{{Short description|Locality in Tasman District, New Zealand}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox settlement <!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions --> | name = Tophouse | native_name = | native_name_lang = | settlement_type = | image_skyline = | imagesize = | image_alt = | image_caption = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 7 | coordinates = {{coord|41|46|S|172|54|E|display=it|region:NZ_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki}} | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = New Zealand | subdivision_type1 = [[Territorial authorities of New Zealand|Territorial authority]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Tasman District|Tasman]] | subdivision_type2 = Ward | subdivision_name2 = Lakes-Murchison | seat_type = [[New Zealand electorates|Electorates]] | seat = {{ubl|[[West Coast-Tasman]]|{{nowrap|[[Te Tai Tonga]] ([[Māori electorates|Māori]])}}}} | government_footnotes = | leader_title = Territorial Authority | leader_name = [[Tasman District Council]] | leader_title1 = [[Mayor of Tasman]] | leader_name1 = {{NZ officeholder data|Tasman District Mayor|y}} | leader_title2 = {{nowrap|[[West Coast-Tasman|West Coast-Tasman MP]]}} | leader_name2 = {{NZ officeholder data|West Coast-Tasman MP|y}} | leader_title3 = [[Te Tai Tonga|Te Tai Tonga MP]] | leader_name3 = {{NZ officeholder data|Te Tai Tonga MP|y}} | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | named_for = | total_type = | unit_pref = | population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2023"/> | population_total = 102 | population_as_of = 2023 census | population_density_km2 = auto | area_footnotes = <ref name="Area"/> | area_total_km2 = 20.23 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | timezone1 = NZST | utc_offset1 = +12 | timezone1_DST = NZDT | utc_offset1_DST = +13 }} [[File:Landscape near Tophouse.jpg|thumb|A view of the rugged landscape just north of Tophouse.]] '''Tophouse''', also known as '''Tophouse Settlement''', is a rural locality in the [[Tasman, New Zealand|Tasman District]] of New Zealand's [[South Island]], some 8 km northeast of [[Saint Arnaud, New Zealand|Saint Arnaud]]. It is named after a hotel established in the 19th century to service [[Drover (Australian)|drovers]] transporting their sheep between [[Canterbury, New Zealand|Canterbury]] and [[Marlborough Region|Marlborough]]. The hotel is still in operation today and has an eventful history, including a double murder suicide in October 1894 (see below). For many years, "Tophouse" referred specifically to the hotel, but it has also been used to refer to the general vicinity, and on 20 February 2001, the New Zealand Geographic Board assigned the name "Tophouse Settlement" to the area.
Tophouse is located near [[New Zealand State Highway 63|State Highway 63]]. There were also plans to establish a significant [[railway]] junction in Tophouse. One plan from the 1880s for the route of the [[Main North Line, New Zealand|Main North Line]] from [[Christchurch]] to Marlborough and [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] proposed extending the [[Waiau Branch]] line (then terminated in [[Culverden]]) via [[Hanmer Springs]] to Tophouse, and then building one branch down the [[Wairau River]] valley to [[Blenheim, New Zealand|Blenheim]] and another to Nelson. This proposal remained under consideration until the 1930s, when a coastal route via [[Parnassus, New Zealand|Parnassus]] and [[Kaikōura]] was chosen instead of the inland Tophouse route.
Tophouse had a school which opened in 1914 but has since closed.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web |title=Tasman Education Timeline |url=https://www.theprow.org.nz/society/tasman-district-education-timeline/ |website=theprow.org.nz}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tophouse School building |url=https://heritage.tasmanlibraries.govt.nz/nodes/view/3516 |website=Tasman District Libraries |publisher=Tasman District Council}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tophouse School opens |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19140714.2.13.1 |work=Colonist |date=14 July 1914 |page=3}}</ref>
==The Tophouse Tragedy== What became known as the "Tophouse Tragedy" occurred in October 1894, when the owners of the hotel, Nathaniel and Louisa Longney, were away in Blenheim, having left their cousin, John Lane, in charge of the business, and a governess, Miss Catherine Wylie, looking after their three children. The brother of Mrs Longney, a Mr William (Bill) Bateman, who was rumoured to have been trying unsuccessfully to court Miss Wylie, heard of this arrangement and apparently became jealous.
Bateman travelled to the Tophouse hotel, arriving on the evening of Thursday, October 4, and convinced Lane to go out rabbit shooting with him. He then shot Lane in the back of the head, and dragged his body into the bushes. Bateman then went the 300m to the nearby telegraph station, and told the telegraphist, William Wallis, that Lane wanted to talk to him. When Wallis accompanied Bateman, he too was shot, his body being concealed under a horse-cover. During the night, Bateman repeatedly threatened Miss Wylie and Mrs Wallis, who locked herself in the telegraph station and tried to call for help, but did not shoot either woman.
