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 Settlement was rapid but not without its problems as this report from December 1858 shows:
“ACCIDENT. - On Saturday last, as a party of new settlers were going out to Woodburn, by some means or other the dray capsized, and a woman and child were severely hurt. The Dr went out after nightfall. The party must have passed a fearful night in the bush during the dreadful storm.’
Access to the Brooman district was via Murramurang from the coast side or up the river road from Nelligen. the coast road had its particular difficulties as the Ulladulla Correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury noted in January 1860:
“There is a report in circulation that the Ulladulla and Milton mail is about to come by way of the Clyde, which is, at least, 40 miles from here, and a very difficult and dangerous road, whereas it consists of sea beach and mountain road, the Murramurrang Mountain being very steep, and the beach being heavy, sandy and rocky in places; and there are also a number of creeks on the road, which you have to pass at the mouths on the beach, which you cannot do with safety in wet weather, as the mouths of some of them become dangerous when they are washed out, and then the traveller has to swim his horse, or abide by the brink. These creeks cannot be bridged as the mouths do not at all times open out at the same place. There is, also, a difficult and dangerous pass on the rocks on the other side of Murramurrang, the road being round a point of the cliff against which the tide dashed at times with great violence. I cannot see the necessity of running this risk as there is now a daily mail from Sydney to Shoalhaven, and we get the mail by this route three times a week, the Shoalhaven road being now a good bush road, and all the creeks bridged, except one. I think that if the Post Office authorities know the difficulty and danger of the Clyde road, they would adopt the plan I have alluded to.
“January 24, 1860.”
The ferry at Batemans Bay was opened in 1871 and prior to this date the crossing was made by canoe and swimming the horses. The majority of travellers went via Brooman until the ferry service commenced as crossing the Clyde was often dangerous as this report from the Ulladulla correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury of the 10th August 1857 illustrates:
“FATAL ACCIDENT. - I regret to state that a sober and well conducted man named M’Guiness, who resided at Bateman’s Bay, lost his life in attempting to cross the Clyde River. a fortnight back. Mr. J. M’Millan, with a public spirit and philanthropy that does him infinite credit, opened a subscription list here on behalf of the bereaved widow and her two children, which amounted to nearly L20 when it was closed.”
The discovery of gold at Kiandra probably had an effect on the population of the South Coast at this time as the Milton Ulladulla Correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury predicted in June of 1860:
“OFF TO THE DIGGINGS. - There is a probability that Ulladulla, in the course of a month or two, will be deserted, or at least, left to the control of the ‘fair sex.’ Every one who can possibly go, will be off to the ‘Snowy’ in the spring.....”
The first mention of gold in the area was reported by the Nelligen Correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald in October 1861:
“PROSPECTING. - Spears and his party have returned from prospecting the banks of the Clyde River above Currawang [Currowan]. They found gold in almost every place wherever they put down, but I am sorry to say not in paying quantities. They were at it about three weeks. There is no doubt gold is to be found, and in paying quantities too, but it requires men possessing energy and the means to find it.”
This obviously sparked some interest in the possibility of payable gold in the district as in November of the same year the Milton Ulladulla Correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury reported:
“Three men (all strangers) went out to look for gold last week and as none of them knew anything about the country, I expect that we will have to go out and look for them, for they are almost sure to be lost in the bush. If they do not get lost, I do not know what else they will do, for they have had no experience at ‘digging’ and it is a pity that ‘fools’ should turn so important a matter into a ‘farce.’ Nevertheless I wish them all sorts of luck.”
The locals were unconvinced at the possibility of payable gold and certainly unwilling to speculate by financing any prospecting party. The Milton Ulladulla Correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury reported the following on the 3rd of December 1861:
“OUR GOLD FIELD. - I have tried so often to stir the inhabitants up in this matter, that I have given up all hopes of succeeding. As Dr. Adey lately remarked, they are too ‘close-flated.’ Those who do have the L s d’s seem determined to hold them, and those who have not got them would like to see them circulate more freely. It would certainly be to the interests of our ‘big men’ to have a payable gold-field in the neighbourhood, but they will not venture a six-pence unless they are certain to gain a pound thereby. They see the place sinking in poverty, they see in the distance (unless a change takes place in the times) the downfall of their own unseemly pride; and yet they are of such a ..... that they will not advance a solitary sixpence to avert the dreaded consummation. Perhaps Mr. Marks letter [regarding coal near Ulladulla] will have more effect on them than mine may have. I know there are many of them whose pride would forbid them to act upon the suggestions of a poor man be it ever so much in their interest to do so. I hope that some of those gentlemen whose ‘pride is mightier than their purses,’ will rally at the call of Mr. Marks, and have the country round explored. I feel confident that the result would be greatly to their interest. I would have our ‘big men’ for once shake off those senseless notions of what they are not, and join heart and hand with their less ostensible, but mayhap, equally well to do neighbours, for the general advancement of the district wherein they reside. More anon on this subject.”
We don’t know a lot about William Marks except to say he was a trustee for the Mutual Improvement Society in 1860, and along with his wife Isabella had purchased Lots 21 & 22 in Milton from Henry Claydon. We shall hear more from him later.
On the 4th of October 1862 the following item was reported in The Otago Witness (a New Zealand newspaper) under ‘Sydney Telegrams’:
“A new gold-field has been discovered on the Clyde River.”
These are the only references to this particular find that I have come across and I am unable to speculate as to where it was although it must have been a duffer since it received such little notice.
 The first major rush at Brooman which occurred at Spur Gully, also called Soldier’s Gully and Tea Kettle Creek, in 1867 is interesting because so much confusion surrounded it in the various newspapers of the time and it was actually reported as two separate rushes; Brooman and another in the vicinity of Pigeon House. The Shoalhaven News carried the news, originally published in the Herald, on the 5th of October 1867:
“NEW DIGGINGS ON THE CLYDE RIVER.
“THURSDAY’S Herald states that a party of three men came to Nelligen a few days ago by a small boat, from an apparently rich gully discovered by them, eighteen miles from Nelligen - twelve miles by water and six miles from the river, good dray road. They found a fine nugget of four ounces at once, and in three days got sixteen ounces of fine nuggety gold, now in Mr. Flaxell’s window, in George-street [Sydney]. The gully is reported to be 1 1/2 miles long, and gold found five feet from the surface, dry digging. When they came to Nelligen for provisions they left twenty men on the ground all doing well. This fine sample of gold has arrived per Kembla, Captain Mailler, and is sent by Mr. Guy, storekeeper, of Nelligen, who purchased it from the three men, who intend going back immediately. (We believe this to be a ruse. - Ed. S.N.)”
The editors comment at the end is interesting but proved to be wrong !
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the find of a large nugget in its issue of 14th October 1867:
“THE CLYDE DIGGINGS - We are informed that a nugget, weighing 30 ounces, 24 of which are pure gold, was found at the above diggings on the 10th instant.”
The following day, the 15th, two more articles reveal more about the the new rush:
“COUNTRY NEWS.
“ARALUEN - Writing on the 10th instant, the correspondent of the Braidwood Dispatch observes ..... The new rush at the Clyde near Nelligen, and the quartz reef at Little River [Mongarlowe River], both of which report speaks very favourably of, has caused quite an exodus among our mining population, and labour is now scarce.”
“THE NEW DIGGINGS ON THE CLYDE RIVER. - A considerable rush (says the Braidwood Dispatch of Saturday last) appears to have taken place to these diggings from the the different diggings of the district, and from Nerrigundah and from Mogo, in the Moruya district, and even a number of the farmers and road labourers in the Coast district appear to have been so smitten with the accounts, which have spread like wild-fire, they are leaving their work in great numbers, and swelling the exodus. A great many miners, our Araluen correspondent tells us, have left the valley. Nelligen during the week has been full of men on their way there, and the Clyde coaches have been full of passengers, the lowness of the fare rendering it the cheapest means of getting down. Passengers are put down on the road at the nearest point for reaching Mr. Macauley’s at Currowang [sic], from which the new diggings are distant about ten or twelve miles. This rush appears to have been a very sudden one, and little reliable information can have been as yet obtained as to the character of the new diggings by persons at a distance, as the first public intimation of them only reached Nelligen last week. We gather from the accounts we have received that the new diggings are situated on a small blind creek, a tributary of a larger creek flowing into the Clyde River, about twenty miles from Nelligen, and a little higher up than Mr. Condon’s farm. The main creek has to be followed up for about six or seven miles. The gold that has been obtained is principally very coarse, we believe, and one or two of the largest nuggets that have been displayed are intermixed a good deal with quartz. Mr. Blatchford, while at Nelligen, on Tuesday last, purchased a nugget of some six or seven ounces of this description, estimated to contain about five ounces of gold. From what we hear we are inclined to think it is a very small patch of ground that has been discovered, the creek not running more than a mile and a half from its confluence with the main creek to its source, and that it is very narrow. All the deposits on the Clyde have been patchy and there is little room to hope for any payable auriferous ground being opened up on such creeks as this is reported to be. These repeated discoveries on the Clyde, however, appear likely to lead to a more permanent gold-field being discovered than the small rich patches which have hitherto attracted attention from time to time. The gold is being gradually traced up the river to its source, and the present rush is in close proximity with the Pigeon House and Budawang mountains, where the country falls away from them to the coast. As at the foot of the Pigeon House there is said to be a large extent of less broken land than elsewhere prevails lower down the river, with a good depth of soil, it is very probable that as the gold is worked up the river a more permanent deposit of the precious metal will be found. The coarse gold which is thrown in patches over so many parts of the Clyde country, may indeed be found to have its source in the Budawang mountains, which, on the table land, the same patchy coarse gold bearing country falls away. All the gold found on the coast is at a few feet depth, resting on a pipeclay bottom. The rush up the river, if it does nothing else, will lead probably to the settlement of some fine country, of which there is a considerable quantity at the head of the river.”
