other a revolver, stood further back. The masked men ransacked the store. Hammett and two customers were tied up with flax.
The two most well known highwaymen in the district were murderers as well as thieves. One was an Irishman, Thomas Noon alias Kelly. The other was an Englishman, Richard Hill alias Burgess. They murdered men wholesale.
‘It appears that the number of victims,’ noted a shocked editor, ‘is nearer thirty than twenty.’
Others seem to have been murdered by other gangs. A man whose dead body was found by travellers one day in 1869 ‘on one of the beaches near the Blackball Creek’ led a newspaper to say there was ‘something fearfully suggestive’ in the large number of ‘accidental deaths’ in the district.
Diggers dealt with crime on the goldfields by taking justice into their own hands. The first diggers to get to a field would hold a meeting to talk over and vote on an agreed code of ‘digger law.’ Although unwritten, these laws were very effective in bringing wrongdoers to book. We know of no such event in Blackball but one famous digger trial took place in 1867 at nearby Moonlight. A man was caught robbing a hotelkeeper of her cashbook. After ‘a fair trial’ the man was found guilty and driven off the field subject only to ‘a little personal chastisement.’
Date of Photo1865 - 1869Map[1] ContributorStevan Eldred-Grigg
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Location (city or town)BlackballEventA A history of Blackball: Law and Order on the diggings.1865 - 1869.
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Category TagGoldmining
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Date Created5th May 2021CommentsCarolyn Luck
My great grandmother lived in No Town and would ride side saddle to Kamaka and then get the barge to Greymouth.
My great grandfather rang the store at No Town and was also a Gold Buyer.
My great grandmother would transport the gold in the hem of her dress to deposit in the bank in Greymouth.
She always took a basket of baking with her and on one occasion she was stopped by a gang and just told them she was going to visit a sick friend and they let her go. The next person who came along that day was shot.
Warner Nut Curry
Carolyn Luck Amazing Carolyn, very interesting thanks,
Tony Ring
Thank you. A very interesting piece of history. The real Wild West….
· Reply · 1h
Sandra Arnott
Yes interesting!kinsella a coast name,one worked at strongman mine with my father!
Louise Cheyne
Very interesting
Shiree Couch
Interesting read
· Reply · 1h
Glenn Johnston
Stevan Eldred-Grigg FYI "Black beech forest of Upper Blackball" Whist this phrase may have been in contemporary use when Williams store existed the vegetation would not be Fuscospora/Nothofagus solandri var. solandri common name black beech but other beech species. In upper Blackball Creek near where the store, pub and sawmill was, from memory, the main beech species present is silver beech. There are also podocarps and other hardwoods present.
Stevan Eldred-Grigg
Thanks for that correction, Glenn.
Glenn Johnston
Kinsella Peak is quite close to where the Kinsella's had the ferry, store, farm etc. From memory the beech species here adjacent lower Ford Creek are Red and Hard beech. Some good rimu and red beech remain on the slopes of Kinsella Peak beyond the old logging boundaries. There are Kiwi living up there!
John Rosanowski
Stefan, you should take some care if you refer to the Burgess-Kelly gang and the murder of George Dobson. I have investigated this and the Maungatua murders very closely and you can read about all this in my book, Treachery Road.
Crow Bay
John Rosanowski Was there a book called "death around the bend" I recall reading it years ago
John Rosanowski
Crow Bay Yes, but it's cobbled together from low-level research and prejudicial pronouncements. Basically it's pot-boiler cashing in on the notoriety of the murders.
Tony De Goldi
The Burgess/Kelly gang known for the Maungatapu murders . Burgess/Hill , Kelly/ Noon and Levi were hanged at Nelson gaol Sullivan turned Queens Evidence and was set free even though it was claimed he was one of the main perpetrators . It is said that Burgess went to the gallows saying he feared it no more than marriage. The death masks are held in Nelson museum .
John Rosanowski
Tony De Goldi Yes, Sullivan claimed to only be the watcher on the road, but there were holes in his story which the prosecution attempted to hide during the trial, including witness tampering.
John Rosanowski
Sullivan's implausible explanation for his blood-stained shirt (which he hid under log after the murders) should have put paid to the credibility of his story that he was not involved in the murders.
John Rosanowski
Few have examined the very relevant trial of Jimmy Murray for the murder of George Dobson, held in Hokitika some months after Burgess, Kelly and Levy had been hanged. It is quite instructive as the the real story behind the Maungatapu murders. Again Sullivan, the star witness, claimed only to have been the lookout. His perjurous accusation of Murray, who had an iron-clad alibi, led to the charges being thrown out. An attempt to have Sullivan then charged with the Dobson murder was blocked by the authorities, obviously to protect the dubious verdicts against Burgess, Kelly and Levy.
