Blackball, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Blackball is a small town
on the West Coast
of the South Island
of New Zealand
, approximately 29 km from Greymouth
.
Blackball was named after the Black Ball Shipping Line
, which leased land in the area to mine for coal
. It was formerly known as Joliffetown and Moonlight Gully.
Blackball is a centre of New Zealand radicalism and workers' militancy. It was the birthplace of the New Zealand Labour Party
, which followed the 1908 miners 'cribtime' strike, at ten weeks the longest in New Zealand history.
In the 1913 Great Strike
, Blackball miners were the last to return to work, in 1914. During the strike they had picketed miners in nearby Brunner
and had burnt down the secretary of the 'arbitration' (scab) union's home.
In 1925 the headquarters of the Communist Party of New Zealand
moved to Blackball from Wellington
.
The pit was closed in 1964.
The 'Formerly the Blackball Hilton' was founded in 1910 as the Dominion Hotel, renaming itself after the mine manager, after whom the town's main street is also named. It was forced to change its name after objections from the international hotel chain of the same name
.
The current population is 330, and the town is due to become the home of the New Zealand Museum of Working Class History.
The Blackball lodge of the United Ancient Order of Druids was formed originally in 1906 and like most other organisations of its day have ceased to exist in Blackball.
On June the 7th 1941 the Blackball Lodge No 80 of the Royal Antedilluvian Order of Buffaloes was opened In the Oddfellows Lodge Hall by the Provincial Grand Primo of the West Coast Bro. T.J.Preston KoM. The founders of the lodge were Bro. T.Durkin C.P. and Bro. T Nicolson C.P. both of whom would cycle 35 Miles every fortnight just to attend lodge meetings of Blackball Lodge and thus fulfill their duies as Founders. The first officers of the Blackball Lodge No 80 were Bro. Durkin C.P.(Worthy Primo) Bro. Nicholson C.P. (Alderman of Benevolence) Bro. R. Cooke (City Chamberlain) Bro. J Moore (City Marshall) Bro. Reid (City Tyler) Bro. R Duggan (City Registrar) Bro. R Mountford (City Constable) Bro. A Ross (City Waiter) Bro. Johnston (City Minstrel) Bro. J Barry (City Treasurer) and Bro. M O'Flaherty (City Secretary)
's Blackball Branch
, a branch line
from the Stillwater - Westport Line
. The line was approved in 1901, construction began in 1902 under the auspices of the Public Works Department
, trains first ran in 1909, and it was officially opened on 1 August 1910. Private interests constructed a steep extension from Blackball into the Paparoa Ranges
that employed the Fell mountain railway system
to aid braking. This extension was later taken over by the State Mines Department and was known as the Roa Incline.
Passenger services operated to Blackball until 1940, primarily for the benefit of miners. Coal was the mainstay of the railway, and when tonnages dropped to an unsustainable level the Roa Incline closed on 25 July 1960. Trains to Blackball became increasingly infrequent, and when a flood destroyed two spans of the line's bridge over the Grey River on 21 February 1966, the Railways Department viewed repairs as unjustifiably expensive and closed the line. Blackball's station building had been destroyed by fire in 1955.
's "Coal Flat" (1963) is a major New Zealand novel in the dated social realist tradition. Pearson had taught in the town as a probationary teacher in 1942, and had formed a friendship with the publican's family. His book caused a bit of a storm amongst the locals, as they tried to "spot the character" - who had Pearson based these people on? He died in 2002.
Eric Beardsley's "Blackball '08" is an historical novel published in 1984. Beardsley used the historic 1908 Crib Time strike as the basis for a story that fleshed out the drama of what was a key moment in New Zealand trade union history.
Jeffrey Paparoa Holman's "The Late Great Blackball Bridge Sonnets" published in 2004 contains poems based around the railway bridge that linked the community with the outside world. The poems also mention people and features of the town, which Holman recalls from his childhood in Blackball during the 1950s and 1960s.
Paul Maunder
, who lives in the town, is a playwright who has written and staged a number of plays about the town and working-class history.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
on the West Coast
West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, approximately 29 km from Greymouth
Greymouth
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coast's inhabitants...
.
Blackball was named after the Black Ball Shipping Line
Black Ball Line (trans-Atlantic packet)
The Black Ball Line initially consisted of four packet ships, the Amity, Courier, Pacific and the James Monroe. All of these were running between Liverpool, England and New York City. This first scheduled trans-Atlantic service was founded in 1817...
, which leased land in the area to mine for coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. It was formerly known as Joliffetown and Moonlight Gully.
Blackball is a centre of New Zealand radicalism and workers' militancy. It was the birthplace of the New Zealand Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
, which followed the 1908 miners 'cribtime' strike, at ten weeks the longest in New Zealand history.
In the 1913 Great Strike
1913 Great Strike
The Great Strike refers to a near general strike that took place in New Zealand in 1913. The dispute began on the Wellington waterfront and spread to other industries around the country.-Origins:...
, Blackball miners were the last to return to work, in 1914. During the strike they had picketed miners in nearby Brunner
Brunner
-People:Brunner came from Tyrolean and Bavarian place names, or Brno.* Alois Brunner , Austrian Nazi war criminal* Alex Brunner Italian footballer* Arnold Brunner , American architect...
and had burnt down the secretary of the 'arbitration' (scab) union's home.
