Blackball, New Zealand

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Blackball is a small town located on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately 29km from Greymouth.

Blackball was named for the Black Ball Shipping Line, which leased land in the area to mine for coal. It was formerly known as Joliffetown and Moonlight Gully.

Blackball is notable as a centre of New Zealand radicalism and workers' militancy. It was the birthplace of the New Zealand Labour Party which followed the 1908 miners 'cribtime' strike, the longest in New Zealand history (at ten weeks).

In the 1913 Great Strike, Blackball miners were the last to return to work (in 1914). During the strike they had picketed out miners in nearby Brunner and had burnt down the secretary of the 'arbitration' (scab) unions home.

In 1925 the headquarters of the Communist Party of New Zealand were moved to Blackball from Wellington.

The pit was closed in 1964.

Local hostelry 'Formerly the Blackball Hilton' was founded in 1910, as the Dominion Hotel, renaming itself after the mine manager, after whom the town's main street is also named. It was forced to change its name after objections from the international hotel chain of the same name.

The current population is 370, and the town is due to become the home of the New Zealand Museum of Working Class History.

[edit] References

Reed, A. W. (2002). The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. Auckland: Reed Books. ISBN 0-7900-0761-4.

Nolan, Melanie (ed.) (2005). Revolution - The 1913 Great Strike in New Zealand. Canterbury: Canterbury University Press (in association with The Trades Union History Project). ISBN 1-877257-40-0.