Tony De Goldi
Burgess always claimed responsibility while trying to clear Kelly and Levi of murder . Kelly is said to have left a wife and child and always claimed he was innocent and went to his death still pleading
Tony De Goldi
May be an image of 4 people and text that says "THE TRIAL OF THE MAUNGATAPU MURDERERS IN NELSON IN 1866. A Vivid Word Picture of the Canture, Trial, Conviction and Exection. ILLUSTRATED PUBLISHERS: R. w. STILES co., Printers NELSON, N.Z. 1924 COPYRIGHT"
Janet Sutton
Great read thankyou. Tough times back then
Dennis Gibbs
These guys were also known as the Maungatapu Murderers. They were arrested in Nelson and hung, except for Sullivan who turned Queens evidence.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maungatapu_murders..
Richard Osmaston
Robbery is more subtle today.
My great grandmother lived in No Town and would ride side saddle to Kamaka and then get the barge to Greymouth.
My great grandfather rang the store at No Town and was also a Gold Buyer.
My great grandmother would transport the gold in the hem of her dress to deposit in the bank in Greymouth.
She always took a basket of baking with her and on one occasion she was stopped by a gang and just told them she was going to visit a sick friend and they let her go. The next person who came along that day was shot.
Warner Nut Curry
Carolyn Luck Amazing Carolyn, very interesting thanks,
Tony Ring
Thank you. A very interesting piece of history. The real Wild West….
· Reply · 1h
Sandra Arnott
Yes interesting!kinsella a coast name,one worked at strongman mine with my father!
Louise Cheyne
Very interesting
Shiree Couch
Interesting read
· Reply · 1h
Glenn Johnston
Stevan Eldred-Grigg FYI "Black beech forest of Upper Blackball" Whist this phrase may have been in contemporary use when Williams store existed the vegetation would not be Fuscospora/Nothofagus solandri var. solandri common name black beech but other beech species. In upper Blackball Creek near where the store, pub and sawmill was, from memory, the main beech species present is silver beech. There are also podocarps and other hardwoods present.
Stevan Eldred-Grigg
Thanks for that correction, Glenn.
Glenn Johnston
Kinsella Peak is quite close to where the Kinsella's had the ferry, store, farm etc. From memory the beech species here adjacent lower Ford Creek are Red and Hard beech. Some good rimu and red beech remain on the slopes of Kinsella Peak beyond the old logging boundaries. There are Kiwi living up there!
John Rosanowski
Stefan, you should take some care if you refer to the Burgess-Kelly gang and the murder of George Dobson. I have investigated this and the Maungatua murders very closely and you can read about all this in my book, Treachery Road.
Crow Bay
John Rosanowski Was there a book called "death around the bend" I recall reading it years ago
John Rosanowski
Crow Bay Yes, but it's cobbled together from low-level research and prejudicial pronouncements. Basically it's pot-boiler cashing in on the notoriety of the murders.
Tony De Goldi
The Burgess/Kelly gang known for the Maungatapu murders . Burgess/Hill , Kelly/ Noon and Levi were hanged at Nelson gaol Sullivan turned Queens Evidence and was set free even though it was claimed he was one of the main perpetrators . It is said that Burgess went to the gallows saying he feared it no more than marriage. The death masks are held in Nelson museum .
John Rosanowski
Tony De Goldi Yes, Sullivan claimed to only be the watcher on the road, but there were holes in his story which the prosecution attempted to hide during the trial, including witness tampering.
John Rosanowski
Sullivan's implausible explanation for his blood-stained shirt (which he hid under log after the murders) should have put paid to the credibility of his story that he was not involved in the murders.
John Rosanowski
Few have examined the very relevant trial of Jimmy Murray for the murder of George Dobson, held in Hokitika some months after Burgess, Kelly and Levy had been hanged. It is quite instructive as the the real story behind the Maungatapu murders. Again Sullivan, the star witness, claimed only to have been the lookout. His perjurous accusation of Murray, who had an iron-clad alibi, led to the charges being thrown out. An attempt to have Sullivan then charged with the Dobson murder was blocked by the authorities, obviously to protect the dubious verdicts against Burgess, Kelly and Levy.
Tony De Goldi
Burgess always claimed responsibility while trying to clear Kelly and Levi of murder . Kelly is said to have left a wife and child and always claimed he was innocent and went to his death still pleading
Tony De Goldi
May be an image of 4 people and text that says "THE TRIAL OF THE MAUNGATAPU MURDERERS IN NELSON IN 1866. A Vivid Word Picture of the Canture, Trial, Conviction and Exection. ILLUSTRATED PUBLISHERS: R. w. STILES co., Printers NELSON, N.Z. 1924 COPYRIGHT"
Janet Sutton
Great read thankyou. Tough times back then
Dennis Gibbs
These guys were also known as the Maungatapu Murderers. They were arrested in Nelson and hung, except for Sullivan who turned Queens evidence.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maungatapu_murders..
Richard Osmaston
Robbery is more subtle today.
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West Coast New Zealand History (7th May 2021). A history of Blackball: Law and Order on the diggings.1865 - 1869.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 10th Apr 2026 21:20, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/29329