Gabriel Read landed in Otago in 1861 and went prospecting for gold, making his way to the Tuapeka Stream where he had heard gold had earlier been discovered by Edward Peters, or "Black Peter", a native of Bombay.
> Anniversary of gold: big celebrations planned
On a May evening, he came to a place opposite the Blue Spur and upon prospecting there saw the gold "shining like the stars in Orion on a frosty night".
He continued his investigations sufficiently to assure himself that he had discovered a rich and extensive goldfield, and then returned to Dunedin to make his discovery public through a letter to the Provincial Superintendent.
The news acted like magic on the city.
Ordinary work was completely disrupted, and some commodities, such as firewood, were practically unobtainable.
Major Richardson, the Provincial Superintendent, himself set out for Gabriels Gully, as the goldfield was called, to maintain order among the diggers, taking with him a mounted armed escort, who returned to Dunedin a few days later, bringing with them 500 ounces of gold.
Tidings of these riches quickly spread, and men flocked to Otago from other parts of New Zealand and Australia.
By July 1861, the population of the Lawrence goldfields was 11,472 - more than double the size of Dunedin at the time.
A post office was opened in the nearby township in April 1863 and the name Tuapeka was adopted.
But on November 6, 1866, the town was renamed Lawrence in honour of British soldier and statesman Sir Henry Montgomerie Lawrence.
The gold boom peaked in 1862 when nearly 200,000 ounces were taken out.
By 1866, the yield was less than 28,000 ounces.
Gold mining in the area continued to decline gradually and by the late 1930s, it had ceased.