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only small amounts of money were sent and the venture ran into debt. In 1891 the works was shut down and Booth returned to Canada.
Each generation of oilmen seems to spawn a 'big' man, who has not been afraid to stake his career and his fortunes on his conviction that' oil is there'. A few such figures have succeeded during the past century; most have failed. But all have set an example of tenacity and purpose and drive which has spurred subsequent generations to similar effort. New Zealand has had its share of such characters. Oliver Samuel was one. Born in the Channel Islands in 1849, he was a son of the Rev. Dr O. Samuel. The family came to New Zealand in 1855 and Samuel received his education at Nelson College. In 1866 he joined the Ministry of Lands and later the Registrar's Department. After two years in the Thames goldfields at the height of the rush he returned to government service and in 1873 joined the New Plymouth firm of W. Sefton Moorhouse, under whom he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and was solicitor to the New Plymouth Harbour Board and the New Plymouth Borough Council for many years. He married the daughter of Octavius Carrington, brother ofF. A. Carrington. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1884 and retired in 1890. In 1907 he was appointed to the Legislative Council, a position he held until his death in 1925. In 1891 he made an abortive trip to London to try to persuade the directors to resume operations on the Booth well. He could only obtain sufficient to pay offthe Petroleum and Oil Syndicate's debts. He bought the rights and equipment and returned to New Plymouth to form a syndicate of local people to continue exploration. The Booth well, now named Samuel No.1, failed; but Samuel still had faith. He raised $100,000 from Sydney sources, and the Samuel Syndicate was formed. For 10 years it survived, drilling nine 'Samuel' wells, coping with problems from sea water in the bores, shortage of equipment (and money), and a disastrous fire in Samuel No.4, at Honeyfield's farm, on the site of the present Farmers' cool store at Moturoa. Some oil was recovered, which was shipped to the Balclutha Water Gas Company. It continued to be a fairly regular customer until the New Zealand Railways bought 'Samuel' oil for the manufacture of gas at Petone. In 1901 Samuel decided to cease his attempts at oil exploration. He had spent 10 years and many thousands of dollars of his own moneynearly half the $30,000 the nine holes had cost. The Syndicate decided to sell out. The boring plants and a large amount of casing was disposed of; much of it was subsequently used for drilling for water in various parts of the country. None of the directors of the syndicate had ever accepted any fees for their services; no dividends had been paid to shareholders. But at the winding up of the syndicate's affairs Samuel said he was still convinced that oil in profitable amounts existed under the foreshore at New Plymouth.
J. D. Henry, a noted oil expert of London, visiting New Zealand a few
years later, referred to the efforts of Samuel and his companions. He said: 'This is not an exceptional case of poverty of finance and the use of obsolete tools in the history of operations in the Taranaki field ... no one who goes carefully into the history of long years of feeble and at times foolish efforts to get oil in New Zealand will fail to unearth reasons to account for so many failures, and in doing so he will no doubt discover that the industry is one which ought to be developed by enterprising and honourable companies employing men of consumate skill and using plant of the most modern description.' 8 It was many years before this sound advice was taken.
One who did discover that the oil industry ought to be developed by enterprising men was Professor Bernard Freeman, who visited New Zealand in the summer of 1895. Oil has always been a game of high stakes played by tough, hard-slogging men at the wellhead and equally tough hard-headed men in the boardroom. Freeman, who was something of a tough character in his own special way, decided to join the game. Born of English parents in Stamboul, he had been sailor, gold-digger, cowhand in Texas, hotel-owner, land-boom salesman, revolutionary leader, fisherman and 'Greek Ambassador of Peace to Jerusalem'. His world travels brought him into personal and intimate contact with such people as General Gordon, Sarah Bernhardt, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Dame Nellie Melba, Caruso, and other famous figures of the times. He apparently escaped death from most available sources, including sharks, typhoons, Red Indians, leprosy, bushfires, influenza and irate fathers of young ladies. All this he recalled in his memories? 'after eighty-one years of peril, hardship, sudden ruin and success, unscathed, my zest for life undiminished'.
Of his visit to New Zealand in 1896, during the Samuel syndicate era, he recalls meeting a Scot named MacPherson, a mining engineer who 'like myself, had roughed it in America', but whose' affability, perfect manners and personal charm dazzled everyone. These advantages were a great help to him when he made his marvellous discovery of oil in Taranaki.'
A few weeks after Freeman arrived in Auckland, MacPherson gave a party at which the Premier, 'Dick Seddon as he was known then', Mr Ward (later Sir Joseph Ward) some ladies and another American, Colonel Anderson, were present. After a successful meal the ladies withdrew and the real purpose of the party was revealed: ' "The New Zealand Petroleum Company, as they called their one-horse affair", said MacPherson, "didn't go to work in the right way. They hadn't enough money to spend; they didn't have the right kind of plant. And, what's more important still, they didn't strike the right spot.
