Page 37 - rigneymaster

One Man’s Goldfield: the story of the Horseshoe Bend Diggings, William Rigney and Somebody’s Darling

after Mr Rigney, a miner, was attracted to the locality, and soon evinced a very great
interest in what was then, and still is, termed "the nameless grave." He determined to do
something further to mark the place, and at considerable trouble and expense procured
a wooden slab, which he erected over the grave like a head-stone. With a manly,
bighearted sympathy for the unknown, and a kindly thought for those who had lost him,
Mr Rigney laboriously hammered the lettering of the inscription into the wood with a
hammer and a large nail known as a ewebank's [link to document on ewbank nails] ,
tools other than those used in mining being scarce. Mr Rigney has never allowed his
interest in the place to flag but has always kept in view the hope of placing a more
lasting monument over the grave. He intended adding to the inscription now on the slab
the following lines:

Tho' the long formal prayer' ne'er has been littered here,

Tho' the robed priest has not hallowed the sod,

Yet will I date to ask any in saintly mask

Where is the spot that is unwatched by our God?

The old wooden slab is now fast falling into decay, and the matter has been taken in
hand by a few residents in the Tuapeka district, who are anxious to see a marble
headstone with the same inscription in leaded letters erected over the grave, and it is
also proposed to enclose the place with a low concrete wall and an iron, railing. To effect
this, subscription lists have been opened, and, co far, liberally responded to locally, but
the whole amount required, to complete the work has not yet been raised. It has been
proposed to enclose sufficient; ground to admit of a few other burials, because some of
the old resident miners have expressed a wish to be buried alongside the unknown man.
The spot is high, overlooking the Molyneux River, and is a lonely place, whose wild,
impressive scenery has grown 'to be like home to these men. A committee has been
formed for the purpose of carrying out the work, consisting of the following gentlemen:
Mr Mullin, Roxburgh; Mr T. Sheehy, Miller's Flat; Mr H. C. Wilkie, F.R.C.V.S., Dunedin;
Mr A. Mills, Lawrence (secretary) Mr A. M. Eyes, Lawrence (treasurer). The committee
feel that there are many who would like to assist the work with their approval and a small
donation, and would be very glad if you would consent to place the matter before your
readers and receive subscriptions. An area of nearly two acres enclosing the nameless
grave has been, surveyed and gazetted a public cemetery, with trustees duly appointed.
The committee have had a photograph taken of the grave- as it now exists, and intend to
have another taken of the new headstone when erected. It is also desired to ask other
papers in Great Britain, Australia, and America to copy this tale of the nameless grave,
as it is thought the matter may be of interest and perchance of some slight comfort to
those who lost relatives in the colony in the early days of the goldfields. [We shall be
pleased to receive subscriptions, to be forwarded on to the treasurer. Ed.]”

The text above refers to additional lines that Rigney had intended to add to the
inscription on the headstone but it is not clear where the article sourced that information.

The headstone appears in a photograph alongside this article, in one piece but with a
split, with what looks like a fresh coat of white paint and a very clear black inscription.
The clarity of the inscription in 1902 does seem to support the idea that it had been

© Jeff Robertson 37