Australia's first gold rush, in 1851 is sometimes called the rush to the
"Bathurst" gold fields. This is a bit of a misnomer as there
is actually little gold close to Bathurst itself. It was referred
to as such because Bathurst was the only large town in the region (the present
cities of Orange and Wellington had extremely few inhabitants in that
year).
This file contain notes on the history of the gold-bearing
places. The initial rush comprised ten thousand or more diggers
who prospected and mined all over the region in a relatively short time - with
the best known localities all discovered before the close of the year of
discovery, 1851. Later on the alluvial yields declined and the
mining of quartz reefs became the principal activity. This reached
its height of fame at Hill End in the 1870s. In the later 1800s
most places were in decline. The subsequent history of the gold-mining
villages and towns in the twentieth century became one of continued decline
as the gold either ran out or became increasingly hard to extract. Many
places were prospected or worked again for noteworthy yield during the Great
Depression years but by the mid 1900s gold mining had ceased. Hill End
and Sofala continue to receive considerable tourist interest on account of
their past history, and the Lucknow mines are also of passing interest to
tourist.
Small scale quartz vein trial mining of gold at Hill End was re-commenced
in recent years by Hill End Gold company, and the whole region is seldom not
under some form of ongoing mineral exploration. The old style
of mining and crushing from narrow quartz reefs, that might yield at
about 1 oz per ton, and which were followed in narrow underground
workings, is no longer attractive or economic. Modern
options seek large masses of rock at lower grades but which can be bulk
mined from open cuts using large machinery.
Payable gold was discovered in 1851 along the waterways of the Hill End
Trough, a dissected landscape of folded or "on end"
slate/sandstone and prominent quartz veining, which reminded Edmund Hargraves
of things he saw in California. When at the California gold rush in
1850, Hargraves on 5 March wrote back to a Sydney acquaintance, Samuel Peek:
"I am very forcibly impressed that I have been in a gold region within
300 miles of Sydney; and unless you know how to find it you might live for a
century in the region and know nothing of its existence" (In 1834
Hargraves had worked at Captain Hector's property which was a 2,000 acre grant
commencing about 5 miles NW from Bathurst). By 1851 Hargraves was
back in Sydney and trying to borrow money to finance his travel west to find
gold. He confidentially predicted he was going to find it but was
generally scoffed at by the businessmen he approached to seek their
backing. With what small funding he could obtain, Hargraves set off
westwards over the Blue Mountains. Meeting Mr Icely, a member of the
Legislative Council (who he had been advised to contact), on the road at Kings
Plain, he told Icely that he 'would find gold within 48 hours'. Such
overly gushing optimism must have seemed absurd to anyone Hargraves spoke
with, yet he did achieve what he said he would. He had within two days
of speaking those words to Icely panned a few specks of gold at Lewis Ponds
Creek (north from Byng). From then on matters would move swiftly.
By the middle of 1851 thousands were heading towards Bathurst from the coast,
and a gold rush was on in earnest. That year diggers spread all
over the creeks and rocks of the Hill End Trough and that year most of the
well-known goldfield mining centres took origin - Ophir, Sofala, Hill End,
Tambaroora, Hargraves, Mookerawa, Burrandong, etc. Because of
rough terrain none of these places became, or remain today, as large towns -
and some (Ophir, Tambaroora and other smaller places) have all but vanished
entirely. With early sparsity of records, and even more so of
map-making, many points regarding the exact history of the gold mining places
related to the gold rush years are often in some doubt. Hargraves
promoted himself, and almost himself alone, in connection with the gold
rush and gave but little mention of his partners or collaborators from the
Byng district (who were the actual real discoverers of "payable"
gold). That lead to a campaign by his partners to gain fit and proper
recognition for themselves, which dragged on for decades more. Much has
been written on that aspect (considered herein).
The writer used to once conduct excursions (for adults only) into the old
mine tunnels of Hawkins Hill at Hill End. It was lucky that I or others
weren't killed or injured as some of the dangers of that place (e.g false floors
that had been built on staging, unstable ceilings beneath backfilled stopes, etc.) were only realised
subsequently. I became interested in gold at a young age, less than 12 years,
but for reasons since forgotten. An interest regarding history of the
early goldfields beyond the Blue Mountains, was fed during university years
and later by attending talks by, or corresponding with, various persons who
were interested in such things - such as Harry Hodge, Mr John Bland
of Yetholme, and others. At some later date I understand that Mr
Bland himself discovered and exploited mineable gold (alluvial) but I never
got around to visiting his operation. The Hodge family, of Cornish
origin I think, was at
Hill End from the earliest times and has since then proven a prolific source
of writings about goldfield
history. This was kicked off in a major way by Harry (Alfred Harold) Hodge
(1904-1973) who had been born at Hill End and developed a passion for
knowledge about his had gold-mining ancestors and others there. After retiring in 1966 from being the Headmaster of Raymond
Terrace High School he continued a very productive spate of historical
research into Hill End. After retirement he remained based at his
Newcastle.home but
would spend up to several months a year in Hill End pursuing his researches into the
history of the the Hill End and Tambaroora goldfields. This had apparently
been a lifelong interest of his.
Harry Hodge's "The Hill End Story" appeared in 1964 in
three volumes, and Harry ran excusions there for schools and interest groups. The second edition appeared
in 1973, and a third edition was revised by his son Errol in 1980.
Cut-down articles like 'A Guide to Historic Hill End' were also
produced. Hill End also became a place of interest to artists/poets at
some stage in its later life. Harry Hodge was awarded an
MBE in 1971 for valuable contributions to historical research, notably in the
Hill End district. Brian Hodge, who wrote "Valleys of Gold",
"Frontiers of Gold" and other books on gold, spreading out from Hill
End to the Turon and elsewhere, is a nephew of Alfred Harold (Harry)
Hodge, who Brian states was actually known to all his family as "Mick".
Brian Hodge continued with close association to Hill End till after 2005 but
then later moved to Boulder, Colorado. There is also at least one
other Hodge, a C. Hodge, who has been active in goldfield histroy and who
wrote 'Goldrush Australia' in 1983.
This present file is the writer's own collection of notes from here and
there on early gold
discovery and mines. This is all from 'other' material, mostly published
and there's maybe a few personal observtions but essentially there is no
original work herein. This file will contain inaccuracies and it is not in any
fit state to be fully public. Nevertheless, although not uploaded to a
fully public host it may be shared and made accessible via the online backup facility
"DROPBOX". Please discuss
any points, or notify inaccuracies that should be corrected, with John Byrnes ( john.mail "@" ozemail.com.au ).
There is relatively little on Hill End here, leaving that to another
potentially much bigger file since there is so much history available on that area.
The story of the discovery of gold, and the first gold rush to Ophir, and
other areas beyond Bathurst, west of Sydney, is published in very many
places. One very good and pictorial overall coverage is in "Bill
Peach's Gold" (Peach 1983). Bits and pieces of greater detail to
fill in the story of individual districts and mines may come from all manner
of sources, old newspapers, local historians, mines department and company
reports. In the case of the Byng/Guyong area, which is considered as the
historical catalyst area for the gold discovery by Hargraves and his
associates, those who have researched and published family history of the
Cornish settlers and copper miners are a rich source of
information.
This file is about gold and gold mining. However Byng (a copper
mining place) is also strongly included here on account of the special relationship of
the people of the Cornish Settlement with the discovery of payable gold in
Australia (at Ophir). The early Cornish miners who resettled to
Australia were at first more into copper (before commercial discovery of
gold). For example, the Cornishman Captain Thomas Lean is well
known for his pioneering part in establishing copper mining at
Cobar. Late in December 1850 Glasson's mine (Carangarra mine)
at Byng output its first two tons of copper ingots and these were paraded
through the streets of Bathurst. Copper mining and smelter building at
Byng had been undertaken that year by miners displaced from some temporary
failure of the Copper Hill copper mine at
Molong. When late that year the first two tons of copper ingots
were dispatched from the mine to be sold via rail their arrival at Bathurst
impressed the editor of the Bathurst Free Press, William Farrand, such that in
the New Year edition of that newspaper he expressed some strangely prophetic
views. Trade at Bathurst had actually been declining year by year and
the editor thought that the land around Bathurst had been, relative to poorer
seasons, already overstocked. The newspaper editor thought that
the "prosperity of Bathurst has arrived at its height" without
"the discovery and development of other resources". After
seeing or hearing of the first load of copper from Glasson's mine, he was
promted to write "We are dailing travelling over hidden weatlth more
valuable than the famed treasures of Golconda. Our land is brimful of
promise in everything which tends to national greatness". Just a
few months later that year Hargraves would arrive and catalyse the fulfilment
of that dream.
The Cornish played a large role not only with copper but
also with gold. The discovery field of Ophir was rather short-lived as a
settlement but Hill End was much more substantial after reef mining developed;
and at its peak about one third of the miners there were Cornish according to
one source (Harry Hodge). From the very beginning of our goldfield history
the Cornish people with their skills were very important. Much of the
direct evidence of this might have now disappeared although the roasting pits
at Dirt Hole north of Hill
remain as physical evidence of their undoubted mining industry skills. In
1963 those pits, still in excellent condition, were restored completely and
publicised by the National Parks & Wildlife Service after the Hill End are
became a declared "Historic Site" of great significance.
Thus the Cornish Association of NSW ( Cornish
Association of New South Wales - CANSW - http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jlsymo/cansw.htm
) has been one body of people interested in tracing the details of early mining (e.g. Cobar
Cornish History Project ) (contact: Dr. John Symonds, 14 Taloombi Street,
Cronulla NSW 2230,
jlsymo@ozemail.com.au ). In 1976, CANSW members
met and proposed tidying up the Byng chapel and cemetery. Since that
time, there have been regular visits by the Association to Byng to clear
undergrowth from the cemetery, to cut the grass and to carry out repairs to
the Chapel. The CANSW Secretary, Chris Dunkerley, arranged for the
Government architect, Rodney Climo, to look at the Chapel to determine what
might be done under the Bicentenary grant scheme. Internal walls had
cracks were filled painted; TAFE students erected scaffolding to repair the
spire, and a great deal of work was carried out by local residents. In
January 1988, the restored Byng Chapel was full and overflowing for the
re-dedication ceremony. The Cornish Association of NSW, the
Orange Family History Group, and the Orange District Historical Society have
all cooperated in prserving the memories and artefacts of Byng's past.
Hundreds, if not thousands of websites mention or repeat much of the basic
material herein about the discovery of gold in Australia, but few are about
revisiting the places or investigating anything further. For example, no
description of visiting the 'discovery' recorded in the notebook of Mr. Assistant Surveyor James McBrien at Fish River
has yet been noted.
As to the dispute between Hargraves and the folk of Cornish Settlement (Byng)
who 'assisted' him - or rather came to firmly believe that THEY discovered
payable gold, not Hargraves (yet Hargraves got all the acclaim and rewards)
the discussions and notes are voluminous and there are, to put it mildly,
different versions or memories or events. Hence "sorting all
that out" is complex (and two government select committee enquiries were
devoted to better understanding it). The first enquiry upheld
Hargraves claim, but the second one instead recognised Hargraves
partners/assistants as the true finders of a payable gold field.
Currently just a few of the unresolved points or thought-noteworthy points
are:
* The draftsman E. Gerald who re-drew information from Mr. Assistant Surveyor James McBrien
was presumably at Mines Department.
- No description of later visits or prospecting work at the 1823 McBrien
site yet found.
* The Cornish Settlement (Byng) included the Glasson family. A
W.R. Glasson (about whom nothing yet has been learned) between 1933 and 1944.
wrote three works dealing with Ophir and gold. A possible
descendant from the Byng Glassons is likely Ken Glasson (deceased) who was a geologist who taught ore geology at Sydney University in the time the
present writer attended there. Among other things, Ken was the
geologist at the Radium Hill uranium mine.
* Is the tourist gold mine at Ophir still open? It
still appears advertised on the Council webpages (2010) but a 2007 news report
speaks of it closing.
THE HISTORY OF
GOLD DISCOVERY IN NEW SOUTH WALES
-
1822, the shepherd Macgregor was finding gold according to an article of
18 February 1852, page 4, in the Hobart Courier (below) but more considered
mentions of Macgregor put his activity later.
- 1823, by Mr. Assistant Surveyor James McBrien at Fish River
(but might have been just phlogopite mica flakes some
may now think?).
McBrien's field book of 15 February
1823 notes "numerous particles of Gold in the sand convenient to the Rr"
(river).
Now numerous
particles of gold, if the mineral gold, far far exceeds what Hargraves found
in the same month decades later - and if it were really mineral gold it is
surprising that McBrien made nothing more of it. But if it were
only particles of golden colour in the sand (golden mica - which can quite
resemble gold) then the lack of any action is quite
understandable. On the other hand, that he capitalised 'Gold'
suggests he might not have been thinking only of the colour gold(?).
Numerous people have referred to McBrien's "find" but haven't gone
there to see if there is, or isn't, golden mica in the soil/sand of the area.
James McBrien
was appointed "4th Assistant Surveyor" on 5th June 1822 and before
that had been a Lieutenant in navy on half-pay. When engaging
on a traverse of the road from Emu Plains to Bathurst, McBrien went forward through the Vale of Clwydd on February
6, 1823, and then followed a long ridge, at the end of which he
crossed a stream of water – the River Lett which drains into the Cox’s River.
After that he surveyed along the Fish River.
Pittman
(1901) wrote that the McBrien field book notation was the first definite
record of the discovery of gold in Australia, and that it was a "note by Mr.
James McBrien, Assistant Surveyor, in a field-book which he used while making
a survey of the Fish River, between Rydal and Bathurst.
This Field-book
is preserved in the plan room of the Department of Lands, in Sydney, and is
registered as No. 205. The note is dated February 15th, 1823, and reads as
follow : - [Footnote - E signifies station at end of survey line.] ‘At E, I chain
50 links to river and marked gum-tree. At this place I found numerous
particles of gold in the sand in the hills convenient to river".
The
locality is in Portion 12, Parish Eusdale, County Roxburgh, on the
north side of the Fish River, three miles E.S.E. of Locksley
Railway. Station on the main Western line. (See plan
below). The site is also referred to as being at
the junction of Eusdale Creek and
the Fish River, west of Tarana.
People have
presumably looked where McBrien indicated, but no description of a visit to
the locality has been yet noted. It doesn't appear that Pitman visited
there, however he stated (Pitman, 1901): "It
may be mentioned that the locality referred to by Mr. McBrien is of granite
formation, and a considerable amount of gold was won from the soil in this
neighbourhood by the process known as ‘surfacing’." Thus
records of activity near the site might well exist.
Although
he might only have been noting colour from flakes of golden mica (phlogopite) in the soil/sand,
many state that James McBrien can be called the first person
to discover gold in Australia, e.g. "The goldrushes of the 1850s made
the Australian colonies world famous for mining. Gold was first discovered in
New South Wales in 1823 by a public official named James McBrien while he was
on a survey mission in hills near the Fish River east of Bathurst. The gold
was sparse and McBrien's record of his find was forgotten" (
http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/history/index.jsp
).
McBrien had returned to England
by 1825 or 1826 and it is not known how, or if, he ever commented on the gold
matters in the Colony later on. He has not been tracked positively but
it is believed he may have later emigrated to Canada after returning to
England. At least his wife Margaret and children are known to have emigrated to
Ontario, Canada in the mid-1800s.
A Mr. E Gerald in 1863 did a drawing (or
re-drawing) to illustrate this 'gold discovery'. On this, is the annotation
"At this place I found numerous particles of gold in the sand in the
hills convenient to the River" (presumably copied faithfully from
McBrien's notebook). This plan might now be in the State Archives, but
it is not known if Gerald at the time contacted McBrien in any way.
Where McBrien noted 'gold' in 1823,
as per copying in 1863 by E. Gerald (Repository: Probably in
State Archives).
The
black line coming to the Fish River from NW is apparently a creek, presumably
Eusdale Creek as the site is
also referred to as
being at the junction of Eusdale Creek and
the Fish River, west of Tarana. There is an
annotation
seen here of "Note: At this place I found numerous particles of gold in
the sand in the hills
convenient
to the River". That is close to the originals shown below,
differing only in that
the
original states "Gold" not "gold"; and "... to
Rr", not "... the River".
The
draftsman E. Gerald who re-drew information was presumably at Mines
Department.
Dated February 15th,
1823: "At this place I found numerous particles of Gold in the sand
in the hills
convenient
to Rr". Photo of the McBien's notebook page in Pitman
(1901). Pitman noted
that:
"
This Field-book
is preserved in the plan room of the Department of Lands,
in Sydney, and is
registered as No. 205".
-
1832, Dr. John Lhotsky. The Polish doctor of medicine and
natural scientist, Dr John (Johann( Lhotsky received a grant from the King of
Bavaria to enable him to study abroad in South America and Australia. He
arrived in Sydney in 1832 and unsuccessfully sought a museum position.
