Millers Flat

Coordinates: 45°40′S 169°25′E / 45.667°S 169.417°E / -45.667; 169.417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Millers Flat
Rural settlement
UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode
9572
Area code03
Local iwiNgāi Tahu

Millers Flat is a small town in inland

railway used to pass through the town; it was opened to Millers Flat in 1925 and was the terminus for approximately two and a half years, until the section to Roxburgh was opened. The line was closed in 1968, though the town's station platform and some of the railway formation
still exist.

Millers Flat was originally called Ovens Hill; its current name is in honour of an early European settler, Walter Miller, who farmed in the area from about 1849.

Millers Flat Bridge was designed by Robert Hay (1847–1928) and construction started in 1897. It was opened in 1899.[3]

Demographics

Millers Flat is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers 0.99 km2 (0.38 sq mi)

Teviot Valley statistical area.[4]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
200699—    
201390−1.35%
201887−0.68%
Source: [5]
Millers Flat war memorial

Millers Flat had a population of 87 at the

2006 census
. There were 42 households, comprising 39 males and 48 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.81 males per female. The median age was 61.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 6 people (6.9%) aged under 15 years, 9 (10.3%) aged 15 to 29, 36 (41.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 36 (41.4%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 96.6% European/Pākehā, and 6.9% Māori. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 48.3% had no religion, and 41.4% were Christian.

Of those at least 15 years old, 9 (11.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 30 (37.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 12 people (14.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 36 (44.4%) people were employed full-time, 9 (11.1%) were part-time, and 3 (3.7%) were unemployed.[5]

Grave of Somebody's Darling

Approximately 8 km downstream of Millers Flat on the Clutha River are the remains of the Horseshoe Bend Gold Diggings, now largely remembered for the story of "Somebody's Darling" and the Lonely Graves.

Early in 1865 the body of a young man was discovered at Rag Beach, upstream and on the opposite side of the river from the present site of the Lonely Graves. An inquest held on 22 February 1865 in the Horseshoe Hotel determined the body to be that of Charles Alms who had fallen in the river at Mutton Town Creek, some considerable distance upstream. Alms, a butcher from the Nevis had been swimming cattle across the river when he had been thrown from his horse and washed away. The body was buried in an unmarked grave and the gravesite remained untended. Later in that same year a miner named William Rigney arrived at Horseshoe Bend, and with John Ord erected a fence of rough manuka poles around the previously untended grave. Rigney obtained a piece of black pine and made a simple headstone for the grave. With a four-inch nail he inscribed the words "Somebody's Darling lies buried here." In 1903 a marble headstone was erected. William Rigney died in 1912 and was buried beside "Somebody's Darling."[6][7][8][9]

Education

Millers Flat School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[10][11] with a roll of 27 as of February 2024.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Subnational population estimates (RC, SA2), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (regional councils); "Subnational population estimates (TA, SA2), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (territorial authorities); "Subnational population estimates (urban rural), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (urban areas)
  3. ^ "Millers Flat Bridge". Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. ^ 2018 Census place summary: Teviot Valley
  5. ^ a b "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. 7027917.
  6. ^ "Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz.
  7. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Phillips, Jock; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Lonely graves near Millers Flat". teara.govt.nz.
  9. ^ "New Zealand Libraries' Catalogue Display". Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  10. ^ "Millers Flat School Official School Website". millersflat.school.nz.
  11. ^ "Millers Flat School Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.
  12. Education Review Office
    .

External links

Media related to Millers Flat at Wikimedia Commons