Our Town History

Nestled in the rolling green hills of the Tuapeka countryside, Lawrence has a long history of welcoming people, beginning in 1861 when the gleam of gold in nearby Gabriel's Gully rapidly swelled the population to over 11,000.

GOLD:
The discovery of the colony's first payable gold by Tasmanian Gabriel Read, Indian Edward Peters and Scottish shepherd's wife Helen Munro, bankrolled the development of modern New Zealand. For a brief moment in history the population of Lawrence far exceeded that of Dunedin, as gold seekers rushed to the area from around the world.

1,000,000 ounces of the precious metal were transported by wagon and horse-drawn coach eventually making Dunedin New Zealand's preeminent colonial city. Eventually eclipsed by Auckland, the city's splendid heritage of Victorian and Edwardian buildings bears testament to this golden era.

THE CHINESE MINERS & CAMP:
Chinese miners joined the gold rush around 1867 settling in an specially surveyed camp on the edge of town, now recognized as the oldest and most important Chinese heritage site in New Zealand. Intensive archaeology has provided the framework for the region's restoration of the Chinese Camp set to begin in the near future.