 The Condon family are known to have been at Brooman from 1849 and Timothy Condon was listed there as a farmer in Greville’s P.O. Directory for 1872.
Shoalhaven News 16th October 1867:
“THE GOLD DIGGINGS AT THE CLYDE. - A reference to our Ulladulla correspondents letter in to-day’s issue will show that a nugget weighing 31 oz. was found at the above diggings, and we ascertain that several parties who have formed to work are doing very well. We are far from recommending a hasty rush to these diggings, but should they really turn out profitable, they may be the means of giving employment to many on the coast, who are now in want of work. - Illawarra Mercury.”
“MILTON ULLADULLA.
(From the Illawarra Mercury)
“THE BROOMIN DIGGINGS ON THE HEAD OF THE CLYDE. - The latest accounts from these New Gold Fields are very encouraging. Mr. Charles Thomas, who arrived from there yesterday, reports the finding of a nugget weighing 31 oz., the lucky finders were Messrs. Faulks and Company, of Woodburn. Also, Mr. Edward Brooks, who arrived here yesterday from the diggings, reports the finding of the above nugget, and further states to the best of his opinion (and he has long experience on many gold-fields) it will turn out a very payable diggings. Both these gentlemen are too well known on the southern coast to be doubted, and as both of them testify to having seen the nugget above alluded to, and to having seen sufficient otherwise to convince them of the goodness of the New Gold Field, I have hastened to send you the above, and will supply you on an early day with further particulars, it being my intention to visit them myself. The distance from Milton to Broomin is as follows: - From Milton to Woodburn, 11 miles; from Woodburn to the diggings, 12 miles. Total 23 miles. About forty men have already gone from here, and a great number are preparing to start on Monday.”
Charles Thomas was a resident of Ulladulla whilst a son of Edward Brooks, local Wesleyan preacher, was reported to have died in June of 1861 by the Milton Ulladulla correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury. There was also an Edward Brooks, listed as a farmer at Croobyar, in Greville’s P.O. Direcrory of 1872. Whether this is our Brooks is unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald printed the following report on the 18th October 1867, which introduced, by implication, the red herring of the Pigeon House field:
“REPORTED DISCOVERY OF A GOLD-FIELD. - New has been received from Ulladulla of the discovery of gold in the Pigeon-house Mountains. It is reported that one person, Mr. William Faulks, has found a nugget, weighing 28 ounces.”
Whilst the Illawarra Mercury of the same date reprinted the longer report published in the Sydney Morning Herald, from the Braidwood Dispatch, on the 15th.
The Sydney Morning Herald published a very discouraging report on the 22nd October 1867:
“THE CLYDE RIVER DIGGINGS. - The Moruya correspondent of the Braidwood Dispatch says : - In my last I reported upon the rush to the new diggings on the Clyde River, or, rather, as I may say, the two rushes, one there and the other back. The returned diggers here and at Mogo report it a hoax. There is not one whom I have seen that has got a speck, let alone the large nuggets spoken of. No wonder the settlers near the place treated it so lightly. They informed me, as I told you, it would not last even a fortnight, and it has not lasted that long.”
The Shoalhaven News published the following letter from William Marks on the 23rd of October 1867:
“THE CLYDE RIVER DIGGINGS.
“To the Editor of the News.
“SIR, - Hearing that a number of your neighbors are intending to come to these diggings, it will be advantageous probably to apprise them of a few facts.
“1st. - That though a few nuggets have been found, yet payable gold has not.
2nd. - That though a large region from M’Millan’s to the Clyde, has proved auriferous, yet no stroke has been done by any.
3rd. - The slate rocks is not such as exists at Bendigo. It is too inicacious and sandy, not black. I have never found it a good bottom, there , or here.
4th. - Some place which in other gold fields have shown the color and more, have not done so here in apparently favorable positions - but with a few known exceptions.
5th. - The nuggety ravine [Tea Kettle Creek] now being worked is not payable in the usual puddling style, and can as so far as yet prospected, only pay by sluicing. For this there is not now sufficient water. A dam would need to be constructed, or holes dug, and the rain waited for.
6th. - There are very many good looking surfacing ranges mentioned in No. 2, but they have not been tested, and can only be so probably in a rainy season or by a horse and cart, as the carrying of a dishfull down a long range does not invite repetition. I have just now conversed with a digger returning home temporarily. He says he found some fair prospects, and intends to try turning the river. He is of my opinion respecting the surfacing.
“An old Turon digger is now sinking on the top of Nuggety hill. He and all old diggers think that the nest eggs already found are a prelude to a clutch somewhere. If advice is of any use, I would recommend those who have a little time and money to spare to prospect this neighbourhood and those who have not to stay for further news.
“W. MARKS.
“Milton, Oct. 21st, 1867”
The following letter to the Editor was published in The Sydney Morning Herald on the 24th of October 1867, and is the first eye-witness account of the diggings, rather than heresay reporting.
“SIR, - Having often while steaming along the Southern Coast, viewed with great interest that most peculiar mountain called the Pigeon House, rising some 3000 feet above the sea, I resolved on the first opportunity, to scramble in that direction .....
“ ..... I made a fair start [from Nelligen] accompanied by an old and valued servant. Our first half day’s ride took us to the diggings now commanding some attention. I have no great faith in the locality on account of its limited extent - but there are numerous other creeks which no doubt will prove auriferous, and if so will justify the application of the term ‘Field’ to the gold-region on the Clyde. After taking a walk through the diggings, and been shown the spot from which the 30 oz. nugget was taken, and over which bye-the-bye, it is contemplated erecting a monument - of empty grog bottles - we started for the last and highest ‘selection’ up the river, about fourteen miles distant, which is in the immediate vicinity of the ‘Pigeon House,’ and occupied by that well known ‘leather stocking’ John Rixon and his numerous family .....”
The Illawarra Mercury of the same date published:
“Shoalhaven Correspondent
“I have been informed on good authority that a gold field has been discovered near the Pigeon House, about eighteen miles from Milton, in the Ulladulla district. One party consisting of Mr. Thistleton, Faulks, and others, procurred a nugget which weighed two pounds other nuggets were also obtained. There was a great rush from Ulladulla, so that ere this field is pretty well occupied; the sinking is only about four feet. The locality appears to be between the Sassafras Range and the Pidgeon House [sic]; the head of the Endrick River cannot be far from this El Dorado. I hear of several in our district who intend to start at once for the new field of promise. I shall forward the full particulars of this gold-field as they reach me, but what I have stated you may rely on.”
Mr. Thistleton was Sowerby George Thistleton born in Manchester and the son of William Sowerby Thistleton the first teacher at the Terara denominational school. Sowerby married Phoebe Condon, at Ulladulla, in 1868. He made a Conditional Purchase of Ptn. 11 parish of Boyne in 1869. In Greville’s P.O. Directory of 1872 he is listed as a farmer at Brooman whilst his two brothers, George and William, are listed as freeholders at Charleyong.
On the 25th October 1867 the Illawarra Mercury reprinted a letter from William Marks:
“CLYDE RIVER DIGGINGS. - The following letter from Mr. W. Marks, appears in Thursday’s issue of the ‘Kiama Independent’ : - As many of your readers may desire to hear something authentic from this locality, I give you a few facts, desiring that they may prevent an undesirable rush. It is true that several nuggets have been found, but payable gold has not yet. Slight indications may be found over an extensive region, but I have not heard of any great finds. I have seen many good looking ranges for surfacing, but they require testing; and it requires either a wet season or a horse and cart to do this, as you soon weary of carrying dishes full down a long range. There is very little fine gold in the ravine where the nuggets were found; and I have not heard of any good prospects elsewhere. Deep sinking is now being tried, and there seems no reason to doubt that where specimens of such size have been obtained more will be found. On the whole, I would advise persons who have no money to spare, to remain at home until a lead has been struck; whilst I think that a well equipped prospecting party would certainly be successful.”
