Telling tales of shipwreck

Tucked away in small towns throughout Otago and Southland are the keepers of the community’s history. Today, David Loughrey visits Milton.

Shipwrecks, pottery and the stuff of daily life from Milton's past cram the town's museum.

• Inkstand's disappearance shrouded in mystery

In the former post office building, rooms are filled with everything from old Remington typewriters to cups won by locals for the likes of golf or sheep classing.

In a town not too far from the coast, items from a major shipwreck that appear to have spread to homes across Milton are now collected at the museum.

They include the captain's chair and washbasin, and a sailors' hammock, the latter used by a local to collect grass clippings before it was donated to the museum.

The Marguerite Mirabaud ran aground at what is now Chrystalls Beach.

The vessel was sailing from Hobart to deliver cargo to the French Pacific Squadron at Tahiti, when it ran aground in dense fog on February 17, 1907.

It was driven hard on to the beach, allowing the crew to make it to shore, but within days the ship was a wreck and its contents sold off to the highest bidder.

Local residents rallied to help, making the crew comfortable and providing meals.

They were taken by horse and cart to Milton where, after a short welcome, they were taken by express train to Dunedin and eventually home to France.

One fascinating relic of the wreck is a vessel used to hold a tot of rum, showing just how small a tot was, at least on the Marguerite Mirabaud.

Other displays show items from Chinese gold-miners, railway memorabilia, and more.

One item with uncertain value but a good back story is a model of a local church.

Taped to its base on crumpled paper is the inscription ''Model of Tokomairiro Presbyterian Church Built by Mrs Short using matchsticks''.

Tokomairiro Historical Society president and Bruce Museum Trust treasurer Nancie Allison said Mrs Short made the model in the 1990s when she was in her late 80s.

It was one of a number she made late at night due to sleeplessness.

That condition, she had said, was due to the effects of an explosion in a munitions factory she worked in during World War 2 in Britain.

Mrs Allison said the items collected at the museum that pertained particularly to Milton were ''just fantastic''.

''I just find them so interesting.''

She particularly liked examples of Milton pottery, and World War 1 memorabilia, uniforms and quilts made in Milton.

''I find them quite moving actually.''

She said people with ties to the district were usually the ones who visited the museum, although overseas tourists also dropped in.

''They like our type of museum ahead of the big fancy museums because they feel - they're usually older people - it's something they can respond to.

''There are plenty of stories throughout the museum.''

Opening hours
Monday to Friday: 9.30am-4.30pm; also Saturday 10am-1pm from Labour Weekend to Easter.

While you’re there

• Walking tour of the town’s history (map available at museum).
• Milburn Whale Fossils: display of whale and dolphin fossils found in nearby lime quarries,  between 24million and 34million years old.
• Mt Stuart Tunnel:  provided access for the Tokomairiro-Lawrence Railway,  442m long. Glow worms can be seen at various points along the ceiling.