In 1925 the headquarters of the Communist Party of New Zealand
Communist Party of New Zealand
The Communist Party of New Zealand was a Communist political party in New Zealand from the 1920s to the early 1990s. It never achieved significant political success, and no longer exists as an independent group, although the Socialist Worker organisation is considered organisationally continuous...
moved to Blackball from Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
.
The pit was closed in 1964.
The 'Formerly the Blackball Hilton' was founded in 1910 as the Dominion Hotel, renaming itself after the mine manager, after whom the town's main street is also named. It was forced to change its name after objections from the international hotel chain of the same name
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
.
The current population is 330, and the town is due to become the home of the New Zealand Museum of Working Class History.
Community History
Blackball Workingmens Club is one of the few old community organisations left in the town. Both the Oddfellows Lodge and the Buffaloes Lodge closed long ago. In its heyday Blackball had a Lodge of the Oddfellows Order. The Oddfellows Lodge played a major role in community life offering financial aid and self improvement in the age before TV and State Social Security. The Oddfellows Hall was a major center of community activity and social life.The Blackball lodge of the United Ancient Order of Druids was formed originally in 1906 and like most other organisations of its day have ceased to exist in Blackball.
On June the 7th 1941 the Blackball Lodge No 80 of the Royal Antedilluvian Order of Buffaloes was opened In the Oddfellows Lodge Hall by the Provincial Grand Primo of the West Coast Bro. T.J.Preston KoM. The founders of the lodge were Bro. T.Durkin C.P. and Bro. T Nicolson C.P. both of whom would cycle 35 Miles every fortnight just to attend lodge meetings of Blackball Lodge and thus fulfill their duies as Founders. The first officers of the Blackball Lodge No 80 were Bro. Durkin C.P.(Worthy Primo) Bro. Nicholson C.P. (Alderman of Benevolence) Bro. R. Cooke (City Chamberlain) Bro. J Moore (City Marshall) Bro. Reid (City Tyler) Bro. R Duggan (City Registrar) Bro. R Mountford (City Constable) Bro. A Ross (City Waiter) Bro. Johnston (City Minstrel) Bro. J Barry (City Treasurer) and Bro. M O'Flaherty (City Secretary)
Railway
Blackball was the terminus of the New Zealand Railways DepartmentNew Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
's Blackball Branch
Blackball Branch
The Blackball Branch was a branch line railway of New Zealand's national rail network on the West Coast of the South Island and worked from the 1900s to 1966. It included the Roa Branch, also known as the Roa Incline...
, a branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
from the Stillwater - Westport Line
Stillwater - Westport Line
The Stillwater Ngakawau Line , formerly the Stillwater - Westport Line and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island...
. The line was approved in 1901, construction began in 1902 under the auspices of the Public Works Department
New Zealand Ministry of Works
The New Zealand Ministry of Works, formerly the Department of Public Works and sometimes referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1876 and disestablished and privatised in 1988...
, trains first ran in 1909, and it was officially opened on 1 August 1910. Private interests constructed a steep extension from Blackball into the Paparoa Ranges
Paparoa Ranges
The Paparoa Range is a mountain range in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located along the coast between the Buller and Grey Rivers, with the Inangahua River to the east. Some of the range is protected as the Paparoa National Park...
that employed the Fell mountain railway system
Fell mountain railway system
The Fell system uses a raised centre rail between the two running rails on steeply-graded railway lines to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone. Trains are propelled by wheels or braked by shoes pressed horizontally onto the centre rail, as well as by means of the normal running...
to aid braking. This extension was later taken over by the State Mines Department and was known as the Roa Incline.
Passenger services operated to Blackball until 1940, primarily for the benefit of miners. Coal was the mainstay of the railway, and when tonnages dropped to an unsustainable level the Roa Incline closed on 25 July 1960. Trains to Blackball became increasingly infrequent, and when a flood destroyed two spans of the line's bridge over the Grey River on 21 February 1966, the Railways Department viewed repairs as unjustifiably expensive and closed the line. Blackball's station building had been destroyed by fire in 1955.
Literature
Blackball has a unique literary inheritance: for a small town, it has managed to attract more than its share of literary representations. Bill PearsonBill Pearson (New Zealand writer)
Bill Pearson was a New Zealand fiction writer, essayist and critic. Born in Greymouth he completed an B.A. in English at the Canterbury University College and trained as a teacher...
's "Coal Flat" (1963) is a major New Zealand novel in the dated social realist tradition. Pearson had taught in the town as a probationary teacher in 1942, and had formed a friendship with the publican's family. His book caused a bit of a storm amongst the locals, as they tried to "spot the character" - who had Pearson based these people on? He died in 2002.
Eric Beardsley's "Blackball '08" is an historical novel published in 1984. Beardsley used the historic 1908 Crib Time strike as the basis for a story that fleshed out the drama of what was a key moment in New Zealand trade union history.
Jeffrey Paparoa Holman's "The Late Great Blackball Bridge Sonnets" published in 2004 contains poems based around the railway bridge that linked the community with the outside world. The poems also mention people and features of the town, which Holman recalls from his childhood in Blackball during the 1950s and 1960s.
Paul Maunder
Paul Maunder
Paul Maunder is a film director, playwright and "cultural activist" from New Zealand. He is best known for his 1979 film of the Albert Wendt novel Sons For the Return Home, and his 1983 play Hemi, about the life of James K. Baxter....
, who lives in the town, is a playwright who has written and staged a number of plays about the town and working-class history.