The next day, on the 26th, the Herald published the following:
“NEW GOLD-FIELD AT THE CLYDE. - We (Illawarra Express) have good authority for stating the alleged newly discovered gold-field at the Clyde River has turned out what diggers term a ‘rank duffer,’ and that the men congregated there are rapidly dispersing as best they can. The Pigeon House is not much better. The gold is scarce, poor, and the ground patchy; to them gold-fields is a farce. The same ground may be found within every ten miles between Talbingo Hill and Mount Kosciusko, or between Moruya, via Ninemitabel [sic] Mountain and the Numeralla, to the Eucumbene River.”
Again that red herring; the Pigeon House gold-field !
The Illawarra Mercury sent a special correspondent to the diggings to get a first hand account of the situation and his report was published on 29th October 1867:
“I visited this new Gold-Field on the 19th instant and from one and another of the ‘genuine’ diggers I gleaned the following information, which I hasten to send to you so that the general public may no longer be deceived by the many conflicting accounts which have gone the rounds of the papers.
“The creek in which the diggers are at present working in is known by the name of ‘Tea Kettle Creek,’ and it obtained its name in this wise. Mr. William M’Mellen and party had been digging on a place further down the Clyde, known as ‘Cockwyah,’ [Cockwhy Creek] and not doing well there, they agreed to go further up the river to the vicinity of the Pigeon house Mountain, and while on their way there they came to this creek, and finding good water, they made a fire and put on the tea kettle to boil, and while the kettle was being boiled Mr. M’Mellon [sic] took a shovel and dug a little hole, more for curiosity than otherwise, and, coming to a rock in something under three feet, to his great astonishment and delight he picked out a small nugget of gold, and so they camped there and commenced work, until they were discovered by a party who were tracking them, hence the rush. Tea kettle Creek is a very small gully, very steep and rugged at both ends, but slightly wider in the middle. It is about two miles long from its source to its termination, and about three miles above the old Broomin Station. The road from Broomin to Ulladulla crosses it nearly in the middle, and that was where the gold was found, and as is the case with nearly all golden gullies, it is richest in the middle. The top end is very steep and narrow, and the rock, which is of brown slate, is here; the bottom end is something similar, but in the middle the sinking is about five feet deep. There is but one party on the creek who has worked their claim in a workmanlike manner, that is Mr. M’Mellon’s party, they have got a good face on their work and a good clean bottom, and in consequences, what gold is in it, they get, but the others are scratching holes like bandicoots, and mixing washing stuff with the other, and afterwards have to wash everything, and then it will not pay for washing. The washing stuff is in some claims very stiff and hard to puddle, and notwithstanding this fact there is but one tub on the creek; some have sheets of bark plastered up with mud, and have so made a temporary tub, but they are very rude articles and very clumsy. There are a few good cradles on the ground, but there are an abundance of rudely constructed articles, which are unworthy of the name of cradles, and are calculated to lose instead of saving the gold. The Ulladulla people are in a state of great excitement, and are on the move backwards and forwards constantly, every person coming here finds that he cannot get any ground in the Tea Kettle, so he humps his swag and hooks it at once, and says that the place is done - worked out; whereas if they could try the country round about they would find plenty of gold, for there is every indication of its being a golden country. There are many gullies running from the same range but not one of them tried yet, and there is a splendid large flat several miles long running parallel with the river, and sloping up from the river to the foot of these other gullies, and strange to say there has not been one hole sunk in it yet. Mr. Edward Brooks tried several dishes of the stuff along the bank of the river, taken from the roots of the grass, and he got gold in every dish. This field would, if good, supply five or six hundred claims. Where Messrs. Faulks and Co. found the large nugget is about seventy yards below where Mr. M’Mellon is doing so well, but I have heard that, with the exception of the nugget, their claim has not been very good. Mr. M’Mellon showed me pieces of gold weighing from 4 1/2 dwts to 1/2 dwts, but further down than where he is now the gold gets finer. Mr. Cashman and party have commenced to wash everything as it comes, and they are making it pay very well. I saw twenty buckets of dirt cradled in about ten minutes on this claim, it yielded 1 12 dwt of fine gold, and an occasionally small nugget turns up, which increases the yield considerably. Several parties have commenced deep sinking on the hill at the head of the creek, and the stuff looks remarkably well. I was down in one shaft on Sunday morning, which was 18 feet deep, and I found it a mass of water-worn quartz all the way down as close as they could stick in a kind of red cement very like the white hills at Bendigo. I am an old digger myself. I have been on many gold fields, both wet and dry, shallow and deep, hard and soft, rich and poor and intermediate, and it is my firm opinion that from Tea Kettle Creek right on to the Pigeon-house Mountain and far on the other side will turn out one continual payable gold-field. Mr. M’Mellon entertains this opinion also, and he has followed it up with praiseworthy perseverance from Mogo to Cockwyah [Cockwhy Creek], and now to Broomin, and he declared to me that he should follow it up to the Pigeon-house or find a payable gold-field, and well will he earn the Government reward should he succeed in establishing this a permanent gold-field. There are a number of old experienced diggers here now, who are willing to spend any amount of time in searching the country, if they are only supplied with rations, and surely the inhabitants of Ulladulla and Nelligen will see it to their interest to start them without a moment’s delay. Provisons are very reasonable on the Creek - Flour L1 per cwt., sugar 6d per lb., tea 3s, bacon, good, 9d, inferior 6d, salt beef 4d, fresh butter 1s. 1d. and everything else equally reasonable. There are two stores at a point known as the township, and they seem to be doing a fair business. About fifty yards from the township is Tambourine village, and in centre of said village is musical hall, where free entertainments are given nightly and mirth and good fellowship runs free as air. A more orderly set of individuals never before congregated on a new diggings; long may they continue to know that they are men. A great many of the Ulladulla people are travelling to and fro. They seem to expect to find the gold on the top of the ground, and when they arrive here and find that work is required to get at it, and that all the ground on Tea Kettle Creek is occupied, they lose all heart, and instead of prospecting other likely places - many of which abound on all sides - they gather up their traps, and make tracks for home, and damage the name of the place considerably by their crestfallen countenances and lips as long as saddle-flaps. The fact is it is too close to Ulladulla; 21 miles is soon done. If they had two or three hundred miles to travel, they would not be so unsettled when they arrived, but would settle down to work with a far better spirit, more especially as their chief business at home is so dull at present, and their staple produce [butter] 6d. per lb. The diggers ascertained through the agency of a friend of mine, that I was a reporter for the press, and they showed a great inclination to afford me every information in their power, and upon arriving back at the township they gathered round me with their dishes, each eager to show his day’s work. I cautioned them to deal honestly by me, as I had come to ascertain correctly how matters stood, and that only the truth should be published, for it was of no interest to me to mislead any person. Messrs. Cashman, M’Mellon, and many others, whom I well know, assured me that what I saw there was the genuine proceeds of the day, and was but an average day’s work; and although there were no lobs [sic] being made, all persons on the gully were realising more than they could do at any other kind of work, and as provisions are as reasonable there as anywhere else, it is their intention to stick to it like leeches. Each party send a man out prospecting daily, and on Saturday gold was found in payable quantities in a gully about three miles up the river. A rush was premeditated on Monday morning, when it was expected that something would turn up to bring back the Ulladulla ‘saddle-flaps’ at a slashing pace again, but they will then be as far behind as ever, for they will find the gully all taken up, as they found it on the former trip in the first gully. It was reported that Messrs. Marks and and Spurgeon had gone to prospect Murramurrang Island, but nothing has since been heard of them and the diggers are anxious to hear of their whereabouts, because the island is some half mile from the main land, and it is known that they had no other means of conveyance thither than a darkies canoe, and fears are entertained for their safety. The inhabitants of Ulladulla have shown an unpardonable apathy in this place; while the Nelligen storekeepers have made a road and built stores on the creek, there has not been the slightest move on the part of the Ulladulla storekeepers to open up a good road (which four men could do in two days), and yet they are nearer the diggings by ten miles than Nelligen, and a far better road if it was opened. Nature has favored them both in harbor and road, but the sluggards will allow Nelligen energy to cut them off. About 150 persons were on the field on Saturday night, and about 50 others went home, to come back on Monday morning again.”
 As we can see by this comprehensive eye witness account the small gully had a reasonable population which was supporting two stores; it was nowhere near the ‘rank duffer’ reported by some correspondents. We don’t know who McMellon, a misspelling of McMillan ?, was. William Cashman was variously reported to be a Sergeant in the Volunteer Rifles (1869-1875), Undertaker (1873-1875), School Board member (1877-1886) and sawmill operator. John Spurgeon, also spelt Spurgin, was a private school teacher and Wesleyan lay preacher living at Ulladulla.
