From Californian goldfields to Waikato coach driver
WK Carter was a well-known coach proprietor, “his fine upstanding form, crowned with a wealth of snow-white hair, being known from one end of New Zealand to the other”. That seems an exaggeration, but Carter had worked on the route from Dunedin to Gabriel’s Gully, and from Wellington to Ōtaki both routes for Cobb and Co., and by 1874 for Quick & Co. between Auckland and the Waikato. He had also driven in the Californian goldfields, and reportedly drove the first coach from Melbourne to Bendigo at the beginning of the gold rush there, his first job for Cobb and Co.
Carter was clearly a distinctive character, and well-respected. A news item in the Waikato Times on May 21 1874 announced that Carter was about to leave for America: “He will be a great loss to the whole of the travelling community; his careful and artistic handling of the reins always inspires confidence in the most timid, and his jovial laugh and good temper will be missed…”. A month later, the New Zealand Herald understood that “a testimonial is in course of being got up to Mr Carter, the driver of the Waikato coach, in acknowledgment of his ability as a driver, and uniform civility and attention to travellers”.
Whether Carter did leave for America is uncertain, perhaps just a brief trip, as he was married in New Zealand early in 1875, and in March 1876 he established his own coaching and stables business in Cambridge. This was at a time when the Main Trunk railway line only went as far south as Mercer. Carter had a clever line in advertising, through the medium of a letter to the editor of the NZ Herald published on May 3 1876. Ostensibly writing about the failures of the river steamer service, “Pro Bono Publico” (surely Carter himself) recommended that the travelling public should use Carter’s new Waikato Royal Mail line of coaches, “at the same rate and without risk of stoppage or delay, and in much less time”.
The Descriptive Handbook to the Waikato (its abridged title), includes several entries for Carter’s business. It was published in 1880 and was both travel guide and advertorial - it is believed that people had to subscribe to the publication. Carter must have paid extra to get three effusive entries, summarised here:
“Close to [the saleyards] are the stables of Mr W.K. Carter, which comprise extensive buildings. Mr Carter is the much esteemed proprietor of the coaches which run from Hamilton to Cambridge and from Ohaupo to Te Awamutu and Alexandra. He has large numbers of horses and buggies, which are let out on hire; he also provides guides to the Hot Lakes and Taupo. Part of Mr Carter’s stables are on the grounds of the National Hotel ….”
“Carter’s Telegraph Line of Mail Coaches to all parts of Waikato leave Hamilton for Cambridge every day at 1.30 pm; leave Ohaupo on arrival of the first train from Auckland, for Te Awamutu and Kihikihi, returning following morning in time to meet the 2 o’clock train for Auckland. These coaches go right through to all parts of Waikato in one day. Mr
W.K. Carter, the well-known Jehu, keeps livery and coach stables … .” “From this township [Cambridge] emerges the track for the Hot Lakes and Taupo District, which we hope to see formed into a good coach road. What a grand civiliser is King Cobb! An able successor of whom will be found in Mr Carter, the celebrated Jehu and mail coach proprietor.”
Mary Anne Gill covered Carter’s story for the Cambridge News (August 17 2023) when the Cambridge Museum acquired a new photo of Carter from an American who found it in a box of glass slides. Perhaps it was acquired by a tourist in the 1880s. Carter’s story will be continued next week.