Later in life, after Lhotsky was back in England and had descended into
poverty and ill health he made claim to having discovered gold during his
travels in NSW (his Monaro expedition). His claims are not
possible to further assess and at one stage the English geologist Sir Roderick
Murchison referred to him as "a mad Pole".
- 1839, Count P. Edmund de Strzelecki, another Pole, found that pyrite from Vale of Clwyyd (east of Lithgow) was slightly auriferous.
This is not found in any 1839 records but is in a book supplement of 1846 -
there explaining that the lack of prior mention was because the government or Sir George Gipps
requested him to keep presence of gold a secret lest such knowledge had adverse consequences in upsetting the Colony.] [Supporting the Count's (1846) claim was a letter he had sent to Thomas Walker in Sydney, dated 16 October 1839, from Wellington - that was later published in 1851 (by Walker persumably, could now check that via 'TROVE'), as the gold rush started. More particularly, Judge Therry published another letter that Strzelecki has sent that same month (dated 26 October 1839) to Captain P. King R.N. mentioning his discoveries westwards from Sydney. Of particular value, he'd found gold specks in siliceous rock and native silver in hornblende rock.
He'd also found "excellent coal" and fossil bones "which I digged out from Boree and Wellington Caves".
The Governor, Sir George Gipps, may have "frightened me into saying nothing
about it",as the Count reported afterwards, but when he returned to
England, his rock samples went with him. These were examined by notable English
geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison. After seeing the samples Murchinson was
convinced that "gold would be found in the Eastern Cordillera of
Australia".
1839
is also the first possible time that locals anywhere near the later Ophir
might have possibly been finding gold traces (and who in later protracted
dispute with Hargraves made statements of earlier gold discovery). In
1823, Lieut. Simpson, guided by John Blackman, pushed through a a road to
Wellington, and there established a settlement. The early road ran from Guyong
by Swallow Creek and thence across to Calcula (Caleula?) country. The area of
which Byng forms a part was originally known as Guyorog (later as Summerhill,
and still later as Guyong, which name stayed in use as late as 1865). As
early as 1836 pioneers like William Lane had acquired land in the area, and in
1839 Lane's brother-in-law, William Tom was granted 640 acres at "the
Cornish Settlement".
- 1841, Rev. W.B. Clarke on 13-14 February 1841 travelled west from Hartley (an early courthouse village) found gold in "granite and auriferous slates
near the heads of Cox's river and near 'Winburndah' (Winburndale) "in the
alluvium of the Macquarie River". In 1842 he found gold somewhere along the Wollondilly
River and he also found gold traces at Hartley. Unfortunately, Clarke's
claims about where he found gold did not surface till many years later and
like Strzelecki he also related stories of government "suppression"
of the information. Nonetheless, in 1843 (or maybe earlier) he had begun
privately telling members of the Legislature about the existence of gold, and later
that year he published it in a general manner. According to
Clarke, in 1844 when he showed some gold to Governor Gipps the latter told him "put it
away" (or ''Put it away, Mr Clarke or we shall all have our throats cut!"), as Gipps feared gold might cause riot or uprising.
This suppression by the government, as related both by Strzelecki and Clarke,
has been doubted by others - as being just retrospective exaggeration of what
was little more than government apathy on the matter. However, an
1848 letter in England to Sir Roderick Murchison from Early Grey, the
Secretary of State, suggested that the government would be happier if gold or
silver were not discovered in New South Wales (Murchison had predicted,
accurately as it turned out, that gold would be found at the base of the western flanks of the
dividing ranges in NSW, and had suggested the British government should send a
skilled prospector or miner to look for it).
- 1843/44, the shepherd MacGregor (Hugh MacGregor by most accounts) was already 'mining' gold, probably pounding it out of quartz, when Clarke was only talking about it.
He was taking it periodically to Sydney for sale (selling there a total of about two hundred pounds sterling worth of gold to a Sydney jeweller).
He travelled to Sydney by mailcoach with his gold specimens, which were
exhibited in the window of M. Cohen's jeweller's shop in George Street.
[Generally thought that MacGregor obtained his gold at Mitchell's Creek or Bodangora, later a major gold mine.]
A gold industry was already in existence before the great rush of 1851, but
only on a very small scale; with MacGregor the only miner, and possibly only
an occasional miner at that. Also he may not have been a miner in
the usual "digger" sense as he may have been bashing gold out of
outcrop or 'dollying' pieces of gold-bearing quartz. Confirmation
that a small gold 'industry' existed, i.e. extraction and refining of gold,
and its manufacture into useful items, can be found in the diary of
Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell. On 18 October 1847, whilst
travelling in Spain, Mitchell was robbed. He recorded his losses
in his diary, including "a plain signet ring of Australian gold" and
"a gold specimen". Also of possible interest is why was
Mitchell travelling with a gold specimen? If MacGregor was really
getting his gold from Mitchell's Creek, why was it called Mitchell's
Creek? Mitchell is known to have been generally interested in
geology, and once Ophir was discovered Mitchell was sent to survey the new
goldfield.
- 1844/46, Sir Roderick Murchison predicted the gold rush.
This was retrospectively reflected upon a year after the rush started, in the
Examiner, reprinted on 18 February 1852, page 4, by the Hobart Courier as
below. This shows that Murchison between 1844 and 1846 learned of
"fine specimens" of gold having been discovered, particularly as
gold in quartz at 'Bathurst'. Who could have sent such to him?
~~~~~~~~~~~
(From
the Examiner.)
The
history of the
discovery of the Australian gold is remarkable
and instructive. The true discoverer is a man of
science, who sitting in his study at the distance
of some fifteen thousand miles from the
spot where the gold has been actually found,
foretold its existence and abundance. We
allude to the distinguished traveller and geologist
Sir Roderick Murchison, whose prophecy
must, we think, be looked upon as the greatest
practical triumph of the science of geology.
The prediction was first made seven years ago,
and insisted on repeatedly at various times
down to 1850. It was, however, most clearly
and distinctly enunciated in 1846, in a paper
contained in the 'Transactions of the Royal Geological
Society of Cornwall." We give the
remarkable prophecy in his own words, as they
were written five years before the actual discovery
of the Ophir of the antipodes - "But,
if gold exist not (in any appreciable quantity
at least) in your otherwise richly endowed
mineral county, there are, I am happy to say,
good grounds for hope, that in their most
distant colony Englishmen may find it
abundantly. In an address to the Royal Geographical
Society, delivered in May, 1844,
when commenting upon the valuable labours of
Count Strzelecki in deciphering the structure
of the great N. and S. chain which ranges
along the eastern shore of Australia, I
specially insisted upon its striking resemblance
to the Ural mountains, whether in direction, in
structure, or in alluvia; remarking, by the way, that
as yet no gold has been found in this
alluvium. I now leam that fine specimens of gold
have been found on the western flank of
the Australian cordillera, particularly at the
settlement of Bathurst, where it occurs in fragments
composed of the same matrix (viz., quartz
rock) as in the Ural. My friend and associate
in the Imperial Academy of Petersburg, Col. Helmersen, has indeed recently suggested that
a careful search for gold ore in the Australian
detritus will, it is highly probable, lead to its
detection in abundance; since the Russians had long
colonized the Ural mountains, and had for
many years worked mines of magnetic iron and
copper in solid rocks, before the neglected
shingle, gravel, and sand, on the slopes of their
hills and in their valleys, were found to be auriferous.
If, then, in the course of your statistical
inquiries, you may know of any good Cornish
miner about to seek his fortune in Australia, be
pleased to tell him to apply his knowledge of
the mode of extracting tin ore from his own
gravel to the drift and debris on the flanks of
the great N. and S. chain of Australia, or any
smaller parallel ridges of that great country; for
great would be my pleasure to learn, that
through the application of Cornish skill, such a
region could be converted into a British 'El Dorado.' I request you to pardon this little
digression, which after all may be turned to
profit, and hope that you will be as proud as I
am of the connection which is now established
between Cornwall and Siluria." Sir Roderick
Murchison
did more than this. He publicly
addressed the Colonial Office on the subject of
the Australian gold, and warned it as long ago
as 1848, entreating that precautions might be
taken against such disorders as might arise from
his anticipated discovery, so that the Colonial
Office has been duly forewarned three years
before the working of the mines, and we can
only hope the hint has not been thrown away
on it. The party who actually hit on the gold
was a Mr. Hargraves, who, having seen the
valley and hill ranges of the Sacramento, was
struck with the close geological resemlance
between the latter and the Australian
Cordillera. On his return, therefore, from
California, in January, 1851, he commenced a
search, and on the 6th of May hit on the
present "diggins," for which the Government of
Sydney has rewarded him by a gift of £500.
It is singular that a Scotch shepherd of the
name of Macgregor had, even as long as thirty
years ago, discovered small bits of gold, and
sold them in Sydney; but, amidst sheeps'
wool and whales' blubber, the discovery
remained unnoticed. Claims of prophetic
anticipations of
Australian gold have been set
up we observe by some of the Sydney journals,
and the local press generally announces the
real prophet to have been a certain Rev. W. B.
Clarke; but our geologist of the Antipodes ought
to have known that he had been anticipated
some seven long years by a geologist of
the opposite side of the globe, who had not
like him the advantages of local inspection.
Being on the spot, Mr. Clarke, if he had any
confidence in his own prophetic judgment,
ought, like Mr. Hargraves, who does not
pretend to be a geologist, to have brought his
notions to the test of experiment. So much
for the discovery, and now for the locality.
The spot in which the washings are at present
carried on (and beyond which no gold has
hitherto been discovered, although most probably
existing in many other parts of the same
great mountain range, which has everywhere
the same formation) is situated near the junction
of the Summerhill Creek with the
Macquarie, west of the town of Bathurst 83
miles, and distant from Sydney 148. The
place is barren, elevated, and cold; and the
diggings were commenced with Anglo-Saxon
intrefidity in the Austral winter, and amid
frequent frost, sleet, and snow.
Of
the quantity which the Australian mines
are capable of producing, nothing of course can
as yet be said, for up to the last accounts the
whole period of working them was less than a
month. Ten thousand pounds' worth of gold
had, however, already reached Sydney. The success
of the miners was of course various. A few
lucky diggers are reported to have obtained
masses equal to from one to four pounds'
weight, while others did not collect enough to
pay for their rations. Upon the whole, however,
the average seems to have ranged from
25s. to 30s. a week, which would for Australia
be high wages. It would appear that in three
weeks' time not fewer than 1500 men were
employed within a surface not exceeding a
square mile. Upon the whole we know nothing
to discourage the hope that the Australian gold
"diggings" may prove equally productive with
those of California. The advantages for carry
ing on such a branch of industry are certainly,
as we formerly pointed out, on the side of
Australia. It has a population already close at
hand; it. has no mischievous savages; it has
an orderly government; and its climate is more temperate
and salubrious.
But
now for the probable effects. For the
moment they have, of course, been prejudicial,
by withdrawing capital and labour from their
regular channels; but this cannot last long,
for high wages and speculation will rapidly
bring in a stream of immigrants, and we see
that 'be Australian journals estimate an increase
to the population in 1852 of not less than 100,000,
which will raise the whole of that of
the continent to half a million. Much food
must be raised on the spot for the new corners,
while necessaries and luxuries must be imported
for their use, and heneo a rapid increase in
agriculture and commerce. Altogether we are
disposed to consider that the discovery of gold
in Australia will be equal to the ordinary
advancement of half a century. It must be so
if the gold of Australia make any approach to
the abundance of the gold of California, where
in two years' time we have seen an almost
uninhabited "territory" become a "state" with
70,000 inhabitants.
The
discovery of the gold has of course produced
a prodigious excitement in Sydney and
its neighbourhood. If, says one of the
journalists, "we were to say that the colony
had been panic-stricken, - that the whole population
has gone mad, we should use a bold
figure of speech, but not much too bold to
indicate the fact."Men of all ranks and professions,
fit and unfit (among the latter eight
magistrates of the district of Bathurst), have
turned gold-hunters. This fever, however, is
not, we fancy, likely to be enduring; and we
have no doubt that the greater number will
speedily return to their regular employments
and habitual comforts, abandoning the field to
the hardy, laborious, and skilful.
~~~~~~~~~~~
- 1846, a "gold rush" continued to be suggested or encouragerd by Sir Roderick
Murchison who wrote that he encouraged the unemployed miners of Cornwall to emigrate to Bathurst and dig for gold, as near that settlement fine specimens of gold had been found in quartz rock.
Strangely, it was from the 'Cornish Settlement', already in earlier
existence from around 1839, that the discovery of 'payable' gold would soon
enough proceed via. It appears that Cornish copper and tin miners had
already been migrating to the Colony when Murchison in 1846 encouraged the
Cornish to (also) search for gold in the region. Murchison's views
went unheeded by the Colonial authorities for quite some time. However
it seems that the what Sir Roderick said should be (the unemployed miners of Cornwall to emigrate to Bathurst and dig for
gold) actually happened, for this is recorded: - "Beside Byng's church is
Sheep Station Creek, which flows a short distance north to meet Lewis Ponds
Creek. During the early 1850's, Sheep Station Creek was dammed to
conserve water for hundreds of Cornish copper miners who pitched their tents
or built crude bark huts along its banks. They were known the world over as
"Cousin Jacks", a title explaining the close-knit relationship
existing between members of the race" (Rule and Truu,
1978). Digging for gold, or for copper, it seems the Cornish
did come, in their hundreds, much as Murchison had advised they should.
Samuel Stutchbury, the Government Geologist, inspected Glasson's Carangarra
mine at Byng on April 12th 1851. He was impressed and reported large lodes in
three shafts already above tunnel level. Stutchbury was unaware that at that
very moment, two local youths were busily occupied just some 7 km away at
Guyong, weighing Australia's first samples of payable gold that they had discovered
a few days earlier at a spot destined to become known as Ophir. Soon,
the Carangarra and Byng copper mines would be abandonned as miners moved to
Ophir.
- 1847, Rev. W.B. Clarke backed Murchison's views. On September 28th,
1847, Clarke published an anonymous letter in the Sydney Morning Herald,
stating that "from
facts communicated to the Geographical Society, Sir R J Murchison had
already, in a letter addressed to Sir Cedric Lemon, offered his advice that a
person well acquainted with the washing of mineral sands be sent to Australia,
speculating on the probability of auriferous alluvia being abundant and
suggesting that such will be found at the base and the western flanks of the
dividing ranges.” Clarke
again drew attention to all this in 1851, stressing that Hargraves was not the
first person to find gold. Hargraves and Clarke were to later on have
many angry clashes over the gold discovery through the columns of the
newspapers. After the 1853 Government Enquiry into the management of the
goldfields, the Reverend W B Clarke received a £1,000 reward also. He
became widely known and respected as "The Father of Australian
Geology". In 1861, he was paid another £3,000 by the Government
and credited with the title, "Scientific Discoverer of Gold in New South
Wales".
- 1848, Mr. William Tipple Smith, owner of a lapidary and jeweller's shop in
George Street, Sydney, found gold west of Bathurst. Perhaps he'd been encouraged by the MacGregor specimens exhibited in Cohen's
shop which was very near his own business. William Smith in February
1848 wrote to Sir Roderick Murchison, sending him gold specimens and also noting that he was engaged in building an ironworks in the vicinity of Berrima.
He also wrote to the Secretary of State, Earl Grey, informing him of the
matter and suggesting a mineral survey of the region be carried out.
Grey's response was negative. Smith persisted and in January 1849 he took a
3.5 oz nugget (another version calls it a 3 oz. lump of gold in quartz) to the government
- handing it to the Colonial Secretary, Edward
Deas Thomson in Sydney - and announced he had found an "enormous
goldfield". He offered to reveal the place for a price.
William Tipple Smith claimed to have found the gold himself. The government refused his requested
reward for disclosing the location but said words to the effect of 'trust us'
(and he would be appropriately rewarded). Smith did not trust them
in this and so he never revealed the location without any agreed upon payment.
The Tipple Smith story is told in detail in a book by Lynette Ramsay
(1986).
- 1849, gold was found at "Coombing Park" near
Carcoar. At Thomas Icely's property "Coombing Park", the
Belubula Copper Mining Company discovered samples of gold (few or no details
are known). At Coombing Park, Carcoar, several merchants had banded
together to form the Belubula Copper Mining Company. Icely had come to
Australia in 1820, and he had rapidly risen from a successful George Street
merchant to Magistrate, key Member of the Legislative Council and an
influential land-owner and pastoralist in the Carcoar district. During
May 1849, the Belubula Copper Mining Company located several veins of copper
and a rich lode of ore over four feet thick. By September, the Sydney Morning
Herald reported that Carcoar miners had also discovered four specimens, each
containing native gold that was obvious to the eye. Two months later, the
Colonial Secretary, Edward Deas Thomson, stayed at Coombing Park for a
fortnight as a guest of Icely. It is hard to imagine that Icely would not have
shown samples or discussed the gold to the Colony’s second most important
Official. The M.L.C. may have taken samples and eventually sent them to
England for appraisal by the noted British Geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison.
