Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and Surrounds
Chewton is a rural township in the Castlemaine goldfields area. It has Victoria’s longest operating gold mine at Wattle Gully. Situated on the Pyrenees Highway and the Bendigo railway line, Chewton is 4 km east of Castlemaine. There is nearly unbroken urban settlement from Chewton to Castlemaine, backed by goldfields heritage parks.
Forest Creek flows from Chewton to Castlemaine, and it was a rich source of alluvial gold shortly after discoveries in 1851. Chewton, first known as Forest Creek, is thought to have been renamed after Lord Chewton, an acquaintance of Lady Castlemaine. (The township of Castlemaine, however, was named after the place of that name in Ireland).
From an initial canvas town Chewton acquired a brick and timber township along the curved main road or Pyrenees Highway, which followed the less hilly contours between the ranges which rise to its north and south. Several of the buildings from the 1860s and 1870s remain, hugging the relatively narrow main road. During the 1860s Chewton had a busy commercial sector, with a court, a mining survey office, two banks, 14 hotels, butchers, grocers and blacksmiths. Ten quartz crushing mills served the local mines. The township had been proclaimed a borough in December 1860, governing an area of 5760 acres (23 sq km).
Churches and schools were established by the early 1860s: Episcopal church (1857) and school (1859), Wesleyan church (1857) and school (1855) and Independent and Primitive Methodist churches in 1857 and 1861. The government school (1877) replaced the church schools. In 1875 the Australian handbook described Chewton:
By then Chewton’s population was declining, despite the optimism expressed in the handbook’s remarks on mining. Sluicing operations yielded good returns for another two decades, but Castlemaine’s commercial and administrative services overshadowed Chewton’s. Chewton was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:
Apart from mining Chewton kept only one other large industry, a tannery, which operated until about 1914. Between 1900 and 1920 Chewton’s population fell by more than one half to about 500 people. When the borough was created there had been over 3000 people, and on 2 May 1916, it was united with Metcalfe shire.
Chewton has a large stock of historic buildings, brought about by their original stone or brick construction and by the absence of redevelopment in a slowly declining town. A heritage study in 1994 identified over 45 sites, ranging from ones worthy of note to ones qualified for inclusion on historic buildings registers. They included railway structures, churches, old shops, civic buildings and cottages. The Victorian Heritage Register lists the former town hall (1861), the former post office (1879) and the Garfield water-wheel base (1887), built for a 222 bucket, a twenty-two metre diameter timber wheel for a gold mine.
Many of the historic sites straggle along the winding linear main road, interspersed with gravelly and up-turned mining land. Red Hill, near the middle of the town, was a rich gold field.
Chewton has several shops, a hotel (1854), sport and recreational facilities, a swimming pool (reopened by the community in 2011), two churches, a school with 39 pupils (2014), and the Wattle Gully gold mine about 1 km south of the town. The Chewton community has an active historic and heritage group which documents and agitates for preservation of buildings and mining relics. There is a weekly community market at Wesley Hill, 2 km west of Chewton.
About 3 km to the north is the Expedition Pass reservoir. The pass was named by the New South Wales Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell on his homeward journey in 1836 from Australia Felix in Victoria’s Western District. The pass is marked by a monument, and is near Golden Point, a rich gold-mining locality of the 1850s.
Chewton’s census populations have been:
Copyright © Victorian Places, 2015. All rights reserved.
Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856), Thursday 26 February 1852, page 2
FOREST CREEK DIGGINGS. (From our own Correspondent.) 21st Feb., 1852. Ever since these diggings began the opinion has been repeated, ad nauseam, that t!hey must stop very shortly for want of water, not only for gold washing, but even for sustaining life. Your corres-pondent among others, has been thus de ceived, but the indomitable perseverance and energy of the diggers triumph over every obstacle; if one hole dries up they sink it deeper; that gone, they sink an other, and it is a fact that there is more arailable water at most parts of the creek now, tnan a month ago; one flat about a quarter of a mile below the Post Office is exceedingly well adapted for water holes - many of them furnish better water for drinking than the Barwon or the Yarra. Operations go on steadily, some stick to the old spots, Golden Point has now about a hundred votaries, some of whom depend entirely on "fossicking" in de-serted holes, -the discovery of a parti-tion, yet undermined is sometimes quite a lucky hit, often several tons of loose top stuff has to to be removed before it is discovered that the ground has been all dug up and swept clean down to the slate or trap. but even in this case their exer-tions cease not, for it is well known that wherever there is a crack or chink in the trap, it is worth removing ; heavy gold is often found in such places, the best part of the celebrated Golden Gully at Fryer's Creek is now being gone over again for this purpose
A considerable number are still at wok succesnfully in the Adelaide and other favorite gullies running into Forest Creek, but the most fashionable ' pitches' are now holes sunk from the.sides and tops of hills, there is the Red Hill. near the Post Office, and the White Hill, (so called from the colour of the stuff exca rated) about a mile farther down, oppo site Montgomery's store; in this last. hill the gold is found at twelve to twenty five feet below the surface diffused in a mixture of sharp white saul (quartz?) and pipeclay, which has a clarifing pro-perty, and turns muddy water clear. The Commissioner, Mr Armstrong,has lately removed his tents two miles lower down to the junction of Forest and Barker's Creeks, where there is plenty of water for all purposes: the Lodden at its junction with Forest Creek is scarcely running, but still plenty of water in all parts ; six weeks ago the fresh water cod might be caught in its deepest holes, hut I trust for their own comfort they have beat a timely retreat to the Murray, those that remain will be found by some future geologist embedded in a stratum of cradle washings. New comers are continually arriving and generally go to work with more spirit than old hands; by digging holes haphazard, they hare actually found out good places, cue is already christened " New Chum Gully." A nugget weighing over 100 oz is now at the Commissioaer's tent, said to have been found by a boy surfacing on the rise above Adelaide Gully. There are sad tales of robberies and murders about Fryar's Creek, but such accounts must be believed sparingly ; I do not mean that such have not occurred, but not nearly to the extent reported:; in this lccality we are well behaved : the stcry of a man being thrown into a water-hole and drowned for stealing, ori ginated- in a most bloodless contest be tween a sailor and a Chinese; the merits of their quarrel I cannot state, but public opinion favours the sailor, who threw his antagonist into a water-hole, without hurting him, and bore off his pigtail as a trophy of victory ! The general tenor of public opinion in Melbourne and Geelong, regarding the outrages at the various diggings, and the ruinous state of society there pre-vailing is wrong, and I think that the Geelong Advertiser. as well as the Mel bourne press, places too much reliance on common report. When a credible person reports any outrage committed within his own knowledge, I believe it; but I can assure aspiring diggers, who hesitate to come up because of these reports, that it is quite possible to live for weeks on the very ground where these crimes are said to have been committed, without knowing anything of them till he reads the accunt in the newspapers. A good deal lies in prudent personal conduct; any one who runs out of his tent, and joins a blackguard crowd, to see a fight, must not be surprised if his tent is sacked, or himself hustled and robbed in the melee; such doings are not peculiar to the diggings. Enough, and perhaps too much has ap peared in all the papers, about the in-eficiency of the Executive in preserving order: many of the charges must be true; but my own experience does not corrobo-rate the general opinion of their want of sympathy with the diggers. I have seen them applied to to settle disputes about claims, and in every case the greatest promptitude and the greatest fairness was shown in settling the dispute and pre-serving order. There are two sins of omission; how-ver, on which I must remark, and which I would earnestly urge on the Govern-ment to attend to. First, they ought not to allow sheep and cattle to be be killed, and their offal to lie exposed. in the popu-Ious parts of the creek. It would be easy to assign certain localities in the different gullies adjoining, for such pur-poses, and very easy to enforce such regulations, making it at the same time imperative that the offal he buried. The second neglect which I would point out is, that no Post-office has been established on the ground: there ought at least to be three - one at Forest Cree!k, one at the Commissioner's Tent on the Loddon, and one at Bendigo Creek. It is true that Mr. Howard partially supplied the want by establishing a private mail from Kyneton to Forest Creek; but this arrangement invrolves double Postage, both in sending and receiving letters, and as to rnewspapers they are only sometimes brought. I am not vain enough to suppose that the Executive will attend to either of these matters, on the recommendation of an anonymous correspondent; but I trust that many weeks will not pass without something being done: the one affects the BODILY, and the other the MENTAL health of the digging population; and, as a matter of justice, Government can not consistently continue expensive lines of mail comnmunication to districts very sparely populated, and neglect those parts of the country which can tell up their thousands per square mile.