The Sydney Morning Herald also published a report on that same day:
“THE BROOMAN DIGGINGS - Very considerable excitement is still alive (says the Moruya Examiner of Friday) as to the country in the neighbourhood of the Pigeon house rock. The country, though near to the coast, is very little known, and Mr. Manning has taken the initiative in prospecting for kerosene shale in the neighbourhood. A borer has been at work in aid of this idea, and shale has been found, but not as yet, we understand, in a sufficiently extensive bed to satisfy the prospectors. The mineralogical character of the country seems to be very promising as signs of copper, kerosene shale, and gold quartz reefs have been abound. A great number of diggers are again located on the field, many of whom are from Sydney, tempted no doubt by the rich nugget found a fortnight back. This nugget has been proved to contain 18 ounces of gold. The gold sells at L3 18s. From the adhesions to the gold when found it is thought by practical men that the source of the precious metal is very close at hand, and that the gold has left its primitive reef at a comparatively recent date. Several Moruya diggers are still on the field, but we have been unable to learn with what result. On Wednesday news reached Moruya by a digger named Donovan that Bishop’s party of three, from Moruya, were making L3 per week having got nearly 5 oz. of gold during the past fortnight. Another goldbearing gully has been discovered. Confident hopes are now in the ascendant that the place will turn out a really payable gold-field.”
Manning’s search for kerosene shale is quite an interesting fact to emerge from the above report and of course this must have been further up the Clyde. In Bailliere’s NSW Gazeteer, 1866, Henry Manning was listed as having a steam bark grinding mill at Buckenboura and the wharf at Manning’s shed, Nelligen. In 1868 Henry Manning also reported that he had invented and patented a ‘Gold Finder’ which he had tested in the area, although makes no specific mention of where he had conducted the trials.
On the 30th of October the Shoalhaven News reported the death of a digger returning from the field:
“FOUND DEAD.- On Saturday last, the body of a man was found in a sitting posture, dead upon the Ulladulla road, about ten miles from Milton. The man, our informant states, was a returning digger from the new rush near the Clyde River. When leaving the diggings, it was known that this man, whose body is now found, but whose name has not transpired, had a quantity of money - upward of L10, besides a silver watch on his person, but when found neither money or watch was in his possession. - We were unable to obtain further particulars on going to press this morning.”
On the 2nd of November 1867 the Shoalhaven News carried the following report from its Ulladulla correspondent:
“On the 25th instant, as a man named Sharp, a splitter, of Broughton Creek, was on his way to the diggings, and got about 14 miles from Ulladulla, and three from McMahon’s station, Woodburn, he found the dead body of a man man lying on the track. He came back at once, and gave information to Mr. McMahon, who detained Sharpe [sic], and sent for Mr. Wareham C.P.S. and then held a magisterial inquiry on the body. The result of which is as follows. The deceased died from overexertion of body, and exposure to excessive heat, while in a state of debility. There is no reason for suspecting foul means as the cause of death. Mr. McMahon and Wareham, expressed their regret very much that they could not send for Constable Beaty before they buried the body, as it was late in the evening when they got to the place, and if they waited to send word, they could not have the body buried before night, however, the people here are saying a good deal about the steps taken. They buried the body near the spot where it was found. They found L2 6s. 1d on the body, 6s. 1d of which they gave to a bush carpenter to make a coffin. Mr. McMahon giving the material, the other L2 Mr. McMahon gave constable Beaty, with the clothes they found on the body, which constable Beaty forwarded to Mr. Ryeland, as it appears from evidence at the enquiry, that deceased was a married man, having a wife and two children, and had lived in Riley-street, Woolloomooloo, was a stone-mason, and worked at the Hyde Park Royal Hotel, Sydney, for the last six months. He came up by the steamer on the 21st and went to the diggings, and was on his way back. Some of the witnesses at the enquiry were of opinion that he had a silver hunting watch and silver chain when he left the diggings (on that day) which was not found on the body.”
As can be seen the circumstances surrounding the inquiry had set tongues wagging in some circles; doubts were to be raised more strongly at a later date. From our perspective the proceedings were certainly dubious, although in all probability this was from expediency rather than complicity in any wrong doing.
On the 2nd of November 1867 The Sydney Morning Herald published a letter from a M. Evans:
“SIR, - In your summary of this day I notice a paragraph, which is not entirely correct, as to the nugget found at the Clyde. The nugget, which is a very beautiful specimen ‘and now on view in Brush and MacDonnell’s window, George-street,’ was turned up (in a discarded claim) by Mr. Sowerby Thistleton (my nephew), in the bed of Soldier’s Creek, which runs into the Cyde. The gross weight of the quartz and gold is 26 oz. 4 dwts., and the estimated weight of the gold is about 18 oz. It will go through the necessary operations at the Mint, ‘and be turned into coin’ during the next week.”
As we can see this is the first use of the name Soldier’s Gully for Tea Kettle Creek.
On the same date The Sydney Morning Herald reported the news of the death of the digger whilst returning from Tea Kettle Creek:
“FOUND DEAD. - On Saturday last the body of a man was found in a sitting posture, dead, upon the Ulladulla road, about ten miles from Milton. The man, our informant states, was a returning digger from the new rush near the Clyde River. When leaving the diggings it was known that this man, whose body is now found, but whose name has not transpired, had a quantity of money - upwards of L10, besides a silver watch on his person, but when found neither money or watch was in his possession. We were unable to obtain further particulars. - Shoalhaven News.”
On the 8th of November 1867 the highly critical Milton Ulladulla correspondent of the Illawarra Mercury vehemently stated his opinions regarding the way in which the matter was dealt with and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death:
“The man found on the road to the Broomin diggings was buried where he lay. This is rather a strange proceedings, but our magistrates and their satellites are ready at all times and seasons to perform wonderful works. I think the question might be asked with some reason, what is a Coroner for ? If cases of this kind are to be settled by magistrate’s clerks and constables, why is the country put to the expense of paying Coroner’s ? There never was a more suspicious case - a man is found dead on the road, he was known to have had a certain sum of money in his possession, when he left his diggings, together with a silver watch and chain, when he is found he has but L2 out of L10 on his person, that amount being in a pocket under him as he lay, the other L8 together with the watch and chain being missing. He left the diggings in company with several of the Woodburn settlers, and he complained on the way that he felt tired, and sat down to rest, and these very humane people went on and left him, a stranger in a strange land to perish by the way, and never seemed to take a thought of him until the evening of the next day. Then these kind individuals were examined by one of our newest J.P.’s, in company of our self-sufficient Clerk of Petty Sessions, and bundled into a rudely constructed coffin, and buried on the spot, and so terminated the disgraceful scene, disgraceful alike to those who deserted him upon the road, and to those who buried him like a dog where they found him. If this case doesn’t demand an inquest, I should like to know what does. Our magistrates have often shown a desire to settle cases which should be left to a coroner, and why they do so is not known to me, but it is often wondered at why they have the foolhardiness to dabble in matters for which they have little or no capacity, but when one of their number, and he the youngest (by appointment) among them, takes upon himself to settle a very suspicious case like the above, he has evidently mistaken his calling very much.”
He also reported on the diggings:
 “The latest account from the Broomin diggings is still encouraging, notwithstanding many persons leaving there in disgust, many of whom have not the means of stopping more than a day or two, and the others have not got their hearts in the right place. Mr. Edward Brooks brought in a nugget on Saturday worth L10, and a first rate prospect of fine gold was got in the same hole, which had just been bottomed in another gully not very far away. And Mr. M’Mellon found a 2 oz. nugget on Friday in his old claim, which is still turning out well. It is evident that the gold is thereabouts, and it only wants the heart to look for it. Many of our old diggers believe that a large payable gold field will be opened there before many weeks pass over. Mr. Brooks has shewn a wonderful amount of energy and determination, he is worth a jew’s eye on a new gold-field. He is fully satisfied that gold is there plentifully, and he is resolved to find it before he leaves the place; we want two or three like him, and I have no fear of the result.”
The Sydney Morning Herald repeated the story of the death on the 17th November, and treated it as news of a new death:
“DEATH IN THE BUSH. - The Shoalhaven correspondent of the Monaro Mercury writes, that the remains of a man (name unknown) were found last week in the bush, and upon an inquiry being held it was found the poor fellow had died through exposure; he had L2 on his person, therefore was not in want at the time, as many are now while travelling. After the inquest the body was recognised as that of a man who, it was affirmed, had come from Sydney, had been to the alleged rich diggings at the Pigeon-holes [sic] Mountain, and had left to return home.”
The Sydney Morning Herald 23rd November 1867:
“The remains of a man were recently found dead in the bush at Shoalhaven, supposed to be a digger on his way from the Pigeon-holes [sic] Mountain Diggings.”
Unfortunately nothing more was reported on the death of this unfortunate man; no inquiry was held into the actions of Mr. McMahon, J.P., and Mr. Wareham, C.P.S., nor was it established what had happened to the missing watch or money.