- 1849, gold was reported to have been found in Victoria.
- 1850. Although there were no gold discoveries that year Hargraves and his new companion Rudder (described below) both wrote to Sydney
from the Californian gold rush, predicting gold could be found in NSW.
Rudder wrote to a Sydney friend who was a Member of the Legislative Council,
begging that his letter be personally given to Governor FitzRoy, to make him
aware of the colony’s suspected wealth. Hargraves wrote to a merchant
friend, Samuel Peek, on March 5th 1850, stating that he felt sure that there
was a gold-bearing region within 300 miles of Sydney (this was not startling
news as many had already heard of MacGregor, the gold-finding shepherd of
Wellington area). On 5 May 1850, Rudder wrote to the Sydney Morning
Herald, published on July 22nd 1850, about gold mining but without any
locational suggestions. These are merely interesting in so far as
it would be these men who would soon return to Australia and be connected with
gold search.
- 1851 (Hargraves, Lister and Tom)
Pivotal
to the story of Hargraves, Lister and the Toms, and what would later be a
long-ongoing friction between the prospecting partners, is the "Cornish
Settlement" otherwise known as Byng.
Hargraves
is often erroneously referred to as the 'discoverer' of gold in
NSW. He was neither the first to see it nor the first to mine or
exploit it (the "Shepherd McGregor" had been doing that for years
previously). Hargraves, however, was the promoter who set out to cause
a gold rush (thereby gaining a reward from the Government) and who achieved
what he said he would do in only months after returning from
California. He was the first to demonstrate how gold could be
won quite simply, using the techniques of the Californian gold rush.
With the knowledge he brought back from California he very quickly caused a
gold rush to Bathurst and beyond - a rush which "caused the name of
Australia to flame throughout the world, and its nationhood to be born"
(Darbyshire and Sayers, 1971).
Edward
Hammond Hargraves (1816-1891), as he was drawn by George French Angas in 1851. That year,
after he panned a few gold colours from Lewis Ponds
Creek on 12 February 1851 Hargraves declared to his companion and
guide John Lister "This is a memorable day
in the history of New South Wales. I shall be a baronet, you will be
knighted, and my old horse will be stuffed, put in a glass case, and
sent to the British Museum!" Hargraves was right that a gold rush
would start that would change the Colony, indeed
Australia. But he was never made a baronet and Lister was never
knighted. Hargraves won immediate fame, yet he was later buried in an unmarked grave
at Waverley Cemetery.
John Hardman
Lister who discovered gold in 1851, shown many years later in 1880. He
had been aged 18 when Hargraves called at his mother's inn and disclosed his
prospecting mission to them. Before Hargraves met up with him, John Lister had
previously been searching for gold with "two geologists". There had been a piece
of gold alleged to have been picked up near the Rocks, which led to this
search. After the Ophir gold rush, John married Ann Arthur at Bathurst
on 1 November 1860. Lister continued to live at Guyong where he grazed
cattle. He moved about 1870 to the Turon area to mine and
prospect. He there prospected and mined a 2 acre site at Nuggety
Gully, Chamber's Creek, about 2 km SE of the Turon's junction with the
Macquarie. At one time he also conducted a general store at
Lewis Ponds. In 1883 John Lister returned to the Guyong area as a
butcher; later moving to Lucknow to give impoverished gold-miners more meat
than he sold. The same had happened years earlier with his general
store at Lewis Ponds. Lister never lived to see full
'justice' for the claims of himself and the Tom brothers. At the
second select commitee enquiring into their claims, Lister died on the
very day he was due to give evidence (17 September 1890) from influenza.
In the next eight days the lives of his son (Charles), daughter (Eveline),
and sister (Sarah), who was the wife of William Tom jr., were claimed by
this same disease.
Buried
at Millthorpe
To
this day the descendants of John Hardman Lister still have strong feelings
about the way Hargraves treated the people of Byng (Cornish Settlerment) and
discuss how Hargraves under-acknowledged there role in the discovery of
payable gold. For example, Mark Cooper ( sue_mark@myplace.net.au
) write "Captain John Hardman Lister is my daughter, Rosemary’s,
great, great, great grandfather. Parson William Tom is my daughter’s
great, great, great, great grandfather. John Hardman Australia Lister,
William Tom and James Tom are therefore her ancestral uncles. .....
Hargraves stayed at the Wellington Inn, and here he met John’s son, John
Hardman Australia Lister, a man who had already found small traces of gold
in a nearby creek. John Lister Junior agreed to show Hargraves where
he had seen the gold. In his autobiography, Hargraves fails to even
mention Lister's name, let alone the fact that this man had led him to the
exact spot of discovery". ( http://www.myfamily.wtcsites.com
).
The
Tom and Lister families were inter-related. Above is Emily or
"Emily Australia Tom" Lister who was educated at Methodist
Ladies' College, Burwood. She married Thomas Sydney Lister in the
Wesleyan Chapel at
Guyong in 1879 and they then moved to farm at Paling Yard Creek. Also,
William Tom jr married John
Lister's sister, Sarah, on June 21st 1851 soon after the gold rush began, and
after he'd written
to the Colonial Secretary about Government reward for the prospecting trio..
A later photo of James
The two brothers
Tom. William Tom Jr never rested on the subject of the partners'
dispute with Hargraves. He continued on,
persistently
badgering the government for proper justice, while continuing his farming
interests not far from 'the
Cornish Settlement', which is now called Byng. William Tom jr farmed
and grazed cattle for many years on a property 5 km NW of the Cornish
Settlement. He also became associated with the Dolarmite copper mine.
William spent much of his time writing to the newspapers regarding the gold
discovery, having pamphlets printed on the subject and Petitioning the
Government for a further hearing. He became obsessed that his every
move being thwarted by Hargraves, finally believing Hargraves had spies in
every post office with orders to open all letters written by himself, James
Tom and John Lister.
William Tom jr
about 1895, photographed at his home "Sunrise", at Byng.
One the table top is the original cradle that Tom made decades before, and
the small heart-shaped nugget (mounted atop a vertical wire) that they found
at Summer Hill Creek in April 1851 (and which had been returned to William
years before). In 1898 William and two of his brothers exhibited the
original gold cradle and the nugget at the Bathurst Show. They
wanted a one shilling entrance fee but there were not many interested,
apparently. By the time the display had moved on to the Orange Show
the price had been lowered to sixpence (in a letter from Charles Tom to his
brother James.)
Tom's
cradle is now in the possession of the Royal Historical Society. A
model of it is was for many years on view at the Geological and Mining
Museum, George Street North, Sydney (which museum the government later
discontinued.)
The Tom
brothers still later on, in 1922
Two later Tom
brothers, 1922: Sons of William Tom Jr. Son Lister Albert
("Alby") Tom (1854-1932) used to carry the original heart-shaped
gold nugget in his waistcoat pocket and tell anyone who would listen about
the lack of recognition of the Lister/Tom contribution to the discovery of
payable gold in NSW. In this 1922Alby is holding up the heart-shaped
nugget. Alby's brother Alfred (1857-1933) is besides
him. Today the heart-shaped nugget resides in a bank vault at
Orange and is the property of the Orange Historical Society.
The
Tom and Lister story, and obtaining historical-record truth/justice for
these families in the matter of who discovered the gold that spurred the
Australian gold rush has been a matter of intense interest to descendants
of the men involved.. Information herein is from research by
John Crawshaw ( crawshaw.john@gmail.com
) whose grandparents, and backwards, are as shown above (The Tom and
Lister Story - http://www.zentus.com/tomlister
)
Author John
Crawshaw at William Tom's grave, Byng. Emily Australia Tom Lister
is his g-grandmother.
'Bethel
Rock' is on the hill in the background.
Mr Edward
Hammond Hargraves by letter of 3 April 1851 contacted the NSW government that he too had found gold and offered to reveal the location for a reward.
Before submitting his written claim he also met with the Colonial Secretary,
Edward Deas Thomson, to describe events. Deas Thomson requested
that a written claim be served on the Government, sceptically adding:
"If this is gold country, Mr Hargraves, it will stop the Home
Government from sending us any more convicts and prevent emigration to
California. But it comes upon us like a clap of thunder and we are
scarcely prepared to believe it.”
Hargraves after the meeting
returned to his wife and five children at Brisbane Water. On April 3rd he
addressed the following to the Colonial Secretary:
“With reference to my interview with you respecting the discoveries
recently made by me of the existence of gold on Crown Lands in the interior
of this country, and your suggestion that I should communicate to you my
views on the matter, I beg leave to state that I embarked on the discovery
at my own expense, as a means of bettering my fortunes in the event of my
search proving successful.
I have exceeded beyond these expectations, and, so far, the hardships,
expenses, and the exercise of my skills have been rewarded; and; further,
that within the period of my explorations, (the last two months), I have
made very satisfactory discoveries of the precious metal in several
localities on the Crown Lands above referred to, and that my first discovery
was made on 12th February last.
I now have the honour to submit, for the early consideration of the
Government, the following propositions, viz., that if it should please the
Government to award me, in the first instance, the sum of £500 as a
compensation, I would point out the locality to any officers they may
appoint, and would leave it to the generosity of the Government, after the
importance of my discoveries have been ascertained, to make an additional
reward commensurate with the benefit likely to accrue to the Government and
the country.”
Mr Hargraves was at first given a similar 'trust us' answer as had been given two years earlier to Mr. Smith.
Deas Thomson's reply on April
15th was:
“In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, I am directed by the
Governor to inform you that His Excellency cannot say more at present than
that the remuneration of the discovery of gold on the Crown Lands, referred
to by you, must entirely depend on its nature and the value when made known,
and must be left for the liberal consideration which the Government would be
disposed to give it.”
Four days after he'd written to
Deas Thomas, Hargraves received William Tom’s letter, dated March 24th,
telling of the sixteen grains of gold discovered. Hargraves wrote back
to Mrs Susan Lister:
“Yesterday’s mail brought a letter from Mr William Tom, and from
the result, they have not worked the cradle right. Tell John to write if he
should make any further discovery and say to Mr William Tom that I am
obliged to him for his favour of March 24th and not to mention the locality
we have been over. As for gold being found, it is of no consequence, but the
localities should not be mentioned. If I should come up to Guyong with any
strangers, do not say anything about gold, I have particular reasons for it.
I hope to be able to carry out my intentions of prospecting the whole
country under the auspices of the Government; if so, I shall visit your
neighbourhood shortly. I have made them a proposition for their
consideration. To accomplish such a search would cost at least £300 which
is more than individual enterprise could spare. You will hear from me as
soon as I get a definite answer.”
Thus Hargraves has requested £500
from government but was mentioning to his syndicate "at least £300"
sought for funding ongoing work, perhaps in the process awarding £200 in
principle to himself(?).
Events
at this time were gathering momentum and with the slowness of the mails not
all partners could know what was happening at the same time. Unlike
the earlier case of Smith, Hargraves decided to trust the largesse of the government and replied that the gold was at "Lewis Ponds and Summerhill Creeks" and along the Macquarie River, in the districts of Bathurst and
Wellington (another version has it that he repllied naming Lewis Ponds Creek
and the Turon River as gold producing areas). He
offered that he would point it out to any officer or officers the government might send.
He also requested £30 to buy a new horse, which was granted.
On May 1st, Hargraves left to
meet the Government Geologist at Icely’s Coombing Park Estate. He
probably left the following article with the Sydney Morning Herald for
publication the next day:
“It is no longer any secret that gold has been found in the earth at
several places in the western country. The fact was established on February
12th by Mr E H Hargraves, a resident of Brisbane Waters, who returned from
California a few months since.
While in California, Mr Hargraves felt persuaded that from a
similarity of the geological formation, there must be several districts in
this colony, and when he returned here his expectations were realized. What
value the discovery may be is impossible to say. Three men worked for three
days with imperfect machinery and realized £2-4-8 each per diem; whether
they will continue to do so remains to be seen.”
The government dispatched Mr Samuel Stutchbury, Government Geologist, who sent back a report on 14 May 1851.
Hargraves was eventually granted rewards of
£10,000 by the government of NSW and £2,000 (some accounts
say £5,000) by the government of Victoria; and given a government
job as Gold Commissioner. Re the Victorian government, it probably
did award him £5000, but of which he had received only £2381 before the
petitioning of the Toms and Lister ended the flow of reward money from both
the NSW and Victorian governments.
Hargraves
did so well out of it in comparison with his prospecting colleagues that there
was much 'falling out' afterwards.
Hargraves
knew the Bathurst region previously, and also knew the Listers
previously. He'd been born at Gosport in England in 1816, and at the age
of 14 was a cabin boy on board Captain John Lister's ship, the barque
Wave. Lister's wife Susan and their infant son, John, were on board and
Hargraves had become friendly with both, sometimes playing with the child.
He later worked for Captain Hector near Bathurst, a region he would well
remember as looking auriferous when in California at a later date he formed
opinion of what auriferous looking land was like. Hargaves had left
Captain Hector's property by 1836 when he married Clara Mackie, a woman of
some means. In July 1849 he set off for the newly discovered Californian
goldfields, where he hoped to make a fortune. On the voyage, Hargraves
shared a cabin with Simpson Davison, a person with considerable knowledge of
geology. Davison was a Yorkshire man who had only been three years in
the colony. He had purchased a Queanbeyan squatter’s insolvent estate and
another at Nimitybelle (Nimmitabel). Much of Davison’s time had been devoted
to searching the quartz for signs of gold. The Nimitybelle shepherds often
mentioned MacGregor, the Wellington keeper of flocks, who procured gold from
the quartz and sold it in Sydney. Davison now intended to visit the American
goldfields to learn a little more of the subject that had fascinated him for
so long.
With the cargo unloaded,
Davison, Hargraves and seven other passengers pooled their resources to form a
prospecting partnership. The six foot five, 18 stone Hargraves became their
elected President. He busily sewed some canvas into a nine-man tent as they
sailed up the San Jaoquin River. At Stockton, they bought a wagon and eight
bullocks for £100. These would be used for carrying supplies the remaining
130 kilometres to the Empire Hill diggings, near Jamestown. On the
diggings, boards from old packing cases (suitable for making a gold cradle),
sold at the inflated price of 4/- per pound. After a few months of panning,
the party pooled £12 of their profit to buy a pre-made cradle. Water for use
with the cradle could only be obtained by clearing away the snow and breaking
the ice beneath. Conditions were very hard and the party disbanded after
several months of limited success and sheer misery.
Back in San Franscisco,
Hargraves and Davison met up with Enoch William Rudder (1801-1868) and his two sons, Augustus and
Julius. They were anxiously awaiting the arrival of machinery being shipped
from Australia. Rudder had travelled to California with his two sons,
hoping to promote a gold-washing machine he had invented. Rudder
was a proficient smelter and metallurgist. Much of his earlier life had been
spent in the English city of Birmingham where he had learned mettalurgy in his
father's brass foundry. He was also an expert in the fields
of chemistry, geology and mineralogy. During 1830, Rudder’s company had been
contracted to manufacture machinery suitable for separating gold from quartz.
Each machine had been made in small sections weighing less than 60 pounds.
This allowed the portions to be carried high into the Peruvian mountains by
mule train. Fully assembled, the machine weighed one ton. Around 1834, when
the South American rush had ended, Rudder travelled to Australia to become a
grazier. California now gave new promise to Rudder’s invention. Before
leaving Sydney he had built a prototype and arranged for its exportation to
California; hoping to obtain a multitude of orders. Rudder was therefore
anxious to travel to the goldfields and assess his machine’s
potential. The Rudders teamed up with Davison and Hargraves in San
Francisco and travelled up the Sacramento and Yuba Rivers to Marysville and
the nearby Foster Bay diggings.
When Hargraves returned to
Australia in January 1851 on board the Emma, he already was certain he knew
where to find gold and that he was destined to be the first discoverer of
payable gold in Australia. He first off sought, but failed, to obtain a
government grant to finance his intended gold searching trip. Hargraves
next turned to merchant Samuel Peek for funding. Peek told him
"“If you are such a fool as to use your time running around the country
where the geologists of France, Russia and Britain have been over to look for
gold, depend on it and you will certainly fail and be laughed at into the
bargain.” Next Hargraves visited his trusted friend and
solicitor, James Norton Senior. The solicitor remarked that Hargraves might
have been wiser to have remained overseas, considering the present Australian
economy. When told of Hargraves’ plans, Norton said: "Sir, you
are a fool. I have always thought it and now I know it. I will give you a
letter to my friend Icely, who does occasionally find a speck of gold in the
quartz near Bathurst.” Hargraves used Norton’s letter of
introduction to meet Thomas Icely at the Australian Club during mid-January.
An earlier letter from Norton had suggested the Government financially assist
Hargraves and his project, which was flatly rejected. Still, Icely had an
interest in the matter and he would be a useful friend and pipeline to the
Government, should the search prove successful. Hargraves borrowed
£105 from a businessman, named William Northwood. He used it to buy a horse
and provisions. His benefactor was promised an equal share in any profit
stemming from the mission. Time was to prove that Hargraves possessed a very
short memory, as Northwood was probably repaid but not given any share of gold
profits. The prospector wasted no time in following up Icely’s
invitation to use Coombing Park as a base. From there he intended to go
directly to Wellington in search of a shepherd known widely as “MacGregor,
the gold-finder.”
