Historical Mt Egerton - Fabulous Wealth and Racism
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| Remains of the Black Horse Mine - Reserve Rd Mt Egerton |
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| St Francis Xavier School - Mt Egerton |
Mount Egerton is a rural village 80 km
north-west of Melbourne, about 10 km south of the Western Freeway. The nearest
town is Gordon, a few kilometres to the north.
The mount was named after Charles Egerton,
the owner of a pastoral property in the area.
In 1853 gold was discovered at Mount Egerton,
and a reef was found to extend to the summit of the mount. Rich alluvial gold
was also found in the All-Nations gully. A school was opened in 1856, a
Catholic church in 1868, and by the next decade there were also Wesleyan,
Anglican and Presbyterian churches. There was also a mechanics' institute and a
hotel or hotels, the number varying with the goldfield population.
The country around Mount Egerton is
undulating and suited to grazing, ensuring a population not solely reliant on
mining. Further south-west the land is hilly, enclosing the catchment for the
Lal Lal reservoir.
The Black Horse and Mount Egerton mining
companies worked the reef from 1865 until 1910. Mount Egerton was described in
the Australian handbook, 1903:
After the closure of the mines Mount Egerton relied on farming and a kaolin mine. In the 1980s it gained a tourist attraction with the Yuulong lavender farm. The township has a school (12 pupils, 2014), an oval, a general store, a Uniting church and a public hall. There is a formed road to the summit of the Mount.
Mining for gold was again carried out at
Mount Egerton until 2005 when the town's progress association complained about
the lack of adherence to the 100-metre buffer zone protecting the community
from mining activity.
Source :Mount Egerton | Victorian Places
Bacchus Marsh Express (Vic.: 1866 - 1943), Saturday 11 May
1878, page 3
Last October some malignant person or persons attempted to burn
one of the costly quicksilver cradles used by the Chinamen for extracting gold
from the sand discharged from the Egerton Company's battery; but through the
watchfulness and exertions of the busy workers on that occasion, the cradle
escaped damage. For some time after a watch was set, but as month alter month
passed away without further annoyance the Chinese cradlers were lulled into a
state of security, from which they were rudely awakened last Wednesday morning,
when they went to resume their ordinary daily toil, by finding as on the former
occasion, the bough shed constructed over the very same cradle had been fired
during the night, and that the burning debris, falling upon the cradle beneath,
had destroyed the hopper, quicksilver slides and lining, besides seriously
damaging the bottom ; in all inflicting damage that will cost from £6 to £7 to
repair, the original cradle being worth about £20. Information was given to the
police, bat unfortunately there is no clue by which to track the dastardly
ruffians who have thus caused serious loss both of time and money, to an
honest, persevering, and inoffensive company of Chinese, who have offered to
pay a reward of £10 for the conviction of their persecutors.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE BLACK HORSE MINE, EGERTON.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Wednesday.
Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), Thursday 7 June
1883, page 3
At the No. 5 level of the No. 2 shaft of the Black Horse United Company, at Egerton, a fatal as well as a serious accident occurred about 8 o’clock this morning. It appears that a winze was being sunk down from this level through stone, and a rise was being put up from below to meet it. A very large charge of powder had been put in and exploded in the bottom of the winze, with the idea of breaking through by the retiring shift, one of whom, named James Burke, without waiting for the smoke to clear out, unknown to his mates, went down to see what had been the effects of the shot before leaving. Being missed, one of the relieving shift, a married man named Robert Walker (son-in-law of Mr Willis, news agent), went to the winze, and hearing Burke groaning below, regardless of consequences to himself, descended at once to rescue him from his perilous position, but the foul air that had overcome Burke prostrated Walker also. He, however, had been seen to descend by one of the party named W. Coghlan, by whom assistance was obtained, and when the noxious fumes had been partially dissipated, both the unfortunate men were brought to the surface, and in the absence of Dr Cullinan, Dr. Barnett by unremitting exertions under his directions succeeded in restoring natural respiration to Burke, who will probably get all right again, but in Walker’s case, all efforts were in vain; he had lost his life in striving to save that of another man. He leaves a young widow and two children besides a large circle of friends to mourn his untimely death.
BLACK HORSE MINE CLOSED DOWN.
A FAMOUS GOLD PRODUCER.
Ballarat Star (Vic.: 1865 - 1924), Monday 25
November 1907, page 4
After being worked for the past 50 years, the
Black Horse United Company has suspended operations.
Some
50 years ago, when quartz mining was first commenced here, the ore; was treated
with the old Chilian Mills*, but since then up-to-date methods of treating have
been brought about: the claims have first-class plants and every convenience.
The mines have been amongst the best dividend paying companies in Australia.
The Black Horse has paid £183.000 in dividends, the old Egerton Quarry Shaft
paid £750,000 in dividends, and in the new Egerton shaft £22.000 in dividends
was paid in six months. From the Rose and Sister Rose shafts - upwards of
£l,000,000 worth of gold was taken out. In the Rose shaft, 1200 oz of gold a
week was taken out for a period of 12 years; and in the Sister Rose shaft 500
oz of gold per week was taken out for six years. —About five years ago the
Black Horse United and Egerton Companies amalgamated. It is 15 years since' a
dividend was paid in the Egerton mines and about 12 years since the Black Horse
was on the dividend paying list, and during this long period the shareholders
have been paying calls all the time. During this long period tributers worked
the mine shafts with good results, which enabled the company to do a lot of
prospecting work. When those mines were in full swing the pay-sheet used to
amount to over £1000 per fortnight. Since the Black Horse United Company took
over the Egerton property, a lot of the prospecting work has been confined to
the eastern ground, and at a distance of 600 feet east they passed through a
dyke formation, carrying a fair percentage of native copper, including heavy
copper sulphides in places, and this may yet be worked with good results, as
very little work has been done on it to prove its values. Some of the assays
taken out were highly payable. This only means raising the necessary capital to
re-open the old mines to prove the. deeper ground, and also the copper lode
mentioned m the eastern ground where it has been met with at the 870 feet and
1060 feet in the Egerton shaft. About 10 months ago the company left the old
Black Horse shaft to work the North Black Horse. They cleaned out the. old
shaft 300 feet, and sunk it a further 200 feet, and have since done a lot of
driving, but were unable to strike payable stone. The men have all been put
off, and work at the mine is suspended, pending the decision of the director
SALE OF
BLACK HORSE MINE.
EGERTON,
Wednesday.
Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Thursday 23 January
1908, page 6
The sale
of the mine and plant of the famous Black Horse United company was commissioned
todav. There was a large attendance of buyers from Ballarat, Melbourne and
Bendigo present. The whole of the leases and plant were put up in one lot, and
after some spirited bidding were knocked down to Messrs. Miller and Co., of
Ballarat, at £3350. This firm immediately instructed the auctioneers to sell the
lot as catalogued separately. The right to fossick under the old Black Horse
battery, where many thousands of ounces of gold have been collected from the
crushing, was knocked down to Ah Ket for £40. The leases, which comprise some
333 acres, were sold to Messrs. J. W. Glover and Co. for '£110. The sale will be continued tomorrow.
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