The first rush to Brooman ended quietly and in the Shoalhaven News of 21st of November 1868 it was reported:
“ ..... The Bruman diggings are quite deserted.”
To view a side by side comparison of the different reports purporting to be of the Clyde and Pigeon House fields click on the PDF icon.
You can also take a look at the list of residents in the Nelligen and Brooman areas for 1867.
The 1872 edition of Greville’s Post Office Directory lists the following residents of Brooman:
Milton entry; p. 328.
“Thistleton, Towerby [Sowerby] farmer Brooman”
Nelligen entry; p. 379.
Condon, Timothy freeholder Brooman”
The 1874-75 Electoral Roll listed a William Faulks of Woodburn.
The Ulladulla correspondent of the Australian Town and Country Journal, 6th October 1877, reported the following:
“A few weeks ago I referred to the road via Brooman from Braidwood to Ulladulla. At that time only a very few knew that the Government had determined to open a road from Braidwood to the best part on the coast, and, at the time I wrote, it only appeared from the supplementary estimates that a sum of L6000 was to be expended to determine by survey the best route to the best harbour on the coast; and as this sum will now be passed at once, it becomes us as well as the good folks of Braidwood to at once use our best energies to open out this fine road with its many advantages to commerce. There is no harbour on the east coast, with the exception of Jervis’ Bay, equal to Ulladulla. The distance is not over 40 miles from Braidwood, and it will open out a new country with many thousands of acres for selection; and in and about the gullies at Brooman has, from time to time, yielded considerable quantities of gold. A few diggers are always working here on the quiet, and do well ..... “
A petition to the Post Master General, in November 1883 ( Brooman Post Office File Part 1, 1879 - 1885 SP 32/1), to have the mail run direct from Milton to Batemans Bay, with a branch run to Brooman was signed by the following:
Hugh Madden, Farmer, Milton Road
Edwin J. Smart, Farmer, Milton Road
P.C. Moon, Saw Mill Proprietor
Thomas Patterson, Hotel Proprietor
Jas. Crelley, Sawyer, Milton Road
John Hobbs, Engineer, Milton Road
George Clark, Sawyer, Milton Road
Benjamin Carpenter, Labourer, Milton Road
Henry Wood, Timber Getter, Milton Road
Robert Higgins, Farmer, Milton Road
Thomas Gould X, Labourer, Milton Road
Jas. Johnson X, Miner
John Ingold X, Farmer, Milton Road
C.H. Higgins, Farmer, Milton Road
Richard Higgins, Farmer, Milton Road
Wm. Hapgood sen., Farmer, Milton Road
Richard Hapgood jun., Labourer, Milton Road
J. Clavan X, Farmer, Milton Road
D. Clavan, Farmer, Milton Road
L. Andress X, Farmer, Milton Road
John Ree junr., Farmer, Milton Road
Thomas Hapgood, Farmer, Milton Road
William Hapgood junior, Farmer, Milton Road
Felix Knight, Teacher, Milton Road
H.C. Blackburn, Storekeeper, Milton
Thomas H. Nutley [?], Store Assistant, Milton
Thomas Mitchell, Storekeeper, Milton
John H. Graves, Shoe Repairer, Milton
Walter W. Watson, Journalist, Milton
W. Francis, Assist Postmaster, Milton
J.A. O’Neill, Printer, Milton
H. Leaney, Printer, Milton
W.J. Chapman, Farmer, Milton Road
John Peyet, Caepenter, Milton
Geo. Millard, Carrier, Ulladulla
E. Hughes, Boot mnufacturer, Milton
[?] Willmott, Contractor, Milton
Chas. Cork, Auctioneer, Milton
J. Latta, Farmer, Milton
C. Ireland, Steam Saw Mill Proprietor, Burrill Lake
H.J. Cook, Hotel Keeper, Milton
John Ingold, Little Forest, Milton
Joseph Colles, Farmer, Milton
[?] Ahrens, Blacksmith, Milton
R.J. Cooper, Lic. Surveyor, Milton
George Flett, Milton
James T. Miller, Farmer, Milton
Albert Francis, Commerciakl Traveller, Milton
James Francis, Saddler, Milton
Francis Hobbs, Farmer, Milton Road
Geo. Wilson, Bootmaker, Milton
Adam McArthur, Store Keeper, Milton
David Latta, Farmer, Milton Road
John Williams, Farmer, Milton Road
Hugh Bevan, Farmer, Merroo
John Spurgin, Farmer, Ulladulla
George Price, Farmer, Ulladulla
A. Mison, Farmer
Robert Mudge, Farmer, Woodburn
William Penny [?], Farmer, Woodburn
H. Erskine, Road Overseer, Braidwood
Phillip Keeling, Farmer, Milton Road
Charles Camage, Postman, Cullendulla Creek
John Gilligan, Bushman, Milton Road
Michael Ryan, Sawyer, Milton Road
Francis McGrath, Teemster [sic], Milton Road
James Appleby, Bushman, Milton Road
Joseph Appleby, Bushman, Milton Road
John Gibson, Contractor, Milton Road
John Gibson junr., Foreman at Works
Alexander Anderson, Engineer, Benanra
John Cottrell, Carpenter, Milton Road
William White, Sawer [sic], Milton Road
Thomas Barnett, Farmer, Milton Road
Jogn Tracey, Milton Road
John Murphey, Bushman, Milton Road
James Mathison, Bushman, Milton Road
Edward McGrath, Blacksmith, Milton Road
Thomas Higgins, Sayer [sic], Milton Road
Henry Higgins sen, Selector, Milton Road
Henry G. Glass, Selector, Milton Road
James Casey, Saw Mill Proprietor, Milton Road
Thomas Malmey [?], Farmer, Milton Road
Henry Banister, Selector, Batemans Bay
George Haiser, Bushman, Batemans Bay
P.W. Bettini, Bushman, Batemans Bay
J.H. Smith, Bushman, Milton Road
Fredk. Ludmore, Medical Practitioner
Francis Budd, Carpenter, Milton Road
F.W. Ludmore, Labourer, Milton Road
C.H. Hespe, Hotel Keeper, Batemans Bay
C. Hespe, Groom, Batemans Bay
Richard Williams, Sawer [sic], Batemans Bay
Francis H. Guy, Clerk
John Cahill. Selector, Milton Road
N.G. Glass. Farmer, Milton Road
Matthew Whelan, Butcher, Milton Road
William Ryan, Selector, Milton Road
Henry Ryan junr., Farmer, Milton Road
William McMillan, Farmer
Aron McMillan, Owner
Alfred Moult, Labourer
Thomas Chauley, Milton Road
Jopseph Kelley, Milton Road
James Smith, Blacksmith
Con Clifford, Milton Road
John Windley, Milton Road
[?] Windley, Milton Road
John Daley, Milton Road
John Johnston, Milton Road
Walter Windley, Milton Road,
Richard Casey, Milton Road
James Gallagher, Milton Road
Richard Williams, Milton Road
Charles Stromberg, Milton Road
Abraham Forard, Milton Road
John McMillan, Farmer, Durris Lake [Durras Lake]
William Gillies, Saw Mill Proprietor, Durras
Joseph Whitman, Sawer [sic], Mosley Hill
John Harding, Engineer, Moselys Hill
Abraham Keeling, Farmer, Batemans Bay
William Keeling, Maintenance Man, Milton Road
George Ryan, Selector, Milton Road
John McCarthy, Postman, Milton Road
J. Cavanagh, Post Master, Batemans Bay
Joseph Bishop, Publican, Batemans Bay
Albert Veitch, Sawyer, Batemans Bay
John S. Allan, F.R., Ulladulla
George G. Benson, [?], Batemans Bay
John Wisby, Contractor, Batemans Bay
[?] Fraser, Nelligen
Charles Richards, Clerk, Batemans
James Barclay, Batemans Bay
Michael Daily, Milton Road
Robert Scott, Batemans Bay
George Guy, Clerk, Batemans Bay
William Nolan, Sawyer, Batemans Bay
Chas, Field, Storekeepr, Batemans Bay
Patrick Corrigan, Blacksmith, Batemans Bay
Joseph Pelegrini, Sawyer, Batemans Bay
Francis Guy, Saw Mill Proprietor
The Australian Town and Country Journal, 3rd of August 1878, reported:
“Successful Applications for participation in the Prospecting Vote -
“Arthur Peterson and party, Clyde River; 12s 6d per man per week.”
The Australian Town and Country Journal, 1st of February 1879, also reported:
“From Nelligen we hear that the district is again undergoing a test for gold. Some time since two men arrived here from Sydney, fully determined to give the locality of the Clyde River a thorough good trial. Aided by others they have been prospecting for about five weeks, and up to the present have not got anything worth blowing about; still I think they have a very good prospect, so far, as I believe the trial washing of the casing of the reef turned out about three pennyweights to the dish, and are on very good looking stone. It is believed by every one about this district, and also strangers, that there are payable reefs about here; however, I will say no more about this matter at present, as I am hopes, of giving you a surprise shortly of something very good being got.”