Now
well equipped and aware of MacGregor's earlier gold finds near Wellington,
Hargraves headed west over the Blue Mountains for Bathurst, Carcoar and
beyond. At King's Plains (near present Blayney) he met Thomas Icely who
was at the time en route to Sydney from his property "Coombing Park"
at Carcoar. Hargraves had intended to accept the earlier invitation by
Icely to proceed via "Coombing Park" on his way to
Wellington. But seeing Icely would now not be there, he (Icely) advised
Hargraves to instead go to Lister's "Wellington Inn" at Guyong.
Hargraves reached that inn on February 10th, 1851.
At
the Wellington Inn, Susan Lister was the proprietress. After her
husband's untimely death, "The Widow Lister" managed (or owned) a
small hotel ("The Wellington Inn", also known as "Lister's
Inn") near Guyong. This would have been about one "stage"
farther on than the fateful inn at the top of Rocks Hill. The site of the inn
(no longer extant) is now on the property "Godolphin", very near
Byng. Hence the Widow's son and the Tom boys grew up together. (One wonders
what the Methodists would have thought of the family of a publican, yet they
finished up intermarrying.)
Susannah
ran the Wellington Inn at Guyong with the help of her sons. Behind the main
building was a stable and well, where the horses for the Bathurst-Wellington
mail coach were changed. In front of the premises was a small tributary of
Lewis Ponds Creek. She was the widow of Hargraves' earlier employer,
Captain John Lister. At first Susan Lister did not recognise Hargraves,
until told that this was the former Cabin Boy. Over the intervening
years, the Listers had fallen on hard times. At first the Captain had
continued his shipping interests on the 340-ton barque Wave and from 1834 was
master of the 311-ton barque Fortune, which travelled regularly between
England and the colony. Then in 1838, the Lister family settled in
Sydney and Captain Lister set up as a shipping agent. However, his
business was unsuccessful. Within five years he was declared insolvent
and lost all family possessions and property. He returned to life at sea
as captain of a schooner, the Perseverance, but in February 1844 the ship
became stranded in the South Channel, Moreton Bay, and eventually became a
total wreck: "All hands reached shore with difficulty, assisted by two
aborigines". In 1846 the Captain became the licensee of the
Robin Hood and Little John Inn at "The Rocks" on the Wellington Road
between Bathurst and Orange. Then in July 1850 misfortune struck the
Listers again. The 46-year-old captain was killed when he fell from his
waggon near Bathurst. His younger widow Susan and the family then moved
a few miles farther west to Guyong, where she took over the licence of the
Wellington Inn.
When
Hargraves arrived at the Wellington Inn it was seven months after the
Captain's death. He soon noticed on the mantelpiece, it has been later
stated, rock samples collected from the local area by Susan's son, John Lister
Jnr, then aged almost 23. These he suspected of being gold-bearing, and
young John suggested that he could guide him to a place where he thought gold
might be found. Hargraves' intended journey to Wellington was, for the moment,
postponed. That is how it was later told from the opposing partner's
side in the Hargraves and others dispute. As Edward Hargraves recounted
it he had persuaded/engaged John Hardman Lister to guide him back to Lewis
Ponds Creek and elsewhere where he had been to himself many years earlier and
thought seemed likely auriferous. Hargraves promised he would show
Lister how to better find or harvest gold. Another version describes
that when in the hotel’s sitting room,
Hargraves recalled his seafaring days under Captain Lister and held the family
spellbound with tales from the Californian goldfields. The major topic of
conversation shortly centred around a bottle sitting on the mantel-piece,
containing mica slate and quartz samples. Mrs Susan Lister was asked to
recommend an aboriginal guide to escort her visitor to Lewis Ponds Creek. He
now wished to return to the old stations of Tom Jamieson and Green, who had
once been in charge of Perrier’s sheep run. It was then agreed that her son
would be a suitable guide for the secretive gold-finding mission. John Lister
had previously spent some time with two geologists, named Batty and Neal. He
knew where the bottled samples had been found.
0n
the morning of February 12th, 1851, with a packhorse and supplies provided by
the Wellington Inn, and accompanied by the young John Lister, Hargraves
proceeded down the Lewis Ponds Creek to a point four kilometres upstream from
Yorkey's Corner. There, at the junction of Lewis Ponds Creek and Radigan's
Gully, Hargraves told Lister, "Where you walk over now there is
gold".
There
Hargraves showed how to wash for gold (which he'd learned about in
California). He panned six pan fulls of sediment and obtained a grain of
gold in five out of the six pans. This was considered very good and
Hargraves was over the moon, proclaiming:
"This
is a memorable day in the history of New South Wales: I shall be a baronet,
you will be knighted and my old horse will be stuffed, put in a glass case and
sent to the British Museum". According to one of the
partners, as recalled later on, Hargraves had immediately recorded
the discovery in writing. He took a piece of blank paper from a copy of the Empire
newspaper and wrote, "Gold discovered in the alluvial at Lewis Ponds Creek
this 12th day of February, 1851". According to Hodge
(1976) he wrote a memorandum that night about the discovery.
Hodge (1973, p.11)
notes that he also wrote in the memorandum of that night to record that he was
naming the diggings after himself: "named the Diggings Hargraves, who was
the first discoverer in N.S.W. of the metal in the earth in a similar manner
as found in California. This is a memorable day".
When the gold was displayed
that evening at Guyong, a glass tumbler was enlisted to magnify the tiny
specks.
Just how much gold
Hargraves panned to make this proclamation is uncertain as accounts
vary. Hargraves stated that he washed 5 pans and obtained "about as
much as would lie on a threepenny piece". John Lister later stated
Hargraves "washed 7 pans of earth and procured six very fine colours of
gold", so fine in fact that "Hargraves placed a glass tumbler over
it to make it look larger and prevent it from blowing away". Mrs.
Bates, Lister's sister, claimed, "There were 3 specks and they were so
small I could not see them distinctly with the naked eye".
Lister's wife exclaimed, "Oh, I do see a few almost invisible
specks". That Hargraves by his own hand found such little
gold was the basis of the ultimately successful claim by this partners that
they were the real discoverers of payable gold.
Hargraves
considered visiting the old Government stockyards in Frederick’s
Valley and then go to Burrandong, and from there follow the Macquarie back to
Summerhill Creek. Lister suggested that they enlist the further help of
his friend James Tom, an expert bushman and resident of the nearby Cornish
Settlement, to which Hargraves was agreeable.
James Tom agreed to accompany
them if he would become an equal partner in any discovery. On the first
night they camped at Caleula, on Kerr’s Creek, 16 km north of present
day Orange, alongside Henry Kater’s cloth and flour mill. Within two
days they had reached Burrandong, some 120 km distant from the Cornish
Settlement. Then they zig-zagged back along the path of the Macquarie
for 160 km,. which was no easy matter. Dozens of pans of earth were
washed by Tom and Lister with little more than the occasional golden speck.
Reaching the junction of the Macquarie and Lewis Ponds Creek, the trio
travelled down the latter until they arrived at Summerhill Creek. The
whole eight day excursion was an exhausting failure as far as finding any gold
went.
Because of the
mixed results there was formed, according to the other partners in the later
dispute, at the Wellington Inn before Hargraves set off for Wellington, a
" verbal agreement" that there should be no public announcement made
until a goldfield capable of yielding more than £1 a day in wages was found.
Hargraves
then proceeded on to Wellington to try and enquire after where the shepherd
Macgregor may have gotten his gold from near there. He later
proceeded further down the Macquarie towards Dubbo. After that he
returned to the Wellington Inn and in March 1851, Hargraves had explained to
Lister, James Tom, and his younger brother William Tom, how to make a gold
cradle as he had seen used on the Californian goldfields. It was
in the southern front room of the Tom family's homestead of
"Springfield", that William Tom Jr, a skilled carpenter,
constructed the first cradle.
The
gold seeking partners were by now a foursome, and had agreed that if any gold
were found the profits would be shared equally. On the completion of the
cradle, Hargraves demonstrated its use near the junction of Sheep Station and
Lewis Ponds Creeks, although nothing was found with it on that occasion.
At
this point, an action by John 'the Parson' Tom, the senior Mr Tom, would
threaten Hargraves whole enterprise. Parson Tom has become angry at his
sons neglect of their landholdings over the past month. He thought
they'd falled into Hargraves’ world of fantasy and needed to regain their
responsibility. Parson Tom visited Hargraves where he was staying at the
Wellington Inn, and made it clear that he deplored his sons being drawn into
such exploits that he viewed as futile and time-wasting. If Parson
Tom forbade his sons to associate with Hargraves they would probably obey
him. Hargraves thought he could do little but leave, and leave the
Toms to their own devices. But their partnership was not dissolved and
William Tom Junior promised to mail regular reports of their progress to
Hargraves. Hargraves said he would go to Queensland next, but that no
matter where gold was found, the partnership should share equally in the
profits. Hargraves’ final request was that the cradle be kept under
lock and key in the Springfield property's cellar for two weeks after his
departure.
Why
should Hargraves want that? Lister
and the Tom brothers did not suspect that their spokesman was off to see the
Colonial Secretary, to negotiate for a reward. Perhaps he thought
that keeping the cradle under lock and key for fourteen days would give him
time to approach the Government. The Cornish Settlement was filled with
copper miners, many of who knew a little of geology - what if they put two and
two together? The cradle had been constructed in secret, in a
basement, yet some would have known of it.
Hargraves left Guyong for
Sydney on March 16th, accompanied by John Lister. The two planned to finally
prospect further along the banks of the Fish River, at a property belonging to
the Lister family. Passing through Bathurst, they stopped at James Arthur’s
hotel for Lister to see his fiancee. Arthur and his wife were shown the
tiny specks wrapped in a slip of newspaper. Once again a tumbler was used to
magnify the grains which were just barely visible. Leaving the next
morning, Hargraves and Lister followed the indirect road to Sydney,
prospecting along the way without any result. If Moreton Bay proved to
be another farce, Hargraves discussed that he might return to California and
he invited John Lister to accompany him. Near Mutton Falls they
prospected on the Fish and Campbell rivers without success and then parted
company, with Lister returning to Guyong.
During Lister’s absence,
James and William could not restrain their prospecting urges. They
were joined by another Tom brother, Henry Tom, and the three loaded up three
days’ provisions onto a pack-horse and set off for the deemed best creek
spot. Leaving Springfield at dusk, they arrived two kilometres
below Radigan’s Gully near midnight. In their enthusiasm for
prospecting they took the cradle from the cellar earlier than promised. The
three carefully hid the rocker overnight, fearing that Yorkey might detect
their presence and purpose. In three days with the
cradle they obtained 16 grains of gold that they shared between
them. For two days Henry dug, James loaded the buckets of earth
into the cradle and William rocked the cedar contrivance. They arrived back at
the Cornish Settlement in the evening withtheir 16 grains of gold at 9
p.m. Sixteen grains of gold had an approximate value of 2/- per day
between the three, at a time when a full ounce of gold was valued around £3-7-0
This was arguably the first 'payable' gold but much better was soon to come.
James Tom next had to leave the
Cornish Settlement to pick up 300 cows to be overlanded for sale in Adelaide.
James headed for the Bogan River to take delivery but found the country dry
and without adequate fodder. It would be a foolhardy decision to try and reach
Adelaide under such unsuitable conditions. James decided to herd them to
Parson Tom’s leased land at the junction of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee.
Meanwhile, on April 7th,
William Tom Jr and John Lister travelled back to Yorkey’s Corner.
William suggested the spot for he had heard that Yorkey, Mr Trappitt’s
shepherd, had once found a gold nugget at the creek junction which Trappitt
had bought from the shepherd and sold in the Orange area for several Pounds
(other version says Delaney was the shepherd who found a nugget here).
So Lister and William Tom
Jr. used the cradle at the junction of Lewis Ponds Creek and Summer Hills
Creek, later to become the site of the Township of Ophir. There they did
much better, and between the 7th and 12th of April 1851 they recovered
about 120g (4 oz) of gold.
On the morning of the 7th, the
two men decided first to try their luck at the junction of Lewis Ponds and
Summer Hill creeks where William Tom Jr. had heard about the nugget
reputedly found there by the shepherd (Yorkey or Delaney?). After the
men had secured their horses and eaten, they began searching the creek
bed. A few minutes later, on a rock bar below the junction (later called
Fitzroy Bar), a 3.5 ounce gold nugget was found by William Tom Jr.
A different version states that suddenly William noticed something glistening
from the indentation of a rock ledge, and it was a nice half ounce nugget that
was heart shaped. The heart shaped nugget found that day was
regarded as a good omen. The rest of the afternoon was spent clearing
larger rocks from the creek bed in preparation for the next day’s work. The
cradle was again hidden overnight in case Yorkey was attracted by the glow of
their campfire. Over the next three days, the duo managed
to cradle more than a ounce of fine gold, after digging well down below the
surface. While Lister hobbled the horses, William filled the billy to
make tea. Suddenly there was a violent splashing sound in the water nearby.
William picked up what he thought was a fish with two tails. Closer
examination showed it to be a three pound cod trying to swallow a bream of
similar size. The preacher’s son felt that this might also be an omen - but
its meaning was quite indistinct at that time. Many years later, William Tom
Junior commented: “I have many
times thought since, that as far as the swallowing was concerned, it was
typical of the unceremonious way in which Mr. Hargraves swallowed his
partners.” Other memories included: "We carried the soil
about 30 yards in two three-bushel bags, and in consequence could not keep the
rocker in motion over about five hours each day". By the end of
three days enough gold had been obtained to satisfy them that the ground was
rich and payable to work. Before returning home the two men decided to
search further down the creek where Lister found a 2 ounce gold nugget snared
in a tree-root. John Lister was attracted to the glistening object but
was unable to pick it up, due to a tree root growing through its centre. He
used his pocket knife to sever the tree root. He guessed it was about two
ounces. So in total, about 4 ounces of gold had seemingly been obtained,
the 3.5 ounce nugget, a 0.25-0.5 ounce heart-shaped nugget, and perhaps 1
ounce of fine gold. Soon afterwards it was determined that the whole lot
weighed 4 ounces.
When the brothers returned
home, they found Parson Tom standing waiting at Springfield’s front
gate. Parson Tom raised strong protest about searching for something
that could not be found. A change of mind was shortly imminent. In
the parlour, William unstrapped a leather pouch from around his waist and
emptied its contents onto a piece of white paper. Filled with
astonishment, Parson Tom quoted from the Holy Book:
“And they came to Ophir and
fetched from thence gold”!
William Tom Jr and John Lister
rushed to the Wellington Inn and asked for the late Captain Lister’s
medicine scales and sixteen sovereigns from Susan Lister. Sixteen sovereigns
weighed exactly four ounces. The two nuggets and gold dust saw the scales
balance perfectly.
In accordance with being
partners together, Lister and Tom would send word of all this to Hargraves.
Guyong’s mail
was collected twice weekly from Lister’s Inn, by the Wellington-Bathurst
coach. John Lister waited anxiously for the coach to arrive for its change of
horses, needed to negotiate the steep ascent of Rocks Hill. Although William
had written nearly three weeks ago to Hargraves, telling of the 16 grains
collected, Lister could now reveal that a payable goldfield certainly
existed. Young Charles Tom was sent to retrieve James from his overland
trip to Adelaide. The two then rapidly headed back towards the Cornish
Settlement, filled with the excitement of having found Australia’s first
payable goldfield.
How
should it be announced? The partners had more than once discussed not
going public till a substantial goldfield was proven. Now it was proven
and Hargraves immediately prepared to publicise it. He would soon
convene a public meeting at Bathurst and announced the discovery - causing a
rush to the place, that brought in competition for the few already prospecting
there (possibly unwelcome by the Toms and Lister?. From then on
Hargraves likely did not consult with his partners but acted single-handedly
and soaked up all glory for the discovery.
After
communicating with the government in Sydney (and not mentioning or giving hint
of any 'partners') Hargraves returned to the
Wellington Inn and apparently assured John Lister that each partner had been represented
equally to the Government. He learned that William Tom Jr held the
recently found 4 oz of gold. The gold was equally divided at Springfield
in theory, but Hargraves then purchased the other three shares (i.e. purchased
the gold at standard value) on the pretext
of needing the gold to impress the government with and consolidate the
strength of the partnership’s claim.
Hargraves had returned to his partners at Guyong on May 5th, and it was at
"Springfield", the home of the Toms, that the 4 ounces of gold was
to be divided equally between the four (although how could they share a 3.5 oz
nugget?). Hargraves by purchasing the shares of his three partners
(i.e. in the value of the gold), overcame the problem of dividing the
nuggets.
