How We All Got Here: The history of the Rugg and Hanna families of Kumara

Europeans settled vast tracts of land across the globe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Gold had not previously been extracted from many of these locations and strikes occurred one after another in different parts of the world. As gold fever took hold, strikes were increasingly followed by a rush of people seeking to strike it rich. This book traces the genealogy of Muriel Joan (Joan), Audrey, and Percy Cedric (Cedric) Fellows, who were born on the West Coast to a family of gold miners, hotel owners and coach drivers. It maps the family’s involvement with goldmining history and tells the stories of four of Joan, Audrey and Cedric’s great grandparents. James Rugg (1831-1918), Ann Jones (1842-1901), William Stewart Hanna (1833-1919), and Janet Dick (1845- 1915) emigrated to NZ during the rushes. James Rugg founded Rugg’s Hotel in Kumara, which became “one of the most complete on the coast”, and for a time ran coaches competing with Cobb and Co. over Arthur’s Pass. William Stewart Hanna served with Richard John Seddon on the first Borough Council in Kumara and was a lifelong supporter of Seddon’s Liberal party. Ann Jones and Janet Dick emigrated to New Zealand as single women and spent most of the rest of their lives in gold rush towns. Their family histories traverse Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.