In the Brooman Post Office File Part 1, 1879 - 1885 SP 32/1, a memo dated 8th August 1885, listed the following residents on the Brooman to Nelligen road:
N. Dayball
P. Duffy
P. Shea
G. McCauley
R. McCauley
W. McCauley
M. Drury
J.J. Rixon
J. Beadman
Mr. Byrne
Residents at the Brooman turnoff from the Milton to Batemans Bay road:
F.B. Hammond
C.H. Higgins
G. Ryan
Again in the same file a memo, dated 11th August 1885, listed the following residents on the Milton to Brooman road:
F. Berkinshaw
H. Madden
J. Parkhill
G. Goodsell
W. Gowen
H. Richards
J. Smith
John Ryan
C. Claggett
J. Gardener
A. Smith
G. Dent
The following landholders have been extracted from ‘Occupiers of Holdings,’ Votes and Proceedings, Legislative Assembly, NSW, Vol III, 1885:
W. Faulk, Woodburn
Michael Walker, Brooman, 390 acres
J. Burkinshaw, Termeil, 150 acres
Hugh Madden, Woodburn, 80 acres and 120 acres
James Parkhill, Brooman, 990 acres
George Goodsell, Woodburn, 100 acres
W. Gowen, Woodburnm 80 acres
J. Smith, One-mile Creek, Brooman, 80 acres
James Gardner, Brooman, two 80 acre lots
In his report for 1887, Published in the Annual Report of the Department of Mines, John Hobbes, the Mining Registrar of the Milton Division noted that the area was again being prospected:
“In furnishing a report of the mining operation for the past year in the District of Dowling (now Land District of Milton), I have the honor to state that this being more especially a dairying district, but little attention is bestowed upon mining matters by the residents generally. There are, however, men scattered amongst the spurs of the Main Range, extending from near the head of the Clyde River to Brooman, and westerly to the Budawang Mountains, being the south-western limit of this district, who throughout are obtaining gold, in addition to other minerals.
“The only movements that have taken place are, first at Spur Gulley [sic], near Brooman, where a few years since alluvial gold was found in payable quantities, there has been a party searching for a reef which is believed to exist in close proximity, but not being practical or experienced miners, prospecting was of short duration and without favourable results.”
In the Annual Report of the NSW Department of Mines, 1889, Gerorge Stonier reported:
p. 234
 “ ..... Alluvial - Recent..... In Fenian Gully the sinking was 8 feet and the wash 2 inches, with a width of about 1 1/2 chains. Several Nuggets are said to have been found, the largest coming from Spur Gully.”
Although it appears that prospectors and diggers were active in the area, in a small way, during the intervening years, the second rush to Brooman, near Lord’s original Brooman Station, took place in 1894 when, on the 17th of March, the Australian Mining Standard noted:
“It is also said that alluvial gold has been obtained at Brooman, in the valley of the Clyde.”
The North Otago Times, New Zealand, of the 22nd March 1894 carried the following report:
“ ..... Another discovery of alluvial gold is reported at Clyde River, in the South Coast district. It is stated that four ounces to the bucket was obtained, but this lacks confirmation.”
The Australian Town and Country Journal of the 24th of March 1894 carried two items of news:
“More Gold.
AN ALLUVIAL FIELD.
RICH DISCOVERY.
FOUR OUNCES TO THE BUCKET.
“It has leaked out that a new rich discovery of gold has been made on the Clyde River, in the South Coast district, and the discoverers are taking steps on the opening of the new field to claim the reward for the finding of a new gold-field. The find is general alluvial and is reported to be very rich. The sinking was 10ft to 15ft, the wash 2 1/2 to 3ft thick, and the lead was not exhausted when tested to a width of 30 ft. The find was made by farmers on leased land. Three or four buckets, it is reported, gave 13 1/2 oz of gold.”
“MILTON. - ..... It is also said that alluvial gold has been obtained at Brooman, in the valley of the Clyde.”
The same issue reported on a public meeting which was held in Sydney regarding mining on private property. We have included the account here as the second Brooman rush was on private property:
A public meeting, for the purpose of hearing the practical miners’ views concerning mining on private property was held at Bourke’s Mansion House Hotel, George-street, Haymarket, on Monday. Notwithstanding the weather a fair number of people attended. Mr. M.J. Fitzpatrick presided, and after briefly explaining the objects of the meeting called upon Mr. W.B. Lucas to address the assemblage.
“Mr. LUCAS, after remarking that he was entirely unconnected with any political associations, and consequently sought no aggrandisement politically, went on to say that he was speaking solely in the interests of the working classes, particularly the goldminers of the country, whom he contended were not being fairly treated. Under the Land Act of 1861 he said special care was taken to reserve all minerals in connection with free selectors’ grants, and the same wise precaution was exercised in respect to the amending acts of 1875 and 1889, which made special provisions in regard to mining on private property and gave Government power to enter upon any selection or conditional lease to mine for gold, still placed no impediment or difficulties in the way of the bona fide miner, reference was made to the recent gold discoveries at Wyalong. The Government, the speaker contended, had acted illegally and without their right in issuing some 300 permits to mine for gold upon that field, instead of resuming, as they were clearly bound to do by the provisions of the Mining Act of 1880. By their action they had done wrong towards a large number of diggers, and left them without their rights; for, in the event of a dispute or jumping of claims, no court would have jurisdiction in the matter, and consequently would be unable to decide between the contending parties. Why, he asked, did the Government go on humbugging the people in this way, by allowing them to go upon this particular field to mine when their title could not possibly be established, unless by resumption ? As showing the interest evinced by the Upper House towards the miners of the country, the Mining on Private Property Bill now before the chamber would, if passed into law with the amendment embodied in it as proposed by Dr. MacLaurin, have the effect of causing every miner at Wyalong to be arrested as a misdemeanist, inasmuch as it would be a misdemeanor to mine on private lands, with a few slight exceptions, without obtaining a lease. The bill in question was only a sham measure, and was never intended to consummate the purpose it proposed to bring about. Under its proposed additional provisions a miner might be made a shuttlecock of by any grasping syndicate who chose to take advantage of the leading clause, for the latter could apply for a lease, while the former was awaiting resumption of the land. Had the Minister for Lands been actuated by sincerity, he would have modelled the measure upon the lines of the Victorian Mining on Private Property Act, a simple and effective enactment, and one much favored by the workers of the southern colony. In conclusion, the speaker urged upon his hearers the necessity of keeping a watchful eye upon the doings of the Upper House in connection with the measures, opining that that body sought to hoodwink the workers, and seemed bent upon handing over the unearthed minerals of the country to the tender care of the various landed proprietors.”
Later that month, 31st March 1894, the Australian Mining Standard reported:
“The mining warden [at Milton] states that there is little truth in the reports of the extraordinary find of gold at Brooman, in the valley of the Clyde River. The facts are as reported a fortnight ago. Alluvial gold in what is considered payable quantities has been discovered, but nothing to warrant a rush. Numbers of men have gone to the spot to meet with disappointment. The public is cautioned against coming, as no work offers. Regarding the reported find of gold on the Clyde River, the Under-Secretary for Mines has received the following telegram from Mr. George Maunsell, gold warden at Ulladulla : - ‘Just returned from the Clyde. Reports as to alluvial gold being found in quantities false. About 8 dwt were obtained by Clugston, who refuses to reveal locality until his landlord, McMahon, obtains a permit. Twenty men are camped on the reserve adjoining Clustons’s, and others are on the road.’ ”
The Australian Town and Country Journal of the same date printed the following report:
 “NELLIGEN, MARCH 26. - Your representative interviewed Mr. Clugston, of Brooman Farm, Clyde River, as to the recently-reported find of gold. He acknowledged having found a payable alluvial prospect while obtaining a drink in a creek. The farm was leased from Francis M’Mahon, of Johnston-street, Annandale, and was formerly an old grant. Clugston applied to M’Mahon for a permit to mine, M’Mahon replied that he had made applications to the Mines Department for the same. Again he wrote to Clugston that he might expect him up any moment with a permit. Clugston, who is a practical miner, stated that if the field opens there will be room for 1000 men. He will not divulge where the gold is unless M’Mahon makes certain concessions. Seventeen men are camped at Clugston’s, and more are expected to arrive. They should, however, await further developments.
“Gold is reported to have been found a [sic] Brooman, on the Clyde River, 17 miles north of Nelligen.
“Fourteen men arrived here last night per steamer Bega from Sydney en route to the field.
