Archives for May 2021

SOMEBODY’S DARLING

Department of Conservation

Near the Clutha Gold Cycle Trail in Central Otago, a gold settlement called Rigney once supported 200 miners and storekeepers while they worked a field at Horseshoe Bend on the Clutha River between 1863 and 1865. On a barren hill near where Rigney once stood, the most emotive pair of graves in New Zealand tell a story of kindness and loss. Romanticized myth and legend surround the two forlorn headstones known as the ‘Lonely Graves’.

THE STORY AS HANDED DOWN THROUGH HISTORY

In February 1865, the body of a young man was discovered on the banks of the Clutha River. A shivering wet dog sat guard over the body when it was discovered by miner William Rigney. The smooth hands and fine features of the young man suggested he was not a miner. William thought he looked aristocratic and considered the possibility he was a young lord. He became obsessed with the mysterious body which was never identified and took it upon himself to arrange a burial in a suitable grave which he had arranged on a hillside nearby. read more