Garfield Water Wheel
‘About 800 yards have been excavated for the wheel, and two heavy stone walls have been raised to a height of 35 feet, carrying a water wheel 70 feet in diameter. The water wheel, which appears to be a splendid piece of workmanship, has been put in position.... With cog gearing resting on massive wooden horses.' - Mount Alexander Mail, 3 March 1887.
The richness of the Mount Alexander and Bendigo goldfields led the Victorian Government to build the Melbourne to Bendigo railway and an extensive water supply scheme.
This system brought water from the Coliban River, through hundreds of miles of open channels, to the parched goldfields of Bendigo and Castlemaine. At Chewton, a gold mining company used Coliban water to turn a giant waterwheel to power its quartz crushing mill.
In 1887, when it was constructed, the Garfield Waterwheel was hailed as the largest waterwheel in the southern hemisphere. Built of timber, the 72-foot diameter wheel could be seen for miles around. For 24 hours a day, the racket of the 15 head ore-crushing battery powered by the wheel could be heard in Castlemaine - except on Sundays when all work on the goldfields stopped.
Kerang Times and Swan Hill Gazette (Vic.: 1877 - 1889), Friday 22 April 1887, page 1
Immense Water Wheel at Chewton.
According to the M. A. Mail, the most novel and conspicuous object to be seen by a traveller along the main road at Chewton is the large waterwheel of the Garfield Co. It rises from among the hills, lying away back towards the north, apparently to a towering height, in which there is no delusion, for its diameter is 70ft, and its height but 16ft less than the tower at the Post-office. Upon approaching near it, a visitor is struck by its aerial appearance, its long thin arms, its small width, 2ft 1 in, and the lightness of the whole structure. The timber used in its construction is soft wood, which being painted light blue, with three bands of binding iron painted black, thus making a striking contrast in colour, and further adds to the airiness of its appearance. In accordance with the design of combining lightness with strength, the buckets fixed on the wheel, 19½ in wide, are made of galvanised iron. There will thus be little waste of power in put ting, into motion this huge wheel, but had the material of its construction been heavy, then the difference would be so much to be deducted from the effective working power transmitted to the machinery. But, though everything above the surface has this fragile appearance great solidity is observable in the strong walls of heavy stones raised to the requisite height for carrying the water wheel. Upon the wheel are gearing for setting in motion a battery of 15 head stampers that are being erected in a battery-house, which is nearly completed. What looks a small forest of timber has been used for carrying the fluming, 15 inches wide by 10 inches deep, a length of 786 feet from the branch race to where the water is delivered at the wheel, several feet below the summit. The process of starting the wheel is by letting water enter the buckets at the middle, and the motion is affected then the supply is turned on above. At any moment the water can be cut off from the flume before it reaches the point of delivery, so the stoppage of the machinery can thus be affected. A tramway of 500 feet in length leads from the shaft to the battery, but this long travel was unavoidable for securing solid ground, and having the water taken from the point most advantageous. After Easter, work is to be commenced, and it will be a matter of great interest to see the huge wheel put in motion, and to ascertain if it has the working power estimated. It is unlike other wheels that have been tried in the district as respects height and narrowness. To be kept going for the 24 hours, it should require about five million gallons of water weekly, but this water will not run to waste, but will be convoyed by flumes to the Manchester, and will command the Enterprise at Sailor's Gully. Providing expectations are realized this should be the most productive conjunction of companies in the district. It is believed that quartz yielding no more than 1dwt can be made payable, which amounts to almost a revolution in mining. If such poor stone can be sent to the battery instead of being discarded, then there is always the chance of rich patches swelling the returns and dividends. The Bendigo and Fryers Co at Mopoke are having a waterwheel, about 60ft in diameter, erected on the same principle as the Garfield. It is an excellent piece of workmanship, and should prove satisfactory, in that vicinity there is an immense quantity of quartz easily procured that should pay for being carted and crushed at this battery. If the trial of these water wheels proves them to have the working power estimated this will reduce the cost of crushing materially. Then arrangements can be entered into for having the water used twice or thrice before it is allowed to run away unutilised.