NELLIGAN [sic], March 27. - When I arrived at Nelligan [sic] on Thursday night last the people here were astonished when making inquiries about the reported gold find on the Clyde River. From information received from one gentleman I proceeded to Brooman, distant 20 miles north of Nelligan [sic]. I was accompanied by Mr. Hewitt, proprietor of the Steam Packet Hotel, Nelligan [sic], who kindly acted as my guide. The ride was a very rough one owing to the state of the roads after the recent heavy rains. In the absence of a bridge over the Clyde River, we were compelled to swim our horses at Mr. Selick’s crossing. This gentleman kindly lent us a boat for that purpose. As there is a deal of traffic on this road the Government should at once construct a bridge over the river. I arrived at Brooman at noon, and after waiting for some time obtained an interview with Mr. Samuel Clugston, farmer and dairyman. He informed me that he rented Brooman farm, and had seven years lease of the same from Mr. Francis M’Mahon, at present residing in Johnston-street, Annandale, Sydney. The farm consists of 1280 acres, and was formerly an old grant, and purchased some years since by Mr. M’Mahon. When I asked him if any gold had been recently found on his farm he at first hesitated to say whether there was or was not, but eventually acknowledged that some four weeks since, while his son and himself were obtaining a drink of water at a certain creek on his farm, they accidentally came across a payable alluvial field. He at once communicated with Mr. M.Mahon and asked him for a permit to mine on his land, giving him a detailed account of the prospect obtained. Mr. M.Mahon wrote him at once stating that he had made application to the Mines Department for a permit, but would not be able to obtain the same for some time. He again wrote, informing Mr. Clugston that he might expect him any day armed with a permit. Mr. Clugston cannot make out how the EVENING NEWS and TOWN AND COUNTRY JOURNAL could have got hold of the information, as he had never mentioned the matter to any person except Mr. M’Mahon. Mr. Clugston is an old miner, and his opinion is, in the event of the field being opened, that good wages will be made, and that there will be room for 1000 men.
“Mr. Clugston will not divulge where he found the gold, except Mr. M’Mahon makes certain concessions to him. The grant is marked thus on the map : ‘Vol. 55, No. 787, No.1, parish Albert, county St. Vincent, Edward Lord, 640a, vol. 55, No. 93, No. 2, parish Albert, County St. Vincent, S.L. Adair, 640a.
“Brooman can be reached by three different routes. By boat from Sydney to Nelligen, thence by boat or vehicle. Sydney to Nowra by train, thence by coach, via Milton. Sydney to Ulladulla by steamer, thence on foot to Brooman. There are two mails to Brooman per week, one from Nelligen, and the other from Milton.
“This is a very likely country, and many practical men are of the opinion that if this field is open it will prove a good one.”
Samuel Clugston was born in Armagh, in 1837, and married Jane McLean at Moruya in 1863. They had 11 children the third being Thomas, also the eldest son, born in 1867.
Francis McMahon, born 1815 in County Monaghan, was said to have come to Milton in the 1850’s and purchased properties at Woodburn and Brooman. He returned to Sydney c. 1887 although his son Francis John , an accomplished horseman, remained in the area. It is Francis senior that that these articles refer to. It has also been said that Francis senior was in business with Quong Tart but this would be improbable as the following timeline illustrates:
1850 - Quong Tart born
1850’s - Francis McMahon arrives in Milton
1887 - Francis McMahon returns to Sydney aged 72
1889 [End of] - Quong Tart opens the King Street Tea House
1897 - Francis McMahon dies aged 82
The Australian Mining Standard 7th of April 1894:
“The Under Secretary for Mines has received the following telegram from Mr. George Maunsell gold warden at Ulladulla : - ‘There are in the neighbourhood of the Clyde alluvial find about 60 men. Eight claims were pegged. Clugston removed the pegs. The spot were the gold was got is known.’ ”
In one of the leading articles of the same date the AMS noted:
“We hope the gold discovery on the Clyde River (N.S.W.) will turn out to be of some considerable account, if only as a sort of compensation for the disappointment that was felt when the first sensational report was officially contradicted by the warden. The press reports were based upon private letters from the prospector Mr. Clugston, who found the gold upon land leased by him from a Mr. McMahon, and these communications would indicate that the discovery is a very valuable one. Mr. Clugston, however, was reticent when the warden wanted to know all about the matter, and that gentleman being unable to obtain any information apparently came to the conclusion that the discovery was ‘no great shakes’ after all. The cold water of the warden has not served to prevent a small rush, but Mr. Clugston has exercised his undoubted rights as holder of the property, and has declined to allow anyone to work upon the ground till he has secured himself. The ground upon which the discovery has been made is freehold property, and Mr. Clugston has not only pulled out the pegs put in by some people who saw where Mr. Clugston had been prospecting adjoining the spot, and judged for themselves the locality of the find upon which information was denied, but has warned off all persons as trespassers. The holders of the property are quite right in making their own portion secure and in preventing any intrusion, but we hope that when they have once obtained the necessary permits to work the ground they will afford every facility to other prospectors to test the adjoining country. There are said to be from 60 to 100 men now on the ground, and the find will probably stimulate the search for gold in the neighbourhood, and lead to further discoveries.”
The Australian Town and Country Journal, of the same date, carried these reports:
“The New Clyde Gold Field
‘OFFICIAL’ CONTRADICTIONS CONTRADICTED.
“THE EVENING NEWS of March 28 contained an interesting account of the discovery of the Clyde gold-field. We give the following acknowledgment:
“During the past few days several telegrams have reached us containing the latest news from Broomin [sic], Clyde River. Mr. Francis M’Mahon, owner of the estate at Brooman on which gold has recently been discovered, has at last received his permit to mine on the land from the Mines Department. Although he was told he might get to work safely without it, as it had been approved, Mr. M’Mahon wisely resolved to leave no loophole for doubt as to the legality of his actions, and has consequently waited for the document’s appearance.
“NELLIGEN, March 29. - There have been a number of men passing through here en route to the field. It is estimated that fully 100 men are camped within easy access of the locality of the find waiting for the field to be thrown open. Mr. M’Mahon has not arrived as yet, but is expected daily.
“NELLIGEN, March 30. - About 100 men are camped at Brooman awaiting Mr. M’Mahon’s arrival. A half-caste named Piety successfully traced the spot where the prospect was found, and Cole and party pegged out eight men’s ground. Clugston at once removed the pegs, and cleared the men off the ground. Later on he put notices up that trespassers would be prosecuted. The paddock where the gold was found is 100 acres in extent. It is supposed to be an old bed of the Clyde River. The men are camped by the roadside, except a few local men, who are allowed to camp in Clugston’s paddock. Great excitement prevailed when the prospect was found, one dish from the surface yielding a fair prospect. Men are still flocking to the field. Mr. M’Mahon is expected every hour.
“NELLIGEN, March 31. - Eight unemployed arrived at Nelligen to-day from Sydney, via Tarago, en route for Brooman; 25 others are on the way. If Mr. M’Mahon does not at once put in an appearance, the men are determined to peg out on the river frontage to the extent of one mile. They claim to be entitled to 100ft. from the river bank, owing to the ground being an old grant. The people are disgusted with the Government for sending the unemployed here.
“LATER. - Thirty-five men arrived here this evening by the steamer Bega from Sydney, en route to Brooman.
“It will be remembered, that because the discovery by Thomas Clugston was not made public ‘officially’ through the Mines Department, many people were inclined to think that the reports were somewhat exaggerated, or even false. However, all such ideas were immediately dismissed when the interview between Mr. M’Mahon, the owner of the property, and an EVENING NEWS representative was published. In that interview Mr. M’Mahon told a most complete story of his connection with the discovery, and furnished documentary evidence, which in every way corroborated what had been reported from the Clyde. It appears that on January 26 Thomas Clugston wrote to Mr. M’Mahon, stating that when getting a drink, he picked up some specks of gold, and found the lead to be a payable one, and asking on what terms he would let him (the writer) work it, or what interest he required. To this Mr. M’Mahon replied, announcing his willingness to enter into any amicable arrangements, and expressing confidence in Mr. Clugston, and concluded by stating that he would take the necessary steps to obtain the required permit from the Government. In answer to which letter Mr. Clugston wrote, on February 19: The depth of sinking is from 8ft and likely to run to 20ft; the washdirt where we have prospected is 2ft 6in in thickness. I see by the papers that the Government is offering L1000 to any person finding a good alluvial field, and as you state as far as gold is concerned it belongs to the Crown, I may be entitled to claim that reward . . . As you have given your word that you will deal fairly with us, I feel every confidence, and I think if we manage things well we will make a good lift.
“It will thus be seen that gold has undoubtedly been found, and that the country only requires to be prospected to be thoroughly opened up.
“The following report from Warden Maunsell, of Ulladulla, has been received by the Mines Department : - ‘Re Clyde alluvial find: About 60 men in the neighborhood; eight claims pegged out. Clugston removed pegs. The spot where the gold was found is known. A constable visits the field weekly.”