Enoch Rudder arrived there the following day and Hargraves
asked him to "purify" some of the gold and make a specimen that
would be more impressive. Hargraves asked Rudder to deliver it to
Coombing Park where Icely would send it to Sydney in his coach for Governor
FitzRoy’s perusal. Another account states that Rudder was asked
by by Hargraves to free the gold from impurities (i.e. break it away from
quartz if any was attached to quartz) and, it appears, also to fuse all the
small gold so far recovered into one piece to create a larger, more
impressive-looking 'nugget'. Enoch Rudder with his brass foundry
experience and the fact of established copper smelting facilities being at
Byng could easily have managed such a task but details are elusive - is this
the lump of gold that later came into the possession of Sydney University as
the 'Hargraves nugget'?
According to one account, Rudder implored his
friend Hargraves to remain silent until the Governor inspected the sample. This would
give FitzRoy time to consider a licensing system for prospectors (a topic
Rudder apparently had views and knowledge on, from California).
However, Hargraves was moving swiftly, and in the opposite direction of
gaining publicity. He had no intention of remaining silent. Very soon after that, on May 8th, he
staged a meeting with some prominent citizens of Bathurst at James Arthur's
Carrier's Arms Inn with the intention of making the gold public and exhibiting
specimens, including the mass Rudder manufactured. Fortunately the
small "heart shaped nugget" escaped being 'purified/merged' with
anything by Rudder, and it survives in pristine condition (retained as local
heritage in a bank vault at Orange and, with the controversy surrounding the
Sydney University 'Hargraves nugget' the sole surviving golden relic of the
discovery times over which no doubts have been raised).
Before
the public meeting, John Lister took Hargraves to Ophir that morning. On the
way they argued over William Tom Junior being given a quarter share of the
gold. It was Hargraves’ contention that William was not one of the original
partnership, making him ineligible to receive anything. Lister was
apparently furious and
soon told William Tom of the incident. Hargraves quickly changed his mind,
denying that he had been serious. Both partners also needed pacifying over the
Government being told of the area of discovery. It was their opinion that they
might have worked at Ophir for some time before the public became aware of the
situation. Numerous other prospectors were now encroaching on their claim. In
a twinkling, Hargraves nonchalantly scribbled something onto a piece of paper
(his solution to that 'problem') and handed it to them:
ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE.
This is to certify, that the
Australian Gold Company are hereby authorized and empowered to occupy the
following Bars, for the purpose of experimenting in Gold Mining, and to
prevent all parties from intruding thereon, viz., FitzRoy’s Bar,
Hargraves’ Bar, Lister’s Bar and Tom’s Bar.
6th May 1851
E. H. Hargraves.
Ophir.
Hargrave's mind was racing
ahead - he already could envisage himself as a government agent - the gold
commissioner.
And it was no idle dream
either, for this too would happen.
The public meeting was held on
May 8th at James Arthur’s Inn. The local Commissioner of Crown Lands,
Charles Green, and the Bathurst correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald
were in the audience. The Herald reported that the townsfolk of Bathurst
were intrigued by the lecturer’s readiness and intelligence to answer
questions about gold-mining and all of its branches. He was quiet,
unobtrusive, educated and did not seek to force his opinion onto uninterested
parties. The audience were told of men who worked for Hargraves at Ophir.
Each had earned £2-4-8 per day, but half of the gold had been lost when the
labour was performed in his absence. The eager audience was spellbound when a
two ounce nugget made its debut. It had been found, attached to a tree root,
by Mr John Lister, a member of Hargraves’ party. Commissioner Green
left for Ophir the following morning. He intended to remove all unauthorized
parties using Crown Land for monetary gain. Amongst the crowd there he
found Tom and Lister, busily working with their strange wooden contrivance.
Ordering them off the land, Green was amazed when they handed him none other
than Hargraves’ letter of authorization (see above)!
The Commissioner was heckled by
the throng as he stood dumbfounded.
Police soon arrived and
arrested one enterprising gentleman at Broken Shaft Creek. He had
cunningly concealed 20 gallons of rum, 5 gallons of wine and a case of brandy
aboard his dray. This was to have become the city of Ophir’s first
commercial undertaking.
While this was happening,
Hargraves was occupied at Coombing Park. He was making arrangements to meet
the Government Geologist, Samuel Stutchbury, for an inspection of Ophir in
three days time. The Sydney Morning Herald’s correspondent filed the
following report to keep Sydney people informed:
“Bathurst is in quite a ferment respecting the late golden
discoveries to the westward. Hardly anything else is talked of; or at any
rate it is the principal topic of conversation. Nine persons started out
from Bathurst for Summerhill Creek on Friday night, six on Saturday and many
more propose going immediately. I firmly believe that if a few pounds of
gold dust made its appearance here, full one third of our town would be
deserted in a very short space of time. It is reported also that small
parties are making up towards the locality from other parts, consequently we
may expect there will shortly be a considerable number of gold-hunters at
work.”
Hargraves at first
had sought a £2,500 reward (some references say £500) from the government to
disclose were payable gold could be had. To this he at first got the
same style of negative response as had earlier been given to
Smith. The Colonial Secretary's response, dated April 15th, was:
"In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, I am directed by the
Governor to inform you that His Excellency cannot say more at present than
that the remuneration of the discovery of gold on the Crown Lands, referred to
by you, must entirely depend on its nature and the value when made known, and
must be left to the liberal consideration which the Government would be
disposed to give it." Hence there was nothing could be done
but announce the location and HOPE the government would be forthcoming with a
reward. Hargraves proceeded along that course but his partners
were peeved and felt he had not first adequately consulted with them.
In
any case it was Hargraves' old friend Enoch Rudder who first let the cat out
of the bag. Hargraves must have informed him of matters, as on 4 April
1851 he wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald that "a goldfield has been
discovered extending over a tract of country about 300 miles in length".
Confirming such, William Tom Jr. and John Lister (James was away at the Bogan
River on family business) later made known their significant finds between
April 7th and 12th 1851. During the first select committee enquiry in
1853, Hargraves stated that when bought the 4 oz of gold that his colleagues
had found there were actually "hundreds of people working at that
time." If that is true prospectors were already roaming in April,
before the May 1851 publicity(?).
Hargraves had apparently
joined Rudder into the gold enterpise as well, but what inducement Hargraves
gave to Rudder is unknown. Rudder's published letter was the day after when Edward
Hargraves wrote (on 3 April 1851) to the NSW government that he would reveal
the location of payable gold for a reward of
£500. One account suggests that Hargraves did not induce Rudder's
re-entrance to the prospecting or promoting scene, but that that after reading
'rumours' of the discovery in Sydney’s newspapers, Enoch Rudder rushed to
the Wellington Inn to rejoin his Californian prospecting
partner.
Following
the government response that things must be left to "the liberal
consideration which the Government would be disposed to give" Hargraves agreed to trust
in such largesse of the government and he replied stating where the gold was
and that he'd guide anyone from the government there. All was acceptable
and soon Mr Samuel Stutchbury, Government Geologist, was dispatched to see
this new goldfield.
On
May 14th, Hargraves and Stutchbury fought their way through hundreds of
prospectors to assess the goldfield. Over three hours, Hargraves washed 21
grains of fine gold in three hours, satisfying the geologist and many curious
on-lookers. Stutchbury immediately wrote a report in pencil, apologizing that
no ink was yet available "in the city of Ophir", to the
Colonial Secretary dated May 19th, 1851 stating that "gold had been
obtained in considerable quantity. The number of persons at work and about the
diggings (that is occupying about one mile of the creek) cannot be less than
400, and of all classes .... I fear, unless something is done very quickly,
that much confusion will arise in consequence of people setting up
claims". A little later, in his next report on 25 May 1851,
Stutchbury reported how the rush was well underway - there were not less than a thousand persons searching for gold, "many of whom were getting large quantities of gold", and that the largest nugget found had weighed four pounds. The news spread rapidly and that year goldfields were suddenly discovered or being worked all over New South Wales and Victoria.
As news of the discovery of payable gold quickly spread, thousands of eager
gold seekers from Sydney and Melbourne deserted their employment to join in
the rush to the new (Ophir) goldfield.
Hargraves was perhaps already hinting via Stutchbury that he be placed in
charge of it all?
Enoch
Rudder travelled to Bathurst on May 15th; building there a prototype cradle
for John Walker the blacksmith. This enabled Walker to set up a crude assembly
line for the production on an item that would shortly become familiar to
thousands of prospectors. Rudder then called at Springfield to see Thomas
Icely and William Tom Junior. The M.L.C. requested Rudder to draw up a set of
temporary regulations for transmission to the Governor. Rudder based his
suggestions on the Californian regulations, convincing Icely of their merit.
When William Tom Junior delivered the letter to Guyong for posting, Hargraves
insisted that he would give it to the coach driver and make clear its special
importance. Rudder later recalled that FitzRoy never received the letter for
some strange reason.
On May 16th, the Sydney Morning
Herald commented:
“From intelligence received today, it seems that this colony is to
be cursed with a gold-seeking mania. Mr Austin of Bathurst arrived in Sydney
yesterday with a lump of gold with small pieces of quartz attached, weighing
9 ounces, of which 8 ounces were gold.
Three persons started from Bathurst last Saturday (10th), one
experienced in California. On Monday, two returned with one piece which
balanced 35 sovereigns and another with 1½ ounces. Mr Austin bought one
large piece for £30. On Tuesday (12th), 2½ pounds in lumps were brought
in. There are 200 at the diggings.”
The Bathurst Free Press was
printed each Saturday and distributed to a news-hungry Sydney on the following
Tuesday. On May 17th it commented:
“…and many a hand that had been trained to wield nothing heavier
than the grey goose quill, became nervous to clutch the pick and crow-bar or
rock the cradle at our infant mines. In Bathurst, the blacksmiths could not
turn out picks quick enough and the second briskest trade was the making of
cradles. It was noted in the Orange area, flour sold for £60 per ton and
hoarders would not sell for less than £100. During all this, the Executive
Council met in Sydney and the Governor advised that he would issue a
Proclamation setting forth by the Law of England, all gold in natural
deposits belongs to the Queen and any person removing it from Crown Lands
will be prosecuted. Regulations regarding licences will be issued
shortly.”
By May 19th,
eighteen Sydney policemen, under the command of John R Hardy, were stationed
along the road from Parramatta to the diggings. Hardy had been a Parramatta
Magistrate and he became Chief Gold Commissioner for the Western Districts;
responsible for policing and the collection of licence fees for diggers.
On the next day, May
20th, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the Government was satisfied
with Hargraves’ claim. The newspaper advocated that an Inspector or
Superintendent for the goldfields would be needed. Edward Hammond Hargraves
received their nomination for the position. Governor FitzRoy issued a
Proclamation on the following day that required all prospectors to pay a
monthly licence fee of 30/- to dig for gold. This was most
severe. The steep fee was excused as being necessary to try and
prevent the majority from leaving their regular employment and throwing the
country into chaos.
The government declared the
gold field on May 22, 1851. The government feared that the entire
labouring class would abandon their duties in Sydney as clerks, labourers
and servants failed to appear for work as thousands rushed west for the newly
named "Ophir" gold field. There
was a concern that shepherds, drovers and farmers would abandon the developing
agricultural industries that had been prospering the young colony. Governor
FitzRoy wrote to Earl Grey on 29 May reporting that:
"thousands of people of
every class are proceeding to the locality, - tradesmen and mechanics
deserting certain and lucrative employment for the chance of success in
digging for gold, - so that the population of Sydney has visibly diminished."
(Governor FitzRoy despatches, May 1851).
Pastoralist James Macarthur
suggested that martial law be introduced to prevent complete chaos. However
the news spread of Hargraves' discovery and it was impossible for the
government to stop the flow of people westwards. Sydney shopkeepers,
canny in their ability to turn a profit and create consumer demand, began to
fill their windows with all manner of miner’s wares. Blue and red serge
shirts, 'real gold-digging gloves', mining boots, blankets and other camping
goods became staple items. The newspapers were filled with advertisements for
items to take to the gold fields. On the roads to the diggings,
all classes of people were seen in transit with their belongings. There
was an atmosphere of excitement and impending wealth. Eye-witness, Godfrey
Charles Mundy, a soldier and writer saw:
"..sixty drays and carts, heavily laden, proceeding westward with
tents, rockers, flour, tea, sugar, mining tools, etc. each accompanied by from
four to eight men, half of whom bore fire-arms. Some looked eager and
impatient, some half-ashamed of their errant, others sad and thoughtful, all
resolved."
The Surveyor-General of New
South Wales, Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell was one of many who
travelled west during the winter of 1851 to visit the Ophir gold diggings
along with his son, Roderick, and the government geologist, Samuel Stutchbury.
Governor FitzRoy requested Mitchell to 'survey the extent and productiveness
of the goldfield reported to have been discovered in the County of Bathurst'.
Mitchell surveyed the area around Summerhill Creek and the ‘town’ of Ophir.
He described the scene at Ophir as:
''I counted about 200 men at work, besides what were also in sight
higher up and lower down the river, on the opposite bank, high above the river
were numerous tents, as well as on the left bank of the river – and a bark
home with placards about booking for mail, and about all kinds of stores sold
there stood on river bank close to the diggers.''
On May 22nd, Hargraves wrote
the following letter to the Sydney Morning Herald:
“Having passed on the road to Bathurst from 800 to 1,000 people who
are off to the diggings, to say nothing on the inability of a great
proportion of these people to endure the necessary labour to obtain gold,
not 10% have any tools to work with, or a single pound to support themselves
with, during their journey to the mines. Gold digging is very hard work, and
the season of the year is against carrying on such operations in mining, a
few hours rain would put an entire stop to the digging, as the creek rises
many feet in a single hour.
I may take this opportunity of saying, with reference to remarks said
to have emanated from the Reverend W B Clarke, as to the prior claims of the
discovery of gold that I never have had the slightest idea of any such
discovery, if it ever took place, and that I know nothing of the articles on
the subject. On this point I may on future occasion solicit some space in
your columns.”
Within two days, Clarke
responded, pointing out that he still believed Hargraves had been directed to
his discovery by the article that had appeared in the Herald some four years
earlier, and adding:
I claim nothing for myself: — I seek no reward, nor have I deprived
any other of his. I only claim for the science to which I am attached, the
credit which ought belong to it.”
Hargraves’ replied to that:
“In yesterday’s Herald appears the statement signed by W B Clarke,
to the effect that Mr Clarke had long ago declared that there was gold in
this country, but nobody believed him, and that I was guided to the
localities in which I discovered the gold by his published statement. Of the
first part I know nothing; but I most emphatically declare the last
statement to be untrue. It may possibly betray my ignorance to say so, but
to the best of my belief, I never heard of the Reverend W B Clarke, of St.
Leonards Parsonage until the last few weeks; and I solemnly assert that if
he did publish anything; I never read it or even heard it alluded to by
anyone.
I have no desire to acquire notoriety, neither do I take to myself
much credit for the discovery; it was only the result of observation and
reflection, and with a little perseverance, unattended I admit, with
considerable privation. The simple truth is, that about 16 years since I
travelled over the gold country in Australia, without the remotest idea that
I should ever see it again; the features, and to a limited extent the
geology of the country, made an impression in my mind, which eventually led
me to the present discovery. During my recent travels in California, I had
ample opportunities of observing the features of that country, the
singularity between the country I visited sixteen years ago, and in the
country where tens of thousands were then busily employed extracting the
precious metal. It struck me very forcibly, so much so that it took
possession of my mind day and night, and I resolved, with the blessing of
Providence, to visit the locality immediately on my return to New South
Wales.
I mentioned my belief of the existence of gold in this colony to
several of my most esteemed and sincere friends upon my return, and my best
resolve to make a personal search under any privation. From the best and
kindest motives they endeavoured to dissuade me from the enterprise, and
even held out pecuniary motives that under ordinary circumstances, would
have been too powerful to withstand; but feeling that I could not rest until
I had satisfied my mind by a personal search, I went through hundreds of
miles of wilderness and having made the discovery, disclosed it to the
Colonial Government, who may or may not reward me for the unbounded wealth
which I have, through an over-ruling Providence, been the humble instrument
of conferring on my fellow colonists.”
EDWARD H HARGRAVES.
30th May 1851
Meanwhile, James Tom took
Stutchbury to the Turon, showing him the locations where he and John Lister
had panned for gold a few months earlier. It was in their interest to assist
Hargraves in every way possible. Showing the Government Geologist the Turon
would help consolidate the partnership’s claim. After reporting to his
District Superior, Stutchbury penned the following notice outside Meyer’s
store at Ophir, for the general information of diggers:
Sir,
I have the honour to inform you of points which I feel would repay
parties working for gold. They are as follows:
- The great bar in the Macquarie River, at Walgumbulla about 3 miles
below the junction of the Turon.
- The bar of the junction of the Turon, on the Macquarie River.
- Several bars on the Turon, for 8 miles up, especially the first three
from the junction.
- The Macquarie at Nelly’s (Neeli) Corner and the bars above and below
- 3 or 4 miles either way.