History of The Welsh Village
The Welsh
Village is located in Golden Gully, which is one of a series of small gullies
near Castlemaine that yielded large quantities of gold during the Australian
gold rush. The region in which the settlement was established was originally
known as the Mount Alexander Goldfields but from 1852 it was referred to as the
Forest Creek Goldfields (Baragwanath 1903:8). The Welsh Village appears to be a
recent title given to the settlement, although the Welsh nationality of its
early inhabitants is supported by contemporary documentation (Mount
Alexander Mail 1 October 1858).
The history
of the settlement is inextricably linked to the nearby mining activities but,
without conclusive documentary evidence, it is difficult to place a precise
date on the origins of the settlement. Early maps give little indication of
dwellings in the area. However, the 1864 rate book for the Borough of Chewton
contains 17 entries for Golden Gully, indicating that the gully was inhabited
at this time. The stone from which the remains are made appears to have come from
subterranean mining, so their construction would probably coincide with these
operations. A relative date of 1850 to the mid-1880s was assigned to the
structures in a survey conducted on behalf of the Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources (Bannear 1993:34) and this is consistent with the
documentary and physical evidence.
Mineral
extraction was centred on the Nimrod anticline, from which very rich, shallow
alluvial deposits and quartz reef gold were worked from 1854 (Dickinson
1941:225). An 1859 Department of Mines map shows that a number of claims were
included within twenty acres held by the Nimrod Reef Mining Company in Golden
Gully and the structural remains of the village are located within this area.
The early
claim holders made a large open cut near the crest of Nimrod Hill to work the
shallow bodies of quartz (Dickinson 1941:225-227). From 1861, when these
deposits were thought to have been exhausted, a number of small companies
formed by the claim holders began to work the deeper lodes on the reef but met
with only moderate success. As deeper shafts were sunk, water became a major
problem. Falling returns and expenditure on drainage machinery eventually took
their toll and work on the main shaft became increasingly intermittent (Baragwanath
1903:8-9). In 1888, the Crown Nimrod, which had operated as a co-operative
company since 1875, was purchased by a Melbourne syndicate (Crown Nimrod Quartz
Mining Company Lease 23 February 1888: Victorian Government Gazette 24
February 1888). Torrential rains at the start of 1889 added to the sub-surface
problems and mining virtually ceased (Mining Surveyors' Report 31 December
1889). claim holders began to work the deeper lodes on the reef but met with
only moderate success. As deeper shafts were sunk, water became a major
problem. Falling returns and expenditure on drainage machinery eventually took
their toll and work on the main shaft became increasingly intermittent
(Baragwanath 1903:8-9). In 1888, the Crown Nimrod, which had operated as a
co-operative company since 1875, was purchased by a Melbourne syndicate (Crown
Nimrod Quartz Mining Company Lease 23 February 1888; Victorian Government
Gazette 24 February 1888). Torrential rains at the start of 1889 added to
the sub-surface problems and mining virtually ceased (Mining Surveyors' Report
31 December 1889). Subsequent efforts to operate the mine were not economically
viable and by 1896 all mining activity at the main shaft was abandoned
(Dickinson 1941:225-227). Spasmodic mining along the reef continued into the
twentieth century (Bannear and Annear 1989:13) but the boom era of mining at
the Nimrod had ended.
The Cultural Landscape
As a result of settlement and mining, most of the topsoil that once covered the location has given way to a bare, rocky surface that supports an open eucalypt woodland with a sparse undergrowth of native grasses and small shrubs, such as acacias. A small water course known as Golden Creek winds along the gully floor but the flow of water is negligible. The vestiges of the settlement are mainly located on the lower levels of the gully, although remnants of mining activities can be encountered along the tracks that descend into Golden Gully. Remnants of an earthen road passing through the northern end of the settlement allows access from the east and west, but the most common means of entry is a small track leading from the open-cut mining area.