I have." Asked by Ward where the right spot was, MacPherson declined to answer 'until you've seen the place for yourself'. He didn't want the news leaking out; indeed,

some businessmen in Auckland and Wellington had already got wind of it and were quiteinterested in his syndicate, 'partly through the American consul who knows all about it' .
Further explanation revealed that MacPherson had substantial credit in the bank, his backers were prepared to spend $5 million and there was no truth in the rumour that he was acting for Rockefeller. Indeed, 51 % of the capital was to remain under New Zealand control to ensure America didn't get control of the New Zealand oilfields. 'That sounds all right', said Seddon, and suggested they make up a party to visit the oilfields. MacPherson produced several bottles of the oil which had been found in Taranaki. "It's not your money we want', he told the diners, 'so much as your names. We don't want a repetition of the corrupt methods of the oil trust in America. We want law and order behind us; protection for our investments. '
MacPherson's explanation seemed to satisfy everyone except Colonel Anderson. Freeman says, 'Anderson's attitude, if it was intended to set us against MacPherson had precisely the opposite effect. A few days afterwards the party, including Seddon, Ward, MacPherson, Anderson, three others and myself, started off by train, stopping at Rotorua where we put up for the night. MacPherson did things in style. We had a champagne lunch on the train, which he had ordered; for there was not much comfort travelling in those days as there is now.' From Rotorua the party travelled by open wagon across country to New Plymouth. 'We had a Maori guide who knew the district well but could speak no English. Mr Seddon, who could speak Maori fairly well, acted as interpreter.'
Soon 'to our astonishment we had the most convincing proof that we were in oil-bearing country. As we turned a corner we met a farm wagon drawn by two heavy horses carrying four good-sized hogsheads filled, so we thought, with water. Farmers often had to carry water during the dry season, so there was nothing strange about this, until we noticed one of the barrels was leaking badly. So I called out: "Say! You're losing your water." The farmer took no notice but drove on.
'Colonel Anderson suddenly said: "Look. It's not water he's losing. It's oil." It was true; the smell and colour showed it was oil all right. So we got off our wagon and rushed after the settler, a surly-looking, bearded man. "Where does this oil come from, friend?" said Mr Seddon. "And where are you taking it?" "That's my business. New Plymouth, if you want to know." "But where did you get it from?" "My own land, of course" , said the man. By this time a small pool of oil was forming round the wagon. "Here, I've got no time to talk to you," he said, whipping up the horses, and drove off.
'Seddon's face was a study; and the others, too, were startled. The only man who remained perfectly calm was MacPherson. "That's nothing ... You'll see it for yourself presently." A few hundred yards further on we did, sure enough. The valley we were entering was boggy and one of the wheels of our wagon began to sink almost to the hub. We all alighted and, with a little pushing, the horses soon pulled the wagon out. But not before a pool of water had formed around the wheel. "Look" , said one of the party, "at the oil forming on top of the water. That's crude oil, before it's refined." ,
Freeman recalls that they took samples from this region which were scaled up by Seddon and Ward to be analysed by the Government laboratory in Wellington. 'By this time I really began to get excited. Up to then I'd had my doubts; but the evidence was so conclusive and the others such well-known men ... Seddon, I noticed did not say much; but I could see he was greatly impressed; probably also concerned, from a national point of view, at seeing this amazing source of wealth exploited by Americans .... '
On the party's return to Auckland they formed a small committee to visit the Premier in Wellington and find out what the Government experts thought about the scheme. 'The Premier and Mr Ward said they were satisfied with what they had seen near New Plymouth ... but they would not commit themselves further, and were not so enthusiastic as we had expected to find them ... someone must have given the show away, for next day the papers were full of it, with scare headlines about fresh oil discoveries near New Plymouth and veiled hints about how the Standard Oil Company and other interests were secretly competing for financial control.
'MacPherson now had no difficulty in placing his stock. I heard afterwards that he had raised nearly a hundred thousand pounds.' Freeman revealed that he invested $2000 and Colonel Anderson $30,000. 'It was at this stage that Anderson came to me and told me confidentially about the offers that the Standard Oil people were secretly making to MacPherson. They were prepared to buy us out at double our capital, but MacPherson was sticking out for half a million pounds ($1 million). He had secured options on all the land around.
'Anderson told me he was going to America to investigate for himself, and asked me to watch his interests and act on any cable he might send, for which he gave me the power of attorney. These activities enabled the derelict New Zealand Petroleum Company to raise further capital and bore deeper. By November, 1895, they were getting out 10 barrels a day. "Nothing to what we should get, but still it showed the oil was here all right," as MacPherson pointed out. ... "I shall be disappointed if w.e are not getting a thousand barrels a day within three months."