At each of the above named places, I found gold by prospecting with a
small pan and without going to any depth.
Soon the diggings stretched 25
km from Ophir, along Lewis Ponds Creek, to its junction with the Macquarie.
Eleven hundred people were now crossing the Emu Ferry (Penrith) each day, on
their way to the diggings.
On June 7th 1851, the
Legislative Council appointed Hargraves a Commissioner of Crown Lands,
enabling him to pursue his searches further at Government expense. He
was to be supplied with a covered cart drawn by two horses and the services of
two policemen. There was a daily wage of £1 plus a forage allowance of
2/6d. daily for each of his two horses. At first Hargraves
declined the position on the grounds that this allowance might not be adequate
for a country in the middle of a gold rush. He later recalled
"However, on being assured that by
accepting the office, that I should increase my claims for reward, I felt duty
bound to accept it!"
Not all did well at Ophir. By mid-June, many disillusioned prospectors
returned from Ophir to Sydney. They sold their supplies at great loss to
newcomers along the way. In hope of living up to his new found reputation,
Hargraves headed west to recheck the Wellington area and then the Abercrombie
River. While crossing the Emu Ferry (Penrith), Commissioner Hargraves
overheard angry men waiting for the punt on the Nepean's western bank. They
were cursing his name after their heavy losses at Ophir.
As early as 1851, discord or
disagreement was apparently brewing. A letter, dated May 19th, 1851, is
believed to have been composed by Hargraves and forwarded to John Lister for
him to sign. Hargraves also requested that Lister duplicate the letter
on to the Sydney Morning Herald for publication. Hargraves hoped that with
Lister's signature, the letter would validate his own claims.
"Gentlemen - A report
having been spread abroad by some malicious person who evidently is jealous
of Mr. Hargraves' great discovery to the effect that I was the party who
made it and communicated it to him, I beg leave most unreservedly to
contradict this false report, although having been upwards of two years
searching for it at one time with two geologists, and mineralogists who told
me there were indications but could not find the gold. Mr. Hargraves, during
his explorations, called on me as an old friend of my late respected father,
and in course of conversation he told me this was a gold country, and if I
would keep a secret, he would combine [with] me. This I agreed to - he was
as good as his word, and scarcely ever made a failure, - where he said gold
was to be found, he found it. I neither understand geology or mineralogy -
but I was convinced my friend Mr. Hargraves knows where and how to find
gold, and all honour and reward in the late discovery belong to him alone.
Indeed, few men would have done what he has, intersecting the country with
blacks, sometimes alone, sometimes with my friend Mr. James Tom, and during
his explorations, had rain set in, from the imperfect manner in which he was
equipped, starvation and death must have been the result. Trusting you will
give this publicity in the columns of your valuable journal.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
John Hardman Lister
P.S. - I have also heard it reported that Mr. Hargraves had not acted fairly
towards me, - I beg most distinctly to state that in all transactions with
that gentleman, he has acted strictly honourable with me and friends in the
secret of the great discovery. Mr. Hargraves is now no longer connected with
me or my party at Ophir, and wherever he may go he has my best wishes, and I
believe of all who have known him in the district of Bathurst."
Lister claimed the
above in a communication to the Bathurst Free Press in January 1852.
That published the above letter but along with Lister's comments on the
subject, that he had declined to sign it, and: "I could not subscribe my
name to the untruths it contained ..... I also assert in plain words that Mr.
James Tom and I never travelled with Mr. Hargraves with any other
understanding than that we were his prospecting colleagues and concerned
equally with himself in any favourable results that might accrue from our
journey or journeys."
It is interesting that this letter
says about Lister ":having been upwards of two years searching for it at
one time with two geologists, and mineralogists who told me there were
indications" - these were apparently named
Batty and Neal. Young Neal was the son of a brewer in
Bathurst.
While diggers at Ophir paid 3/-
per pound of tea and £3 for each hundred pounds of flour, many still found
the experience to be a rewarding one. James Tom, John Lister and William Tom
Junior were three who did not. By early June, they had read of Hargraves being
paid his £500 reward; but there was no mention of their names. Doubt filled
the trio’s minds. When Lister related the incident of Hargraves’ letter,
presented for Lister’s signature, the Tom brothers grew angry. On June 6th,
William Tom Junior wrote to the Colonial Secretary to enquire in what way they
had been represented. The reply was devastating - Hargraves had
NOT mentioned the names of James and William Tom or John Lister. Perhaps
they might be the persons Hargraves had described as "the men working for
him" ? On December 22nd 1851, William Tom Junior wrote another letter.
This time it was addressed to Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy.
The two 1851 letters contained
the Toms and Lister versions of the "facts" of the discovery and
emphasised that they were considered "prospecting colleagues" of Mr.
Hargraves and "that we are not altogether unwarranted in requesting some
remuneration from the government for the expense we of necessity incurred, in
developing one of the richest pecuniary resources of the colony". These
letters were published in the Bathurst Free Press on January 1st, 1853, along
with other inflammatory material.
A long and bitter controversy
was underway, with the Toms and Lister requesting better recognition, which
ranged over 40 years.
For each time Tom and Lister
had addressed a letter to the newspapers, presenting their case, Hargraves had
addressed guests at special dinners held in his honour. While Tom and Lister
presented their Petition to the Government, the people of Melbourne presented
Hargraves with a gold cup filled with Sovereigns. The New South Wales
Government rewarded Hargraves with £10,000 while the people of Bathurst gave
him a public dinner in March 1853. At that function, Hargraves was presented
with a silver tea service and breakfast set.
The one thing that did annoy the Tom brothers and Lister was the public dinner
held in Sydney's fashionable Royal Hotel on February 12th 1853. Governor
FitzRoy, the Colonial Secretary and many of the colony's influential men
attended the testimonial to celebrate the Second Anniversary of Australia's
Gold Discovery. Mr Hargraves was indisposed through sickness and unable to
attend. On display was a gold cup for Hargraves - valued at £500 Sterling. It
was inscribed:
"Presented to Edward Hammond Hargraves,
ESQ., J. P., Commissioner of Crown Lands, by his fellow colonists in testimony
of their appreciation of his eminent services in discovering the first
Australian gold field on the twelfth day of February 1851'
"PALMAN QUI MERUIT."
(Honour Where It Is Due.)
At first the only small
recognition the other partners got from the government was that when a plan
for the town of Ophir was drawn up in late 1851, the names of Lister
Street and Thom (sic) Street were included, along with Hargrave (sic) Square.
The claims of John Lister,
William Tom Jr and James Tom were heard before a government appointed Select
Committee in June-July 1853. Hargraves was also called to give his
version of the discovery. The outcome was that William Tom Jr., James
Tom and John Lister were granted a £1000 reward which was to be divided
between them. They were recognised as having played a part in the
discovery of payable gold but not as the actual discoverers. Simpson Davison
and Enoch Rudder, two other associates of Hargraves, also published their own
accounts of the gold discovery. Both claimed that the Hargraves' view,
that gold existed in Australia, had in fact been their observation first off,
which they had conveyed to Hargraves in discussion whilst in California.
Athough the Toms and Lister
many times related how they always considered they were equal partners in any
gold profits all agreements were never more than verbal. And Hargraves
denied that there was any arrangement that they were to participate in the
profits in any way. He stated that the only arrangement was that they
should have the first diggings when the diggings were opened.
SOME
EXPRESSED OPINIONS CONCERNING THE FRICTION:
"I
never knew Mr Hargraves to experience more hardship or difficulty than he
might have experienced at a picnic on the same rough ground."
James Tom.
The reason why Mr Hargraves could not find
gold in 1851 was this:- He was too lazy to look for it in a proper manner; he
always experimented on the higher instead of lower strata of the alluvial
deposits he was taken to. Almost every practical digger knows that all loose
substances in alluvial deposits arrange themselves in the order of their
specific gravity, and gold being the heaviest substance in nature except
platinum, Hargraves ought to have dug to the bottoms of alluvial deposits.
Failing to do this, he failed in the discovery of a payable gold field. While
in the Bathurst district, Hargraves never dug a hole a foot deep. Mr Hargrayes,
was appointed a Prospecting Commissioner for some considerable time after the
gold discovery of 1851, but during the whole of the time he was looking for
gold under the auspices of the Government, it is not on record that he ever
found either a payable or unpayable gold field, although he travelled over
many parts of the country, which since have been proved to be wonderfully rich
in that metal."
William Tom Jr.
"After being joined by him (James
Tom) they started on a prospecting trip down
the Macquarie, and were away some nine or ten days, and got nothing more than
the colour of gold during the whole of that time. After this trip, Mr
Hargraves went to Wellington, where he originally intended to go, and was away
some two or three weeks, and when he returned he could not show us a speck of
gold; - we suppose for the simple reason he did not get one to show. Beyond
suggesting how to make a cradle, everything Mr Hargraves did towards the first
gold discovery was now done, and all the gold that was got by James Tom, Mr
Hargraves, and Mr John Lister, before Mr Hargraves took his final departure
from the Bathurst district, did not amount to more than one-eighth of a grain
in weight."
John Lister.
(in a letter written in conjunction with William Tom Jr).
"From the cradle introduced by him had
emerged a golden baby, and it was to the practical knowledge acquired by Mr
Hargraves, in California, that this country was indebted for millions in
treasure, which, but for his labours, would have been lost to the
colony."
(Sir) E Deas Thomson.
"Now as to the 'honour of the
discovery'; I have always thought it of trifling importance, as any person of
ordinary observation might have done the same as myself; but the impudent
pretensions put forward by persons for the purpose of gain, only on a mere
speculation, is to be deplored. I look upon it as a disgrace to the country to
have rewarded such charlatans in any way."
Edward H Hargraves.
The
burial of Hargraves - an unmarked grave
Mr
E.H. Hargraves, returning the salute of the gold miners, May, 1875.
(Painting: Thomas Tyrwhitt Balcombe; Mitchell Library, ML 532)
It
seems curious that Hargraves was buried in an unmarked grave within the
Anglican section of Waverly Cemetery, and even more so if the lack of any
headstone was his expressed wish, as some think happened. Such a
request would certainly be out of keeping with Edward's general
behaviour earlier in life whereby his promoted his own fame at every
possibility and apparently revelled in any glory as might come his
way. Alternative explanation/s to why he received no headstone
might include that the majority of his wealth had disappeared by the time of
his death, and he was able to leave very little to his two sons and three
daughters.
Thanks to
Kay Williams and Gwen Dundon, some further information on Hargraves' grave
has been gathered.
Hargraves
died at "Marionville" in Forest Lodge suburb (Glebe) of the inner
western Sydney suburbs in his 76th year, on 29 October 1891. Why he
was there rather than at his home at Toukley near Gosford is not
known. Today the southeastern end of Toukley,
along the ocean shore, is known as Noraville. This is named after the
Hargraves' house "Noraville". Hargraves
was apparently attracted by the beauty of this place and bought 640 acres
there after the 1851 gold rush. He built Noraville from 1853-1856 as
an exact replica of his grandfather's residence in England. The
ceiling was of hand carved solid cedar from the Yarramalong Valley.
The Hargraves' property there employed maids, governesses and tutors, as
well as gardeners, a groom and stockmen.
The property provided much of its own needs, such as beef, chickens,
dairy, fruit and vegetables as well as fish from the nearby ocean. The
Noraville house still stands on the clifftop overlooking Hargraves Beach.
Hargraves' wife was the first white woman to live in the district and she
tended the estate after his death. There was an obiturary
for him in the Town and Country Journal on 7 November 1891 on
p.20 (not seen and this paper is still to be digitised).
Some 25 or 30 years ago
(pre 2010), Gwen and another visited Waverly Cemetery and noted from the
register the plot numbers of various Gorford area famous person who are
buried there. They then looked at Hargraves' plot and it was just
grass. There was no sign that there had ever been any surrounds,
marker or headstone placed there. Later on some of Hargraves descendants
visited this spot and were horrified to find on the plot a modern cairn-type memorial
on which there was a photograph of an ex-serviceman under glass.
However it turns out that this person was also a Hargraves descendant and it
is assumed he must have come by, or purchased the ownership of the
plot. It is to be hoped that at least some small brass plaque or other
marker to this great man, Edward Hammond Hargraves, who caused some sort of
acknowledged transformation to the nation (more or less just as he said he
would) will yet be placed there.
Junction of Lewis Ponds and
Summerhill Creeks, where payable gold would first be rushed, thereafter to
become the site of
the Township of Ophir (now vanished
again). Ophir was named after the biblical story about King Solomon's gold
city. It is
thought that the name 'Ophir' would
have come from 'Parson' William Tom, a Wesleyan lay preacher and William Tom's
father, as he knew well the wording
in the Old Testament ( "Hiram brought gold from Ophir" ... "They
came to Ophir and
they fetched from thence
gold", describing the city where King Solomon obtained his wealth). (Photo:
E.F. Pitman)
After Frederick William Hulme
(British, 1816-1884) - The Ophir Diggings, Summer Hill Creek, 1851.
This
point was known as Church Hill (the is the small distanct wooden building
seen in the
distance,
in the left middle ground, framed between trees.
Frederick
William Hulme (1816-1884) was an English landscape painter and
illustrator. He is not known to have visited Australia so
the meaning of the above illustration being attributed to after Frederick William Hulme
is at present unclear. Whoever drew it, it is good depiction of
the cliffs on the opposite side of the creek to the tent village. That
rock face is also well shown in one of George Angas' drawings made at the
same time.
Excellent drawings of the Ophir rush
were made by George French Angas (1822 -1886). Angas was an English
explorer, naturalist and painter who settled for a time in Sydney. In 1853
Angas was appointed to a position at the Australian Museum, eventually becoming
its Director and staying there a total of seven years. Angas was in 1851 when
the gold rush started. He travelled there to record the gold diggings in a
number of fine drawings of the scenes encountered. He finally went back to
England in 1863.
A General view of Ophir, 1851, by
George French Angas. This was made from near the Commissioner's tent.
Ophir
in 1851, showing the tents of the first settlement (George French
Angas, National Library of Australia).
Hargraves
said of the junction of Summerhill and Lewis Ponds Creek:
'Depend upon it, when this
comes
to be worked, pieces of gold will be taken out as large as my
foot.' He told this to
hundreds
of people in the Bathurst district.
Fitzroy
Bar, at the junction of the two creeks, 1851 ( George
French Angas - Sketches in Australia). This
place today is all
but
deserted, but is promoted by the local Council to tourists as a beautiful
setting for a picnic by the creek.
OPHIR
MEMORIAL "This obelisk was erected by the New South Wales Government to
commemorate the first discovery in Australia of payable gold, which was
found in the creek in front of this monument. Those responsible for the
discovery were Edward Hammond Hargraves, John Hardman Australia Lister,
James Tom, William Tom. From experience gained in California, Hargraves
formed the idea that the district was auriferous and he found the first gold
on 12th February, 1851, about two miles up Lewis Ponds Creek. He explained
to the others how to prospect and make use of a miner's cradle, and Lister
and William Tom found payable gold between 7th and 12th April, 1851."
(Erected 1923,
unveiled by the Minister for Mines.)
"""""
One day of goldfield news in the newspapers - Maitland Mercury, 28 May 1851
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE
GOLD FIELD.
The
Sydney papers continue to give a great
»quantity of news from the gold diggings, and
information respecting them. We give below
condensed and selected extracts from these
papers, comprising we believe all the information
of value and interest,
LICENSES
TO DIG AND SEARCH FOE GOLD.
(From
a Supplement to Friday's Government Gazette.)
Colonial
Secretary's Office,
Sydney,
23rd May, 1851.
With
reference to the proclamation issued on
the 22nd May, instant, declaring the rights of
the crown in respect to gold found in its natural
place of deposit within the territory of New
South Wales, his Excellency the Governor, with
the advice of the Executive Council, has been
pleased to establish the following provisional
regulations, under which licenses may be
obtained to dig, search for, and remove the ame:
1.
From and after the first day of June next,
no person will be permitted to dig, search for,
or remove gold on or from any land, whether
public or private, without first taking out and
paying for a license in the form annexed.
2.
For the present, and pending further proof
of the extent of the gold field, the license fee
has been fixed at one pound ten shillings per
month, to be paid in advance ; but it is to be imderstood that the rate is
subject to future adjustment,
as circumstances may render ex
pedient.
3.
The licenses can he obtained on the spot,
from the Commissioner, who has been appointed
by his Excellency the Governor to carry these
regulations into effect, and who is authorised to
receive the fee payable thereon.
4.
No person will be eligible to obtain a
license, or the renewal of a license, unless he
shall produce a certificate of discharge from
his last service, or prove to the satisfaction of
the Commissioner that he is not a person improperly absent from hired service.
5.
Rules adjusting the extent and position of
land to be covered by each license, and for the
prevention of confusion, and the interference of
.one licensee with another, will be the subject of
early regulations.
6.
With reference to lands alienated by the
crown in fee simple, the Commissioner will not
he authorised for the present to issue licenses
under these regulations to any person but the
proprietors, or persons authorised by them in
writing to apply for the same.