AUSTRALASIAN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. 16. 1998 Valerie Hill FULL REPORT
Expedition Pass
Mount Alexander Mail (Vic.: 1854 - 1917), Monday 10 November 1913, page 2
MEMORIAL TO MAJOR MITCHELL
MEMORIAL TO BE ERECTED AT EXPEDITION PASS.
Recently the Faraday School Committee gave consideration to the question of erecting a memorial at Expedition Pass to Major Mitchell, the noted explorer, who, it may be mentioned, named Mount Alexander and Mount Macedon, and it was on account of Major Mitchell and his party passing through Faraday in 1836 that the pass was named Expedition Pass. The Committee decided that the erection of a memorial was a district matter, and convened a conference of bodies interested, and it was held in the School of Mines on Saturday afternoon...................
 |
| Expedition Pass Reservoir - Goldfields Guide |
Faraday School Kidnapping
Just north of the Expedition Reservoir is the town of Faraday
read the story of the kidnappings here: Wikipedia
CASTLEMAINE SLATE
Most weeks, Peter Fleming hauls three cubic metres of Castlemaine slate out of the deep quarry where he has worked for 34 years. Sometimes, he strategically drills holes into the ground, deposits explosives, sets the fuse, and retreats to safety.The explosion is more thump than thunder, but the gorgeous rock extracted is a pleasure to behold. “And it always looks better away from the quarry, when it is laid and cleaned,” Peter says.
Castlemaine slate, boasting golden earthy hues, is much sought by architects and landscapers, especially those keen on using local products with enormous character. Three cubic metres weekly, though, was not enough for the new RACV Cape Schanck Resort: builders needed about 20 cubic metres a week for the drystone walls and paving, so production was ramped up, bringing in 900 cubic metres over 14 months.The quarry outside Castlemaine where Peter works has been going since 1953, starting as the Maltby family business but changing hands to Yarrabee & Castlemaine in 2005. It is the only site where Castlemaine slate can be sourced. Local quarries such as Mount Granite at Harcourt or the Pyrenees Quarry specialise in other stone. Castlemaine slate is special, coming from a 35-kilometre-long seam. Geologist Clive Willman says this was created when the molten precursor to the adjacent solid granite pushed its way up from the lower crust. At many hundreds of degrees, it baked everything for a radius of 1.3 kilometres, particularly the mudstone and sandstone that form the bedrock around Castlemaine, turning the mudrock to the special, hard slate.
The History of Castlemaine (including Barkers Creek)
Famous and historic goldmining town
Castlemaine is a name which is
probably familiar to most Australians even though relatively few may have
visited the former goldmining settlement. The reason being that the town was
the original home of Castlemaine XXXX. In fact, it is a town with an
interesting history and a number of attractions, including some fine heritage
buildings along its wide streets, a very good botanic garden (it is one of the
state's oldest) and numerous outstanding private gardens which are revealed
biennially during the Festival of Gardens. It also has a surprisingly high
profile for the arts, being home to a number of artists and boasting one of
Victoria's best provincial art galleries.
Castlemaine is located
amidst low red hills at the confluence of Barkers, Campbells and Forest Creeks,
119 km north-west of Melbourne via the Calder Highway and 39 km south of Bendigo at
an elevation of 280 metres. Once a goldmining settlement, it is now a
substantial industrial centre in a fruit-growing and farming area. The present
population is about 7600.
Prior to European
occupation the area was occupied by the Jajowurrong tribe. The first known white
men on the townsite were the party of Major Mitchell during his Australia Felix
expedition of 1836.
Squatters followed in
Mitchell's wake owing to his favourable reports and droughts in NSW. Thus, in
1841 the 'Mount Alexander' pastoral run had been established by William Barker.
It was named after the granite outcrop which looms high above the horizon to
the north-east of Castlemaine.
It was on this property, in
July 1851, that one of Barker's shepherds found gold at Specimen Gully (5 km
north-east of Castlemaine). Soon all of the area's streams were being scoured
by a rag-tag army of hopefuls from all over the world.
Gold Commissioner Wright
established a camp on the present townsite at the confluence of Forest and
Barkers Creeks (the site is known today as Camp Reserve) . It briefly served as
the administrative centre for all the Central Victorian goldfields. By
mid-1852, his staff numbered 300. This camp provided the impetus for the
emergence of a settlement which served as a supply centre for the local
goldfields as they continued to spread out in all directions.
