Bully Hayes - New Zealand

New Zealand

Hayes was a notable early figure in the history of the Otago Region of New Zealand. After facing bankruptcy in Australia in the late 1850s, he sailed to Otago in 1862 (at the time the region was the center of a gold rush). He travelled the region with a travelling company of vaudeville artists on a tour of New Zealand. In January 1863 they arrived at Arrowtown. Hayes married a widow Mrs Roma 'Rosie' Buckingham, whose four sons were vaudeville artists, performing as The Masters Buckingham. Hayes and Roma settled in Arrowtown where he opened a hotel, the "United States", later called "The Prince of Wales". Hayes had a falling out with the Buckingham family who offered any barber ₤5 to cut his hair off short. Eventually this happened and it was revealed, as rumoured, that Hayes had been deprived of an ear in California where he had been caught cheating at cards. After this he was mocked in a popular play, and with his reputation gone he and his wife left for Port Chalmers. Later he acquired a ship in Australia, the Black Diamond which he hid in Croixelles Harbour, near Nelson. On August 19, 1864 the boat capsized, drowning Rosie, her baby, her brother, a nurse. Only Hayes survived. He moved to Christchurch, where he married Emily Mary Butler in 1865.