When the police arrived the following evening, alerted by Mrs Wallis' attempts at calling for help, they found Bateman on the verandah of the hotel, having shot himself in the head with his muzzle-loading shotgun. To accomplish this he had removed his shoes and socks and placed his toe on the trigger, putting the barrel of the gun under his chin. The shot went through his head, and the blast holes can still be seen in the roof-boards of the verandah even today.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://backend.theprow.org.nz/assets/files/TheTragedyatTophousei1.pdf|title=The Tragedy at Tophouse|first=Sophie|last=Beaumont|publisher=The Prow|year=2009}}</ref>
==Demographics== Tophouse locality covers {{Convert|20.23|km2||abbr=on}}.<ref name="Area">{{Cite web|title=Stats NZ Geographic Data Service|url=https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/data/|at=Statistical Area 1 2023 (generalised)|access-date=23 April 2026}}</ref> It is part of the larger [[Murchison, New Zealand#Murchison-Nelson Lakes statistical area|Murchison-Nelson Lakes statistical area]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://statsnz.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=3a406ce8fbb14367ab5caae21c07ab8b|title=Geographic Boundary Viewer|publisher=Stats NZ|at=Statistical Area 1 – 2023 and Statistical Area 2 – 2023}}</ref>
{{Historical populations|2006|72|2013|75|2018|93|2023|102|percentages=pagr|align=left|source=<ref name="Census 2023"/><ref name="Census 2018">{{NZ census 2018|7022873}}</ref>}} Tophouse had a population of 102 in the [[2023 New Zealand census]], an increase of 9 people (9.7%) since the [[2018 New Zealand census|2018 census]], and an increase of 27 people (36.0%) since the [[2013 New Zealand census|2013 census]]. There were 54 males and 48 females in 48 dwellings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://explore.data.stats.govt.nz/vis?fs[0]=2023%20Census%2C0%7CTotals%20by%20topic%23CAT_TOTALS_BY_TOPIC%23&pg=0&fc=Variable%20codes&bp=true&snb=9&df[ds]=ds-nsiws-disseminate&df[id]=CEN23_TBT_009&df[ag]=STATSNZ&df[vs]=1.0&dq=doTotal%2Bdo1.7022873.2023&ly[rw]=CEN23_TBT_DWD_003|publisher=Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer|access-date=3 October 2024|title=Totals by topic for dwellings, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses}}</ref> The median age was 54.3 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 12 people (11.8%) aged under 15 years, 3 (2.9%) aged 15 to 29, 57 (55.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 30 (29.4%) aged 65 or older.<ref name="Census 2023"/>
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 97.1% [[European New Zealanders|European]] ([[Pākehā]]), 2.9% [[Māori people|Māori]], and 5.9% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 100.0%, and other languages by 11.8%. No language could be spoken by 2.9% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 17.6, compared with 28.8% nationally.<ref name="Census 2023"/>
The sole religious affiliation given was 23.5% [[Christianity in New Zealand|Christian]]. People who answered that they had [[Irreligion in New Zealand|no religion]] were 61.8%, and 8.8% of people did not answer the census question.<ref name="Census 2023"/>
Of those at least 15 years old, 24 (26.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 45 (50.0%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 18 (20.0%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $29,600, compared with $41,500 nationally. 12 people (13.3%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 39 (43.3%) full-time and 18 (20.0%) part-time.<ref name="Census 2023">{{Cite web|url=https://explore.data.stats.govt.nz/vis?fs[0]=2023%20Census%2C0%7CTotals%20by%20topic%23CAT_TOTALS_BY_TOPIC%23&pg=0&fc=Variable%20codes&bp=true&snb=9&df[ds]=ds-nsiws-disseminate&df[id]=CEN23_TBT_012&df[ag]=STATSNZ&df[vs]=1.0&dq=hq011%2Bhq010%2Bhq009%2Bhq008%2Bhq007%2Bhq006%2Bhq005%2Bhq004%2Bhq003%2Bhq002%2Bhq001%2Bhq000%2Bws1%2Bsp99%2Bra80%2Bra08%2Bra07%2Bra06%2Bra05%2Bra01%2Bra04%2Bra03%2Bra02%2Bra00%2Brb1%2Bls66%2Bls03%2Bls02%2Bls05%2Bls04%2Bls01%2Beg6%2Beg5%2Beg4%2Beg3%2Beg2%2Beg1%2BbiTotal%2Bbi0%2Bbi1%2BasTotalLG%2Bas4%2Bas3%2Bas2%2Bas1%2Bws4%2Bws3%2Bws2%2Bge3%2Bge2%2Bge1%2Brc%2BasMed%2BegTotal%2BlsTotal%2BgeTotal%2BrbTotal%2BraTotal%2BhqTotal%2BibTotal%2Bib7%2Bibmed%2BwsTotal.7022873.2013%2B2018%2B2023&to[TIME]=false&ly[rw]=CEN23_TBT_IND_003&ly[cl]=CEN23_YEAR_001|publisher=Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer|access-date=3 October 2024|title=Totals by topic for individuals, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses|at=7022873}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061209124329/http://www.linz.govt.nz/core/placenames/placenamedecisions/20feb2001/index.html Decisions of the New Zealand Geographic Board, 20 February 2001]: includes the assignment of the name Tophouse Settlement *[http://www.theprow.org.nz/framework/main.php?url=/places/tophouse/#.Vvj2qkd1d2M History of Tophouse] *[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TC18941008.1.2&e=-------en--1----0-all Newspaper Report on the Tragedy]
{{Tasman District}}
[[Category:Populated places in the Tasman District]] [[Category:Hotels in New Zealand]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the Tasman District]]