---
category: City
created: 2026-09-23
location: Washdyke, Timaru, New Zealand
summary: Industrial suburb five kilometres north of central Timaru, where the fugitive
  R.C. Horsch ran a mail-order computer software exchange as Dr Stanley Stokowski.
tags:
- Place
- NewZealand
- SouthCanterbury
- RCHorsch
updated: 2026-09-23
---

Washdyke is an "industrial suburb 5 km north of Timaru's city centre" in South Canterbury, [New Zealand](/places/new-zealand/). "Its first industry was a boiling-down works, opened in 1869. Its industries today include a substantial brewery." The Washdyke Lagoon lies to the east; because the coastline changed after Timaru's port was built, it is much smaller than it once was.[^1]

### The Stokowski Affair

The American known as Dr Stanley Stokowski, a director of [Chemical Technology Limited](/organizations/chemical-technology-limited/), "also ran a computer software exchange at Washdyke," *[The Press](/organizations/the-press/)* reported in June 1984.[^2] He sold the mail-order business to a Timaru man before he left, and mail was forwarded to a Christchurch box number that proved to be bogus.[^3] He was the fugitive [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/).

[^1]: Wilson, John. "South Canterbury places: Timaru," *Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand,* February 28, 2007, updated August 17, 2015. http://web.archive.org/web/20260208224555/https://teara.govt.nz/en/south-canterbury-places/page-6
[^2]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
[^3]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9