Step back in time at the Ballarat Gardens and Cottage Stay.
Naseby was originally known as Parkers after early prospectors, but its name was changed to Naseby, either after Naseby in England, or after the battle of Naseby in the England of Cromwellian times.
In 1857 John T Thompson explored the area on an official survey and triggered a "run rush" by pastoralists. The first gold rush came to Naseby in 1863. Other rich fields were found nearby at Mount Buster and south across the Taieri River at Hamiltons. The 112 kilometre Mount Ida water race and sludge channels from Naseby to the Taieri River was constructed in 1877. Sluicing to recover gold was followed by dredging from 1890 with reasonable returns, but all dredging had finished by 1920 and Naseby, a major mining town, became a service centre for the Maniototo. By 1880 it had a courthouse, warden's office, district hospital, several churches, a primary school, a Catholic school and several large hotels.
Naseby's small permanent population numbers approximately 125 and is boosted at holiday time when the population can reach 4-6,000. Many of the original houses and cottages remain and many are popular as cribs for people from all over Otago and Southland.
References from (The Cyclopaedia of Otago and Southland, Vol. 1, Edited by Paul Sorrell, Published 1999).