FORM
REFERRED TO - GOLD LICENSE.
No.
1851.
The
bearer having paid to me the
sum of one pound ten shillings on account of
the territorial revenue, I hereby license him to
dig, search for, and remove gold, on and from
any such crown land within the county of
Bathurst a» I shall assign to him for that purpose,
during the month of 185- .
This
license must be produced whenever demanded
by me, or any other person acting under
the authority of the government.
(Signed)
A. B., Commissioner.
(From
the Herald, May 23.)
'
The intelligence which was received in Syd
ney yesterday must have convinced the most
sceptical that gold does exist in considerable
quantities in the vicinity of the Summer Hill
Creek, about one hundred and fifty miles from
Sydney, and although hundreds of persons were
not obtaining more than ordinary wages, many
were getting above an ounce a day, which is
worth about £3.
A
letter from Mr. Stutchbury, the government
geologist, was received yesterday; it is
merely a preliminary report, but it is fully confirmatory
of Mr. Hargraves's statements as to
the presence of gold in the soil, and its being
obtainable by those who are able to bear fatigue
and hardship, and can use picks and shovels.
On the receipt of this report the government
issued the proclamation which appeared in
Thursday's Government Gazette. It is stated
that large quantities of gold are now in
Bathurst waiting for safe conveyance to Sydney.
An extra mail from Bathurst to Orange (the
nearest post town to the diggings) has been
ordered, and we hope the government will endeavour
to have a mail to Bathurst every day,
instead of alternate days, as at present.
We
need hardly say that the greatest excitement
prevails among all classes in Sydney, and
many persons are going to dig for gold who are
wholly unfit for such work; men who would
hesitate to walk the length of George-street in
a shower of rain are going, at the beginning of
winter, to a district where the climate is almost
English, and where they will not be able to get
shelter in even the humblest hut. What can be
.the result of such reckless conduct but that which
has happened in California - ruin, misery,
disease, death.
Mems.
about the Gold.- Mr. Alderman
Fisher,
who went to the gold district with an
eye to their mercantile aspect, a few days ago,
returned yesterday, bringing with bim a piece of
gold weighing nearly two ounces, which he had
the good luck to find while doing a little amateur
digging. Three young men are said to have
.been out from Bathurst only three days, when
they returned with seventeen ounces of gold,
.which they sold to Mr. Macbatti for £55. It is
said that there is a large quantity of gold at the
diggings, which the holders are afraid to send to
Sydney for fear of robberies. It is understood
that the government will be prepared with proper
escorts in the course of next week. Several
of the Sydney jewellers received small quantities
of gold by post jesterday; they pronounce it to
he good gold and very pure. The number of
persons actually digging on Thursday last is
variously reported at from four to seven hundred;
probably about midway between these
numbers would be correct. They are said to be
remarkably orderly. They are all at work
within a space of a couple of miles. Both the
magistrates residing at the nearest place where
sessions can be held are said to be gone to the
diggings. Our correspondents from Bathurst,
Orange, and Carcoar, all tell us something about
the gold, and all agree as to the extravagant prices
at which provisions are charged. We believe
that many shepherds in the neighbourhood
employ themselves in searching for gold
while their flocks are feeding. Various reports
about gold having been found in the immediate
neighbourhood of Sydney are, so far as we can
ascertain, unfounded. Above thirty persons, who
were proceeding to California in the Johnstone,
have forfeited their passage money and come
on shore, preferring the Bathurst to the California
diggings.
News
from the Diggings. -The following
letter from a person well known to many in Sydney
has been handed to us for publication, and
is worthy of a careful perusal :- Bookanan,
19th May. Dear Sir - I have yours of 16th inst.
It is a bad job that flour especially is not to be
.bought; but it is folly too on the part of the
holders, for we cannot have more people on
account of the gold than are in the Australian
colonies already for some time to come, and if
people come from South Australia, or Van Die
men's Land, or elsewhere, there will be more
flour to spare at these places. Prices will be
awful at the diggings, and I doubt not that
many will come from Sydney to be sadly disappointed,
if not starved to boot. I dare say we
must keep a. sharp lookout hereabouts for some
whom you can well afford to spare from Sydney.
If anybody should be considerate enough to spare
a trifle of flour, be pleased to send me half a ton
and a bag of good rice at any rate. We shall
soon run short. Yon may make it as public as
you can in Sydney, that none but robust, hard-working
men can do any good at the gold field.
The
exposure to wet in the day, with winter approaching,
and no huts or comforts of any sort,
will break the constitution of all but iron frames,
besides which the work requires skill. Many
have tried and left the diggings sick enough.
The weather is rather wet - beautiful for vegetation,
but not for camping out at night with a
hungry stomach. I have sent two loads of ore
only since last Monday, and am daily looking for
the coming of more drays. My miners are at
present at the gold. One of them told me to say
that 10s. per day each was what he thought
they earned. It will cost nearly half of that to
live there, to say nothing of hinderance from
floods, &c.- I remain, dear sir, yours truly, J. Glasson.
(From
the Herald's Bathurst Correspondent.)
The
Diggings.-Various parties have come
from the gold field yesterday and today (Monday
and Tuesday) with parcels of gold, varying
in weight from four ounces to seventeen and a half
ounces. Still it must he remembered that
there have been from three to six persons in
each of these parties, consequently the individual
gain cannot be considerable. I hear that
many persons have already suffered much from
cold and hunger, having taken with them only
two or three days' rations, and not being provided
with any shelter from the inclemency of
the weather. The inspector of police and the
commissioner of crown lands, accompanied by
the chief constable, and constable M'Clure, proceeded
to the spot on Tuesday, with the intention,
I understand, of ordering the parties on
the ground to leave off digging until licenses
are obtained by them. The pay of the constabulary
has been raised from two shillings and
sixpence per diem to four and sixpence. I have
made strict enquiry as to the lump of gold
taken down by Mr. Austin, and I find it really
was obtained at our diggings; I could procure affidavits
to the fact.
(From
the Empire, May 23.;
We
have been favored by a gentleman, who
returned from the Ophir mines yesterday, with
the following outline of his excursion, which
cannot fail in greatly
interesting our readers: "Left
Sydney on Friday night by mail;
arrived late on Saturday at Bathurst; hired
horse and proceeded to Mrs. Lister's Inn,
Guyong district, twenty-three miles from Bathurst;
fell in with Mr. Hargraves, the discoverer
of the gold there, who kindly offered to accompany
me at day-break to the diggings at the
creek; rode down about twenty miles, through
Perrier's estate, along the foot of the Three
Brother Ridges, to the bend in the creek called
Ophir, where we found located down the creek,
from 500 to 700 people, divided into parties
from three to eight each, busy dry digging, also
washing the earth from banks of creek; in all
instances procuring, by means of cradling and
washing, more or less gold dust, many picking
lumps of gold about one foot from the surface;
and on Mr. Hargraves questioning them as to
their success, found some had been very successful,
others obtaining only small quantities;
met with Mr. Piper, who had just opened a bed
of soft slate; stood watching him gather from
crevices several small pieces of gold, and one
piece weighing 1 ounce; also two pieces about
half an ounce each; removed the dirt from the large
piece and took it as a specimen, which I
now nave in my possession. Mr. Hawkins's
party produced several pieces, varying in size
from one-eighth of an ounce or thereabouts, to
an ounce in weight; and the average of this
day's work, from the quantities seen by myself
and Mr. Hargraves, was fully half an ounce a
man; every minute fresh groups of diggers
arriving and encamping, all anxious to know if
Mr. Hargraves had been commissioned by the
government to issue licenses, and expressing
their willingness to take out licenses immediately,
and the majority in favour of £1 per
month per man; everything very orderly, each
party taking to their thirty feet. I also met
with Mr. Stutchbury on the ground, who expressed
an opinion, that without loss of time a
Deposit Bank should be opened on the diggings,
to be protected, of course, at the expense of the
diggers, or from the license fee, and when removed
to be under a proper escort to Sydney;
he seemed perfectly satisfied at the orderly
manner of the diggers, but was apprehensive of
a scarcity of provisions. It is fully anticipated
that eight to ten mille ounces will be
gathered by next Saturday. On our return to
Guyong met dozens of parties proceeding towards
the diggings; left Lister's; went into
Bathurst on Tuesday. A party of three, who
had only been out a few days, just brought into
Bathurst seventeen ounces, and sold the same
for £51; excitement on the increase hourly,
nearly every one leaving Bathurst for the
ground.
Several
letters received also by yesterday's
mail from respectable persons on the favoured
spot have been obligingly placed at our disposal,
from which we make the extract underneath.
Bathurst,
20th May, 1851.
My
Dear S******. - I have just returned
from the diggings. I assure you the reports are
not at all exaggerated. I saw parties (not one
but many) dig an ounce of gold in a few hours.
I worked an hour with only a tin basin, washing
in the stream, and I dug 13s. worth, at £3 per
ounce. Those who have the proper apparatus
are making from £3 to £4 per day. I spent a
most pleasant day with Mr. Stutchbury the
geologist. He scarcely knows what to think,
but he says that from the formation of the
country it will be found in hundreds of places
even more abundantly than it is where they are
working.
From
the Empire, May 24th
Several
specimens of gold have been brought
into Sydney during the last day or two. We
saw two yesterday. The first was a specimen in
the possession of Mr. Stewart of the Woolpack
Inn. It is scarcely half an ounce in weight.
The precise locality where it was found is purposely
kept a secret, but we were given to
understand that it is considerably to the westward
of the Ophir diggings.
The
second specimen which we saw was received
by Mr. Harpur, of Bligh-street, who in
forms us that it was discovered about five miles
this side of Bathurst - he supposes in a blind
creek which is known to intersect the plains in
the vicinity of Bathurst. The discoverer of this
auriferous deposit states that it obtains in great
abundance in the same locality.
We
understand several appointments are in
contemplation in connexion with that of Mr.
Hardy, as Gold Commissioner. Mr. Hardy is
to receive £600 a-year, and to be assisted by
several sub-commissioners at various rates of
pay
Migration
to the diggings is still on the
increase in Sydney. Go where you will, you
will hear of persons in all grades of society
either on the eve of departure or busily preparing.
A gentleman who has just arrived from
the Nepean informs us that, while standing at an
inn, a little the other side of Penrith, he counted
no less than 90 men all armed to the teeth, and
evidently bent for the diggings. Shortly after
he met 15 drays in a train, all tolerably well
supplied, and no doubt on the same mission. He
also reports having passed two companies of
mounted police in the course of his journey.
We
copy a letter from a very respectable gentleman
entire, merely omitting the name :
Bathurst,
May 21, Í851.
Dear
****- I returned from the diggings
just in time to receive your letter by last night's
post.
I
am convinced from what I saw, that there
is plenty of gold there, and that the surrounding
country abounds with it. Some of the diggers
have been very successful, and found large lumps; many
also have been unsuccessful, and found only
small particles of dust. I saw some who had
not earned 5s. in the day, at washing and digging,
and others who had picked up £5 worth in
a few hours. I washed a great quantity of earth
the two days I staid there, and the produce was
about 20s. worth of gold in small pieces, having
only a tin dish to wash the earth in.
There
is a great uncertainty about finding it,
and I discovered that where one person found a
large piece, fifty were finding only small dust,
and earning from 5s. to 20s. daily. I expect to
be in Sydney shortly, and will give you fuller
particulars, and in the meantime I shall feel
obliged for any information yon can gjve me
with reference to the price of goods in Sydney.
"Yours
truly.
*
* *
Another
letter received from an old and influential
resident in the town of Bathurst, states
in unqualified terms that £8000 worth of gold
was brought in from the mines during this week.
The following is an extract from a letter from
Mr. Hargraves just received :
Wellington
Inn, Guyong,
22nd
May, 1851.
I
accompanied Mr. Thacker to the mines
yesterday. He was very much amused with the
sight of some hundreds of miners at work.
There
will beat least £10,000 sterling of
the precious metal disembowelled by Saurday
next. One piece weighing 1 lb. was taken out
yesterday; and a party of four took out thirty
ounces the day before. The excitement of the
people exceeds anything you can possibly conceive.
The
following is from a letter addressed to a
merchant in Sydney.
O'connell,
May 21.
You
may believe all you hear about the gold.
If I could leave home, I could earn from £10 to
£20 in a week, or perhaps in one day, bat if I
go, all the men will do the same. I am putting
in as much wheat as possible. Wheat will pay
as well as gold, (wise and noble Englishman,
say we.)
I
intend to try the mountain about here, (namely,
in the neighbourhood of his own homestead.)
Gold has been found within seven miles of
Bathurst, and all through the mountains.
(From
the People's Advocate.)
Extract
of a letter from Bathurst, written hy
a gentleman on whose veracity we can place
every dependence:- "It is true that a most extensive gold field has been discovered, and that an
extraordinary abundance may be found at a place
commencing at Swallow Creek, about 36 miles
to the westward of this town. There are at present 1,300 persons at work; every working man
is obtaining gold, in value (at £3 5s. per oz.) to
the amount of, on an average, thirty shillings pier
diem. Major Wentworth arrived from Sydney
in eight hours, he is now off to our " New
California," to read some proclamation or other,
but it is useless for the government to attempt
to crush this movement; they cannot control,
they must be content to direct it. Provisions
are awfully, enormously high in this town, and
hundreds of persons are daily, hourly, arriving
from all parts, on their way to the diggings.
Shepherds and others are absconding from their
hired service in every direction. Several persons
have returned from the diggings, to sell their
gold and to replenish their stock of rations and
materials, &c, &e., with which they speed off
again to rock the cradle of the new born gold.
The gold field extends over 150 miles; the diggings are scattered over 12 miles; it is
surprising that the higher they ascend the hills the
gold is more abundant, and to be found in larger
and longer pieces.- Bathurst, May 20,1851.
The
Gold Districts. - A minute survey of
the gold districts is to be immediately made.
Sir Thomas Mitchell and assistants leave town on
Monday for the purpose of performing that
duty.- Herald, May 24.
Gold
in Argyle.-We have this moment
heard of the arrival in town of a gentleman who
resides only a few miles from Goulburn, who has
brought in a specimen of gild, which he discovered in the locality of Richlands, we believe.
The specimen is evidently very rich. It is
mixed with quartz, and the precious metal has
evidently undergone the action of fire. Rich-
lands is situate at the foot of the same range of
hills as those described as containing the rich
deposits near Wellington. Should further discoveries be made before the dispatch of our
regular weekly budget of news, we will write
you.- Goulburn Correspondent of Empire,
May 24.
"""""""""""""""""""
Before
1851, the area where Summer Hill and Lewis Ponds creeks meet was known as
"Yorkey's Corner", after a shepherd of that name who lived in a hut
close by. Shepherd "Yorkey" was employed by William T.
Trappitt, and he was also rumoured to have found a nugget near his hut. This
was perhaps the same nugget as later came into the possession of William
Trappitt. Rumours also suggest that Mr McDonald, a shepherd
working for William Lane, and Mr Delaney, a shepherd working for Henry
Perrier, found samples of gold at or near Yorkey's Corner.
Lewis
Ponds Creek map of 1935 interpreting discovery places and events, by
R.G.Glasson.
The Wellington Inn.
Guyong, near Byng (Lister's inn) (Source: Trevor Weekes).
This view depicts the inn on the southern side of the road whereas R.G.
Glasson's 1935 map (above) and that of John Rule, 1978 (below) has it on the
northern side of the 'Old Western
Road'. Regarding the propietress at the time Hargraves
called there, Susannah Lister (nee Pymble and related to he man after
whom the Sydney suburb of Pymble is name) and how the Listers,
formerly of sea-faring interests ended up there, see http://m.hardwickfiles.info/lister_life_summary.html
- The Wellington Inn is believed to have been built in 1838 and the
first publican was Mr Luck. The site of the inn is probably now
on the Glasson property “Godolphin”. The inn was held up by bushrangers in
November 1839 and Mrs Luck was shot dead. Edmund Hargraves
called to stay the night there, on February 10th 1851, arriving at or
after nightfall after becoming lost or confused (so poor were the high
roads of the day). He was, overall, on his way to Wellington to
investigate the well known occurrence of gold there, which the
shepherd Macgregor had been selling in Sydney. That Hargraves
called to stay
the night, and met there the young John Lister must have been the most fortunate night in this life.
It would delay him slightly in his intended journeyings towards Wellington
and elsewhere further north to look for Macgregor's
gold but it lead him to the finding of local gold - in company with young Lister, who
already had an interest in such things, as his guide.
Lister had looked for gold in the district two years earlier 'with two
geologists'.
Mrs
Lister (Sussanah Pymble)
In 1846
John and Susannah took over Robin Hood & Little John hotel at the
top of Rocks Hill near Bathurst, NSW. After her husband's death,
“The Widow Lister” took over the small Wellington Inn at Guyong
(“Listers’ Inn”). This would have been about one “stage”
farther on than the inn at the top of Rocks Hill. The Widow’s
son and the Tom boys grew up together. Edward Hargraves visited the
family here and is said to have been interested by rocks on a
mantelpiece. The gold rush that started in 1851 caused Susannah to
prosper in her hotel.
