Middlemarch is a small town in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It lies at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range of hills in the broad Strath-Taieri valley, through which flows the middle reaches of the Taieri River. Since local government reorganisation in the late 1980s, Middlemarch and much of the Strath-Taieri has been administered as part of Dunedin city, the centre of which lies some 80 km to the southeast. Middlemarch is part of the Taieri electorate (formerly known as Dunedin South),[4] and is currently represented in parliament by Ingrid Leary. Middlemarch has reticulated sewerage but no reticulated water supply. A description of 1903, that "[T]he summer seasons are warm, but not enervating, and the winters cold, but dry" is still true today.[5]
Middlemarch | |
|---|---|
Rural settlement | |
 Looking south along State Highway 87 at Middlemarch | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 45°31′S 170°07′E / 45.517°S 170.117°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Otago |
| District | Dunedin |
| Community board | Strath Taieri Community Board[1] |
| Electorates |
|
| Government | |
| • Territorial authority | Dunedin City Council |
| • Regional council | Otago Regional Council |
| • Mayor of Dunedin | Jules Radich |
| • Taieri MP | Ingrid Leary |
| • Te Tai Tonga MP | Tākuta Ferris |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.05 km2 (0.41 sq mi) |
| Population (June 2024)[3] | |
| • Total | 160 |
| • Density | 150/km2 (390/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
| Postcode | 9597 |
| Area code | 03 |
| Local iwi | Ngāi Tahu |
It is a crucial service town for the local farming community, the terminus of the Taieri Gorge Railway, and the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail.
Several suggestions exist about how the township was named. One is that Mrs Alice Humphreys (née Hawdon, 1848–1934), whose husband Edward Wingfield Humphreys owned and had surveyed for sale sections in this new township,[6] named the town in 1876 after George Eliot's novel Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life.[7][8] Another is that the name is from the now obsolete English term "march" meaning a boundary - in this case a middle area between two rivers. As with many places in and close to the Maniototo area, its name may have been influenced by the Northumberland ancestry of early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson (there is a Middle March region in Northumberland, centred on the town of Otterburn).
Demographics
editMiddlemarch is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers 1.05 km2 (0.41 sq mi)[2] and had an estimated population of 160 as of June 2024,[3] with a population density of 152 people per km2. It is part of the much larger Strath Taieri statistical area.[9]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 165 | — |
| 2013 | 156 | −0.80% |
| 2018 | 153 | −0.39% |
| Source: [10] | ||
Middlemarch had a population of 153 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 3 people (−1.9%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 12 people (−7.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 66 households, comprising 81 males and 72 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.12 males per female. The median age was 50.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 21 people (13.7%) aged under 15 years, 18 (11.8%) aged 15 to 29, 90 (58.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 30 (19.6%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 96.1% European/Pākehā, and 21.6% Māori. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 62.7% had no religion, and 31.4% were Christian.