This centre was initially
known both as 'Mount Alexander' or 'Forest Creek'. However, in a way that was
familiar throughout Australia, local usage was overridden by government
officials who often favoured names honouring officials of the British
government, British nobility, British relatives, British patrons who could aid
their careers (or all four of the foregoing) and British place-names. There are
two versions relating to the naming of Castlemaine. One states that
Commissioner Wright renamed the settlement after his uncle, Viscount
Castlemaine, on whose estate in Ireland he spent part of his childhood. The
other states that Governor La Trobe named it after Castlemaine in Ireland where
he had been inspector of schools. However that may be, land was surveyed just
to the north-east of the camp in 1852 and Castlemaine was declared a town
the following year when
town allotments first went on sale.
By 1852 it is thought that
there were some 25 000 people on the Mount Alexander diggings, living in shanty
towns of canvas tents which housed stores, the first school at Castlemaine
(1852), dwellings, sly-grog shops and even an office of the Bank of NSW (also
1852). It was around this time that a local confectionary maker, T.S. Barnes,
started producing Castlemaine Rock. By 1853 Barnes was selling it from a tent
on the diggings. It is still being manufactured today by his descendants.
Having established
themselves, the residents and proprietors around the government camp were
reluctant to move to the new government survey site, particularly as it was
heavily strewn with logs and debris from the clearing process. However, in
early 1854, the gold commissioner issued an order that all of these premises be
evacuated and the shift to the area around Market Square (the new commercial
centre) gathered pace.
The kinds of grievances
which led to the Eureka Stockade in 1854 (see entry on Ballarat) were
given voice at Castlemaine on a rise which became known as Agitation Hill. An
Anglican Church was raised on this prominence in 1854. It was one of five
churches in Castlemaine by the end of that year, by which time there were also
several hotels, a brewery, numerous stores and a growing number of residences.
Brick and stone began to replace canvas and slab-timber.
In 1855 a new rush began at
North Castlemaine, along Forest Creek, and the first National School opened in
a tent with a proper building erected for that purpose the following year. In
1856 the settlement was declared a municipality and work commenced on the
present Botanical Gardens.
Many Chinese miners were
present at the diggings, particularly at Guildford. In
August 1857 about 1300 Chinese gathered at Mechanics Hill in Castlemaine to
protest a bill over increased taxation. They tended to band together in large
encampments for safety as hostility to the Chinese was overt and overwhelming
on the goldfields and there were numerous local conflicts, some of considerable
proportions. The famous but ill-fated explorer Robert O'Hara Burke, as
superintendent of police in the Castlemaine district from 1858 to 1860, would
have been involved in many such disputes. The 1861 census recorded about 5000
Chinese in the area.
The town's first flour mill
was established in 1857. It became a railway foundry in 1860 and then a portion
was used by Cobb & Co as a coach factory and farriery establishment from
1864. Edward Fitzgerald also opened the first Castlemaine brewery in 1857 (he
moved his operations to Queensland in 1887). The first slate quarry was in
operation by 1859, supplying thousands of tons of flagging to Melbourne and
other cities.
Over time Castlemaine
became recognised as one of the world's richest alluvial goldfields. The yield
from the field was remarkable with a peak being achieved in 1852 when, in a
six-month period, a staggering 16 600 kg were shipped out of the district by Gold
Escort and, in 1860, the figure was still as high as 140 kg a week. By 1860
about 30 000 people were thought to reside in the Castlemaine area. The years
of prosperity saw the construction of some substantial buildings and it was
hoped that Castlemaine would prove the state's second city. The townsite then
had six banks and two newspapers. The present gaol, market building and
courthouse were built in 1861-62 and the railway line arrived in 1862.