As
shown in the map above, an R. G. Glasson in 1935 (Richard Glasson?) was
interested in this history. His possible descendant, Ken Glasson,
was a geologist who taught ore geology at Sydney University in the time the
present writer attended there. R.G. Glasson is presumably a
descendant of the John
Glasson (1803 -1890) who resided at the Cornish Settlement from about 1830 and
who was a strict Methodist, supporting Parson Tom there in the belief that
only Wesleyans would get to Heaven. John Glasson arrived in
Australia in 1830 and over the decades some seven of his siblings would
follow him to Australia. John Glasson took up a large property
of 640 acres at the Cornish Settlement and opened a copper mine on it in
1850, the Carangarra mine. John's brother Richard, and sister
Mare, were the next of his siblings to emigrate and arrived in
1838. They went to live on John Glasson's land at Cornish
Settlement. Amongst the Glasson descendants, descending via
John's brother Richard there has been a notable mining geologist, Kenneth
Roderick Glasson, later a lecturer in mining geology at Sydney
University. So this Glasson family started a mining centre that
no doubt was catalyst to the discovery of payable gold that transformed
Australia. On R. Glasson held a gold interest at Lucknow in
1922. Then later on another of them would be instructing others in the
ways of mining geology. This was Kenneth (Ken) Glasson
(1921-1994). Ken was geologist, and later chief geologist, at Captains
Flat mine in 1948-1952, briefly works for CSR in gypsum search in western
NSW in 1952, then was geologist at the Radium Hill mine in 1952-1954 (then
Australia's sole uranium mine). Following that he worked as a
consulting geologist with Mining and Prospecting Services in 1954-1956,
after which he was employed in lecturing at the Department of Geology and
Geophysics, University of Sydney from 1956 to 1968. Ken completed a
M.Sc. thesis at Sydney University in 1957 (The regional geology and
structures of an area around Captain's Flat (N.S.W.) and their influence on
the mineralisation and formation of the ore bodies). From the
1970s until his death he continued working as a consultant and negotiator
for mining companies in Australia and overseas. He worked for Union Miniere
in 1969-1975 and Aquitaine Australia Minerals in 1976-1983.
Early
prospectors / miners
"Gold digging they imagine is but play - kicking the nuggets out of the
sand with their feet. They find, on arrival, it is exceedingly laborious and
heavy work and that they will kick their feet and knock their shins against a
good many rocks, before they see the specks - let alone the nuggets."
(Sydney
Morning Herald 1851)
"Everything
that happens in Aus/NSW first happens in California."
The
Forty-niners. http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/west/gold.htm
Gold
rush lore and modern prospecting is in some placed today a major tourism
business.
http://www.elvincountry.com/gold-prospecting-trips.html
How
to have/make a gold rush was copied more or less straight from the United
States. Hargraves and many others went to the American gold rush and
returned with knowledge of the methods involved. On his return
in 1851 Hargraves made immediate and grandiose predictions on what he'd do
here. And basically it came about much as he stated, as his
actions/promotions pushed Australia into a gold rush within the short space
of just a few months. Some of the Californian mining 'norms'
were also adopted.
A principal
desire of the government was to generate revenue from the gold
mining. A rather steep licence fee for a person to dig along a
small footage of waterway was soon introduced at the very first gold field,
Ophir, and a Gold Commissioner supported by a number of policemen was sent
to the place to begin issuing licences. Subsequently more
Assistant Gold Commissioners had to soon be appointed as new gold districts
were opened up following Ophir. The miners had no options but to
pay the fee demanded or else try to avoid being detected by the
commissioners who would daily walk or ride over the fields looking for any
newcomers with no licence. Miners at times held mass meetings over
their concerns, including the high amount they paid out for the licence fee
in order to just be active in digging for gold (regardless of how well they
did). One such meeting was held at Tambaroora. There are other
stories of some disquiet, as for Hargraves, but in general these are far
outweighed but the many mentions of the gold camps being remarkably
orderly. In Sofala in 1852 there was a brief altercation between miners and police over
the mining
licenses but it did not amount to outright rebellion. The miners caved in and
buckled under to going on with the payment of the license fee (30 shillings per month).
The attitude of free diggers, and that gold
is for the finders, would continue to cause disquiet elsewhere, and eventually armed
conflict. Gold miners at Eureka, in Victoria, finally did
revolt, and there they briefly flew an alternative Australian flag the
'Southern Cross' flag:
-
- (Click on flag for one link to history of
the Eureka flag and how it came about.)
-
- The "Eureka Stockade" was
Australia's second uprising (the first was the Battle of Vinegar hill by
convicts) and the first 'civil' uprising by free men -
essentially a short-lived revolt by gold miners against harassment by
petty officialdom and what they considered was exhorbitant government
taxation on mining activity. More information on the Eureka Stockade
can be seen at numerous websites, e.g. here
Most of the
people on the goldfields were men. A lot of them were bachelors and many did
not think the rough and ready diggings were a good place for women to
live. Yet almost from the very beginning small numbers of women went
their too, with their husbands, brothers or friends. Other women
travelled to the goldfields later on, after their husbands wrote back that
they had found enough gold to build more comfortable huts. At
early miner huts they tried to keep some hens and goats so that children would
have better food. Other women went to the goldfields lured by prospects
of high income, including prostitutes, dancers and actresses who drifted to
the goldfields. Laundresses took in the washing that men were too busy
to wash themselves. Many storekeepers were women and refreshment/liquor
tents were often run by women. The grog tents or shanties that
were often run by women were especially frequented on Saturday nights.
They sometimes proclaimed themselves as "coffee shops" in the hope
of escaping the attention of the law.
A
"Coffee Tent", 185?, by Samuel Thomas Gill (Coloured
lithograph DL Q85/63/17)
"At
these places unwary Diggers get plundered of their Gold and also where Grog is
sold."
So
many children went to the goldfields with their parents that by December 1852
there were estimated to be 12000 children on the Victorian diggings.
Although there were efforts to establish school tents, many of them were
destined to spend their childhood helping parents search for gold.
Children carried fire wood, looked after the tent or hut, cared for the
horses, and in their spare time fossicked among the ‘tailings’ of
left-over gravel and sand. The older children were usually expected to
work as hard as any adult. Schooling gradually improved. Teachers,
like others on the goldfields, lived in tents. If a goldfield
became well established and diggers stayed there for several years, more
permanent or lasting schools could be organised. Some gold rush
places developed into villages and towns; others just faded away again.
Gold prospectors that Pitman
photographed; top at 7 miles NW of Murrumburrah, bottom at Jawbone deep lead (80
ft sinking).
The
Jawbone lead is near Bodangora and possibly derived its gold from the main
reef or other veins nearby.
. (Photos: E.F.
Pitman)
Prospectors near Ironbarks (Stuart
Town) in 1871. (Photo: Mines Departments)
Pitman
published his compilation on the NSW mineral resources in 1901, in advance of
plans for the Geological Survey (Department of Mines) to publish "in the
near future" a detailed description of each gold field accompanied by a
geological map. Pitman probably began the work of collecting
information on the mineral resources some years previously, but the photos of
prospectors which he took would be some time around 1900. The
"Gold Rush" was already long past when Pitman began surveying it,
and the prospectors of Pitman's time would not have been fired with quite the
same 'gold fever' as the thousands who poured west in the 1850s.
Nevertheless smaller rushes did continue on into the early 1900s.
As
the photos show, features of small scale prospecting/mining include
that:
-
Living was in tents.
-
Men worked together in groups for company or cooperation.
- The commonest method of raising the dirt was by windlass.
-
Crude shelter over shafts was effected with framework of bush poles topped
either with canvas or leafy branches.
Dredging
Garland's
No. 1 dredge on the Macquarie River. (Photo: E.F.
Pitman)
The
pioneer gold dredge of New South Wales was built on the Macquarie River by Mr
C.L. Garland.
The
present writer has worked at the Mining Museum, in Sydney, with
"Blue" Garland who has been a writer on gold prospecting and is
perhaps a descendant. 'Blue' (H.K. Garland) wrote a 1983 book on
gold prospecting and gold dredging, as well as other books.
Garland's
first dredge was on a 100 ft pontoon and had 75 HP of steam power supplied by
three steam engines. The main engine was for moving the buckets
chain, the second for working the winch, and the third was solely to provide
electric lighting. The dredging began in 1899 on the river near
Muckerawa (nr Stuart Town). This dredge could shift boulders up to
one ton in weight. The elevator at the rear of the dredge would
stack the coarse boulders up to 25ft high above water level. The
dredge could excavate the river sediment to 40ft depth below water
level. Gold was recovered at ten inclined sixteen feet long tables, with
the aid of "cocoanut matting".
Gold
dredging was done at various places along the Macquarie River and between 1899 and 1914
also on the Turon River. The short-lived Sofala Gold Dredging
Co. treated 18,000 cubic yards of wash which yielded 84 ounces of gold.
The last large dredge to work was a little upstream of Wellington.
Besides gold it yielded a small quantity of industrial grade diamonds.
PRINTED REFERENCES
Bartlett, Rob,
1999. First Gold - Ophir N.S.W. Orange Family History Group.
(contact: newrecruits@ozemail.com.au)
Branagan,
D., 1995. Kenneth Roderick Glasson. Pp. xi-xx,
in Mineral Search in the South-West Pacific Region: A Memorial to Ken
Glasson, the Eighth Edgeworth David Day Symposium, Sydney, September
1995. Editors R.A. Facer and D.F. Branagan. Edgeworth
David Society, Victoria: Conference Publications,
Springwood. 162 pp.
Burton,
G, 2001. A geological investigation of the Ophir Reserve, Orange
area. Geological Survey of NSW. GS2001/422
Cook,
Kerrin Margaret, 1995. Lucknow : a veritable goldmine. Orange
City Council. Local history series No. 2. 165 pp.
Darbyshire,
J. and Sayers, G.E., 1971. Old Gold Towns of New South Wales.
Rigby Ltd.
Dyson,
R.,1985. Report on investigations carried out on the Ophir Gold Prospect, New
South Wales June to July 1985, Placer Pacific Pty Ltd. Report No.
55/85. Geological Survey of New South Wales, File GS1985/305
(unpublished).
Glasson, K. R.,
1988. The Contribution of Mining Companies in Relation to Mine Mapping and
Geological Surveys, in Edgeworth David Day Symposium: Geological Mapping of Two
Southern Continents: the Geological Mapping of Australia - From David to
1:50000; the Geology of Antarctica-Exploration to Exploitation. Edited by
D. F. Branagan; G. S. Gibbons and K. S. Williams (Sydney: Edgeworth David
Society), pp. 67-79..
Glasson,
W.R., 1933. Early Western Glimpses.
Glasson,
W.R., 1935. The romance of Ophir: the discovery of Australia's first payable
gold, Leader, Orange.
Glasson,
W.R., 1944. Australia's first goldfield, Australasian Medical
Publishing Co., Sydney.
Higgins,
Matthew, 1990. Gold and water: a history of Sofala and the Turon
goldfield. Robstar, distributed by Timothy Carter Public Relations,
Bathurst, NSW.
Hodge.
A.H., 1964. The Hill End Story. Vols. I,II,III.
Hodge,
B., 1976. Valleys of Gold. 64 pp. Penshurst, N.S.W.
Cambaroora Star Publications.
Hodge,
B., 1977. Frontiers of gold. 287 pp. Penshurst,
N.S.W. Cambaroora Star Publications.
Hodge,
B., 1988. Touring Hill End. 24pp. Penshurst, N.S.W.
Cambaroora Star Publications.
Hodge,
B. (Ed.), 1988. Remembered with pride : the
recollections of an Australian gold-digger / by Mark J. Hammond.
Penshurst, N.S.W. : Cambaroora Star Publications, and Ashfield Municipal
Council. 287 pp.
Hodge,
B., 2003. Major controversies of the Australian goldrush :
contenders, pretenders and prevaricators. 85 pp. Penshurst,
N.S.W. : Cambaroora Star Publications.
Hodge,
C., 1983. 'Goldrush Australia',
in Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. 69, part 3,
December 1983, pp. 161-78.
Kenny,
E.J., 1924. Gold. Department of Mines,
Geological Survey, , Bulletin No. 7. Alfred James Kent, Sydney.
Keesing,
Nancy, (Ed.), 1967. Gold fever: voices from Australian goldfields.
Angus & Robertson. 412 pp.
Keesing,
Nancy, (Ed.), 1976. History of the Australian gold rushes / by those
who were there. [Previously published as ' Gold fever: voices from
Australian goldfields']. Angus & Robertson. 412 pp.
[Also reprinted 1981].
Legislative
Assembly, New South Wales, Second Session 1891; Report from the Select
Committee on 'Claims of William Tom, James Tom, and J.H.A. Lister, as the
first discoverers of gold in Australia' together with the Proceeding of the
Committee; Ordered by the Legislative Assembly to be printed, 2 September,
1891.
Mc
Burney, Yvonne, 1982. Road to Byng. Strathfield NSW,
ISBN 0 908053 18 5
Peach,
Bill, 1983. Bill Peach's GOLD. ABC Books, Macmillan Co.
192 pp.
Pitman,
Edward, 1901. The Mineral Resources of New South Wales. Mines
Department. NSW Government Printer, Sydney. 559 pp.
(NB:
http://www.archive.org/stream/mineralresource17unkngoog/mineralresource17unkngoog_djvu.txt
- Pitman 1901 has been rendered into digital copy by Google.
(
- NB: Pitman's 1901 section on gold is also reprinted in Kenny, 1924 -
http://ozhistorymine.com/html/kenny__gold.html
url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fozhistorymine.com%2Fhtml%2Fkenny__gold.html&ei=
2f4OTJ7NNpWXkQXz8PD3Cw&usg=AFQjCNHZ1k0vsfWXFEKTYQyICuvUEjguaQ
)
Ramsay
Silver,
Lynette, 1986. A Fool's Gold. Jacananda Press, Sydney.
Ramsay
Silver,
Lynette, 2001. The great gold scam. The mystery of the
disappearing gold nuggets. Australasian Coin and Banknote
Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 10, May 2001. Pp. 17-19.
Rule, John.
Sofala days and Turonites. [Available at Prospector's Home,
Granville, NSW]
Rule, John
and Truu Liina, 1978. The Cornish Settlement. National
Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0-9595902-0-X
Printed by Mintis Pty. Ltd., (Rear) 417 Burwood Rd., Belmore, N.S.W Australia.
[Also at http://www.zentus.com/tomlister/cornishframe.htm
]
Rule,
John, 1979. The Cradle of a Nation. The truth abour Ophir's
gold discovery in 1851. ISBN 0 9595902 1 8 [Self published manuscript inscribed 'Available
from Mr. J. Rule, P.O. Box 112, Yagoona, N.S.W. 2199]. (See in
part at http://www.zentus.com/tomlister/captainlisterframe.htm
Stephens,
B.P.J., 1975. A metallogenic study of the Bathurst 1:250,000
sheet. Mines Department. NSW Government Printer. 108
pp.
Warren,
J., 1903. Reminescences of Broken Hill. Transactions of the
Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers. Vol. 9, pp. 1-29.
MORE
references - http://www.lachlanhunter.deadsetfreestuff.com/mining-history-biblio.htm
A FEW WEB SITES
Finding
people and records from the early goldfields:
See
Teapot Genealogy - http://www.teapotgenealogy.com
They offer a
CD/book, Gold
Receipts 1852-55 and Gold Delivered 1852-1856, which covers two separate
sets of records:
1)
Index to Gold Receipts per Escorts 1852-55, State Records [4/46-49] NRS 14339;
and
2)
Registers of Gold Delivered 1852-1856, State Records [4/50-54] NRS 14340.
Please
note that these records are also available on Index
to Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Gold Fields NSW Volumes 1-5.
Click
here for more details.
The
Aussie Gold Prospector,
by Dan =
http://users.tpg.com.au/dtdan/index.htm
Dan
panning |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
History
Hill , 3458
Bathurst Road , Hill End NSW 2850 = http://www.historyhill.com.au/gold_history.html
The
Discovery of Payable Gold in New South Wales =
http://www.zentus.com/tomlister/goldtext.htm
http://www.finders.com.au/index.php
|
Finders Forum
The No1 meeting place for all those with an interest in GOLD.
First
Launched in January 1997
Finders
Golden Pages
Still
the Internet's leading Gold Information Site
"Since
the initial launch of this website on the 17th. of January 1997
which established Finders Golden Pages as the first Australian
internet on line Gold/Gold Prospecting site, Finders has always
been the most visited Australian gold site by those seeking
information about gold and gold prospecting, also since this
initial launch date. Finders Forum has been regarded by both
serious and amateur gold prospectors alike as the place to
meet."
|
,
who needs outdated books eh! oooh I feel the flames already!