Of those at least 15 years old, 12 (9.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 30 (22.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 15 people (11.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 51 (38.6%) people were employed full-time, 21 (15.9%) were part-time, and 6 (4.5%) were unemployed.[10]
Education
editStrath Taieri School is a co-educational state full primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[11] with a roll of 46 students as of August 2024. The school opened in 1880, and was initially a high school. It became a full primary in 1975.[12]
Museum
editMiddlemarch Museum, located on Aberafon Street, shares the social history of the region.[13]
The museum's collection includes the Platypus, a 10-metre long iron-plate submarine. It was built in 1873 in Dunedin to mine for underwater gold, and is thought to be the only submarine to have been built in New Zealand.[14]
Climate
edit| Climate data for Middlemarch (1991–2020 normals, extremes 2000–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 37.4 (99.3) |
35.6 (96.1) |
32.6 (90.7) |
26.9 (80.4) |
25.3 (77.5) |
21.1 (70.0) |
19.4 (66.9) |
21.5 (70.7) |
24.7 (76.5) |
27.9 (82.2) |
31.2 (88.2) |
36.0 (96.8) |
37.4 (99.3) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 32.1 (89.8) |
30.9 (87.6) |
29.0 (84.2) |
24.6 (76.3) |
20.7 (69.3) |
17.9 (64.2) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.1 (64.6) |
22.1 (71.8) |
24.7 (76.5) |
27.1 (80.8) |
29.9 (85.8) |
33.6 (92.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) |
22.3 (72.1) |
20.6 (69.1) |
17.0 (62.6) |
12.9 (55.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
9.5 (49.1) |
11.6 (52.9) |
14.7 (58.5) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.5 (65.3) |
20.9 (69.6) |
16.4 (61.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.6 (60.1) |
15.2 (59.4) |
13.3 (55.9) |
10.2 (50.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
3.8 (38.8) |
5.7 (42.3) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.1 (50.2) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.3 (57.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.6 (47.5) |
8.1 (46.6) |
6.1 (43.0) |
3.4 (38.1) |
1.1 (34.0) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
2.1 (35.8) |
3.6 (38.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
7.7 (45.9) |
3.6 (38.4) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−8.0 (17.6) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
0.8 (33.4) |
−8.5 (16.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −2.1 (28.2) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−10.1 (13.8) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−10.6 (12.9) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−8.0 (17.6) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 90.1 (3.55) |
70.2 (2.76) |
62.8 (2.47) |
65.0 (2.56) |
69.8 (2.75) |
57.3 (2.26) |
53.5 (2.11) |
53.1 (2.09) |
45.9 (1.81) |
73.8 (2.91) |
75.2 (2.96) |
76.7 (3.02) |
793.4 (31.25) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 184.1 | 164.6 | 162.2 | 137.5 | 114.9 | 109.4 | 124.3 | 131.6 | 160.1 | 173.6 | 179.3 | 175.2 | 1,816.8 |
| Source: NIWA [15] [16] | |||||||||||||
The Taieri Pet is a lenticular cloud formation that occurs in the Strath-Taieri region. The cloud formation is created when north-westerly winds are forced upward over the Rock and Pillar Range. The cloud is a common feature in the skies near Middlemarch.[17][18][19]
References
edit- ^ "2016 Strath Taieri Community Board Boundary" (PDF). dunedin.govt.nz. Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ a b "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ "Taieri - Electorate Profile - New Zealand Parliament". 27 June 2023.
- ^ p 596 THE CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW ZEALAND [OTAGO & SOUTHLAND PROVINCIAL DISTRICTS], 1903.
- ^ https://www.otago.ac.nz/library/pdf/hoc_fr_bulletins/Bull%2058%20pts1+2.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "History". Middlemarch official website. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ Thomson, J. (ed) (1998) Southern People A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography Dunedin, NZ: Longacre Press with Dunedin City Council. ISBN 1-877135-11-9. p. 240.
- ^ 2018 Census place summary: Strath Taieri
- ^ a b "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. 7028205.
- ^ Education Counts: Strath Taieri School
- ^ "Our History". Strath Taieri School. 14 January 2019.
- ^ Loughrey, David (31 December 2018). "Middlemarch history comes alive". www.odt.co.nz. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Bisset, John (3 February 2019). "Beached as: Super-rare 1870s submarine washes up in landlocked Otago town". Stuff. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "CliFlo -The National Climate Database (Agent numbers: 18437)". NIWA. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ "CliFlo – National Climate Database : Middlemarch Ews". NIWA. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Doermann, Lindsey (18 September 2024). "Suspended in Sky: The Ethereal Dance of Otago's Taieri Pet Cloud". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Lewis, John (1 September 2020). "Spectacular cloud formation takes pilot's eye". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Wind in the Mountains". Wilderlife. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
Further reading
edit- Inder, Sonia (1992). Middlemarch 1914-1918 (PDF) (Dissertation, Postgraduate Diploma). University of Otago.
External links
edit