However. the alluvial gold
soon began to peter out and the area lacked the gold-rich quartz reefs of other
centres. Thus, the population began to wane. Yet the town did not drastically
decline, due, in large part, to Castlemaine's industries. The quarry, flour
mills, railway foundry and brewery were still in operation and Yeats Metallic
Paints was established at North Castlemaine in 1868, utilising iron oxide from
the tailings. Castlemaine Woollen Company (one of the first large-scale woollen
mills in the state) and Thompson's iron and brass foundry and engineering
workshops were established in 1875. This foundry manufactured the gates of the
Botanical Gardens and the machinery for the woollen mill. It is still in
operation today. The Castlemaine Bacon Company opened in 1905 and it is now
operating as Castlemaine Traditional Smallgoods, employing 750 people.
Castlemaine was declared a city in 1965.
The Castlemaine State Festival is held biennially on the Melbourne Cup weekend in November of even-numbered years. It is a 10-day event featuring popular music, opera, dance, theatre, street performances and visual arts with local, national and international contributors. The Festival of Gardens (a showcase of local private gardens) is held biennially in November of the odd-numbered years. An art show is held on the Queen's birthday weekend in June and the Melbourne to Castlemaine Cycle Race in July.
NEWSPAPER REPORTS FEATURING DIRTY DICK
Trove Newspaper Reports compiled by Phill Grant
Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, Thursday 26th January 1845, p2
ROBBING A DRAY. Two men named Richard Lowe alias Dirty Dick and Joseph Henry were charged at the mayor’s court yesterday with having robbed a dray of a bag of sugar, on Tuesday night. Several persons were on the point of proceeding to the country with a dray containing, among other supplies, a bag of sugar; but before doing so took a parting cup with some friends on the Old Scottish Hotel, and while so employed the prisoners coming into the room, Henry asked one of the parties named Joseph Ford to accompany him to the back of the house, which he did accordingly. When Henry lifting a bag of sugar from the ground told him to put it on its back, which Ford objected to, adding “he did not do business that way.” Ford subsequently ascertaining that a bag of sugar had been missed from the dray, suspected the prisoners of having committed the theft, and going in search of them had the good fortune to fall in with Lowe, with about six pounds of sugar in his possession, wrapped up in a dirty piece of cloth, which he said he had received from the other prisoner, Henry. Both prisoners were remanded in custody till Friday.
The Melbourne Argus, Friday 13 November 1846, p2
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE
CHARGE OF RAPE – Richard Lowe, better known as Dirty Dick, was on Thursday charged with having committed a rape upon the person of an ancient dame named Ann Jones. In the course of the investigation, such absurd and contradictory statements were elicited from the prosecutrix, that the bench dismissed the case, Dirty Dick on leaving the bar, shook his finger at his withered inamorata and informed her, that should she speak to him on any future occasion he would give her into custody.
The Melbourne Argus, Tuesday 17 November, p2
EXTENSIVE THEFT. On Saturday during the match at Cricket between the “muffs” and “crack hands’ of the Melbourne Club, on the south side of the Yarra, Mr W Highett, who wore the colours of the former inadvertently threw his coat, in which was a pocket book, containing several bills of exchange, one for 500 pound, and nine one pound notes, upon the ropes of the tent, instead of placing it inside, a man having been appointed by Mr Vinge, the purveyor of refreshments to take charge of the habiliments of the players. Sometime after the coat was brought into the tent by a well-known character named “Dirty Dick”, but upon Mr Highett enduing himself therewith, he found both pocketbook and its contents missing. Through the able tact of Mr Sugden, the Chief Constable, the pocketbook and its lining, minus only the one-pound notes, was recovered on Sunday. Two parties are in custody, on suspicion of the felony.
Port Phillip Gazette and Settler’s Journal, Saturday 27 March 1947, p5
Ricard Lowe alias ‘Dirty Dick’, for being drunk and disorderly and using obscene language yesterday, fined 10 shillings. This is the gentleman who loves to reside in a domicile of six feet by two, in a sort of rabbit warren in the swamp. His Worship said as he could not contribute the necessary funds to her Majesty’s exchequer, he should be accommodated with a snug lodging in gaol for 48 hours.
A 372 page mining report covering the Castlemaine region 1850-1980 can be read or downloaded here
For an 8 page extract of this report covering Quartz hill & Dirty Dicks Gully
Source: David Bannear - Heritage Victoria
An extract from the above report:
Researched and Compiled by Andrew Parker 2021
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