The Mines Department continues to send numbers of the unemployed into the country districts to fossick for gold, but passes are now issued to no places nearer Wyalong than Yasson [Yass] on the southern line and Orange on the western. A considerable number of men are obtaining passes to Cooma with the view to crossing over to the Clyde River, where a rich find has recently been reported. Many of the men say that a good living is to be made fossicking in this district, and some who are well acquainted with the character of the country express regret for having left a sure living to try their fortunes in the city.”
The Evening Post, New Zealand, of the 13th April 1894 printed the following:
“Experienced miners regard the Clyde River find as a duffer.”
The Taranaki Herald, New Zealand, of the 14th April 1894 repeated the sentiment:
“Clyde River diggings in New South Wales have proved a duffer.”
The Australian Mining Standard 14th of April 1894:
“CLYDE RIVER RUSH.
THE FIELD PRONOUNCED A DUFFER.
“The latest report from the rush to Brooman, on the Clyde River, states that on the arrival of Mr. McMahon, owner of the property on which the gold was said to have been found, a picked body of men, selected from the 600 men who were eager to get to work on the property, were allowed to put down three trial holes. The wash, 8 in or 9 in through, was struck after shallow sinking and some difficulty with water, and the best results obtained were 2 gr or 3 gr [grains] to the dish, some dishes not yielding even a color. The results of the trial were regarded as very unsatisfactory, and a number of the diggers left in disgust, but tohers are waiting further trials. It is thought that the field is not a poor man’s diggings as heavy machinery will be required to properly test the ground by sinking and to combat water. Mr. McMahon proposes to work the whole of the alluvial flat by sluicing.”
The Australian Town and Country Journal of the same date had quite different news to report:
“News from the field received April 5 states that it must soon be opened, as the miners on the spot are growing very impatient. Clugston’s relatives are flocking to the spot, apparently in order to have first chance of claims. His son-in-law and family passed through Nelligen from Bodalla on April 3.”
“The Clyde River Gold Find.
A PERMIT TO MINE GRANTED.
FOUR HUNDRED AT BROOMAN.
RUSH TO THE VICINITY.
“It has been decided, we understand, to grant Mr. M’Mahon, the owner of the property on which gold has been discovered at the Clyde River, a permit to mine for the same. Under this permit it will be possible for arrangements to be made with miners to enter upon the land to carry out mining operations. According to the warden’s report there are now 150 men camped in the vicinity of the property, which consists of two old Crown grants of 640 acres each.
“MILTON, April 6. - Many men are passing through daily en route to the Clyde River gold find, where, it is expected, there will be fully 500 men by Saturday next. The men say that unless the land, which is private property, is thrown open by Monday next they will rush it. A number of men are about to prospect the property of Mr. Thomas Hobbs, adjoining the land held by Clugston.
“NOWRA, - Fully 70 men, fully equipped, have arrived here during the last few days bound for the Clyde River. A number of Shoalhaven residents also have gone out.”
“NELLIGEN, April 6. - About 200 men are camped in and around Brooman, 50 of whom are Sydney unemployed. The numbers are increasing daily. Owing to the rumor that the men intend rushing the ground on Monday next, if M’Mahon did not put in an appearance, police protection was applied for, and five officers from surrounding stations are camped at Brooman; two more are expected to-day. Sergeant Bragg, of Moruya, is in charge. There are a few rowdies on the field, but the conduct of the men in general is excellent under the circumstances. It is rumored that the police authorities in Sydney have been asked to try and induce M’Mahon to come at once; should he refrain from doing so longer livelier times are expected. Mr. Thomas Hobbs, J.P., of Milton, has given about 30 men permission to prospect on his private property, situated close to M’Mahon’s, on the opposite side of the river. No successful results were reported up to last night.
“Mr. Maunsell, warden at Ulladulla, has just received a wire from Mr. M’Mahon, owner of the land on which the gold has been discovered, stating that he will leave Sydney on Tuesday next, and arrive at Brooman on Wednesday. Mr. M’Mahon has obtained a permit to mine.
“NELLIGEN, April 7. - Sixty men arrived per steamer Bega to-day, en route to Brooman. Fully 400 are expected to be on the ground by Monday next.
“The men were informed last night that Mr. M’Mahon would arrive at Brooman on Wednesday next. All were delighted with the news, and to-day everybody seems satisfied and orderly.
“Warden Maunsell left here at noon to-day for Brooman.
“NELLIGEN, April 9. - There are about 400 men at Brooman to-day. The Sydney unemployed are arriving in large numbers. A yacht with 10 men aboard arrived at Nelligen last night en route to Brooman. They report leaving Botany on Wednesday last and of having had a fairly good passage. A number of the men who left Wyalong are passing through here to Brooman. Everything is quiet on the field.”
There has been a lot of speculation as to whether the second rush was fabricated by Clugston in an effort to make money, but I believe the fact that his relatives, and particularly his daughter and her family, had rushed to the area to be first in line is a good indication that the find was genuine. Map of the Clyde River Gold Field.
The Taranaki Herald, New Zealand, ran the following item on the 17th April 1894:
“The Clyde River rush has proved a duffer, and is nearly deserted. Much destitution is prevalent. The diggers are eating corn in the cob, and the majority are begging their passage back to town”
The same article, almost verbatim was reprinted in the Taupeka Times and Goldfields Reporter and Advertiser, New Zealand, on the 21st April 1894.
The Australian Town and Country Journal ran an interesting report, on the 21st of April 1894, which described the yacht’s, mentioned above, journey to the Clyde River from Botany Bay:
A correspondent supplies the following interesting account of a trip by water from Botany Bay to the Brooman gold-field, Clyde River. While fishing out off Botany Bay with F. Beiger in his sloop, the Rambler, and business in that line not being very good, a party was organised by his son Anthony and some of his friends and fellow workers to proceed to Brooman gold-field. Accordingly, on the last day of March the boat was laid up for a few days and preparations made for the trip. Tools and provisions having been purchased and put on board, miners’ rights for seven were received, the party made a start from Botany wharf on Wednesday afternoon, April 4, at, at half-past 2 o’clock, with the good wishes of many friends assembled on the wharf. The breeze being fair we soon cleared the heads and stood out to sea, and at sundown the boat was off Coalcliff. The wind having then died away to mere catspaws, and the vessel rolling about a good deal, some of our members showed signs of sickness. However, we carried on all night, and by morning were well south of Kiama. We had light and variable winds during Thursday, the 5th, and early in the afternoon passed Crookhaven lighthouse. Laid a course to Shoalhaven Bight, and made Jervis Bay at sundown on the second day out, or 28 hours from starting. We carried on all that night, and the wind hauling into the S.S.W. obliged us to stand well off the land. By daylight we were almost out of sight of it, and on making it again we found we were not many miles on our proper course. However, when the sun got up we had a light westerly, by which we ran into Wreck Bay. Here we went ashore for the first time, all hands bathed, and the water tanks were refilled. We also had a good meal there, our sick people having recovered somewhat by then. Early in the morning before our arrival in Wreck Bay, while standing in, the cook was preparing to make coffee, when the boat gave a lurch, and the firepot, which was on the half-deck, went overboard. This deprived us of that luxury for the time being, but making Ulladulla that same evening we soon had another made. One other incident is worthy of mention, viz., an enormous whale of the sperm or right species, and also a shoal of porpoises followed and played around the boat the whole way from Jervis Bay to Ulladulla. Making fast at the wharf of the latter place telegrams were dispatched to friends in Botany of our safe arrival so far. The Illawarra Steam Co.’s steamer Bega came in that same night, and on landing her passengers we counted some 50 men with  tools and swags go up the wharf, evidently intending to make overland to the field. However,, having procured some fish bait we set sail once more and when five miles down the coast from our last port of call we were off Boreal. We lay to as the wind was very light, and began fishing. We soon had four dozen splendid shnapper on deck, and the sport of catching them, and the after prospect of a good meal kept all hands on the quivive. We then took to the oars and pulled to Brush Island, and came to anchor almost 4 o’clock p.m. on Saturday. Some of the party went ashore looking for goats. As the tide was low on the bar we made snug for the night. Before turning in, as there was a clear bottom under us, we could see some very large sharks swimming about. Some of them must have been from 12 to 15ft. long This induced one of our party to rig up a line with a large hook and strong wire mounting. His bait was soon taken, and after a desperate struggle with one of the monsters, during which he was nearly overboard more than once, he staggered backward, the hook having been bitten clean off. On the morning of Sunday, the 8th, we had been fishing for flathead and had secured nine dozen in about three-quarters of an hour. These were salted and packed in a harness cask. We then crossed the bar at Bateman’s Bay. The inhabitants turned out in force to watch the sloop go up the river, and we were fortunate in having a good wind for sailing a considerable distance against the tide. On the wind falling, and the tide being too strong, we landed for tea. Whilst this was preparing some of the party procured oysters and others took a dish and went prospecting in a very likely place but without success. While we were having tea on board the rising tide caused the boat to swing out into the stream, and the light failing at the same time, we started to pull. After we had been rowing for nearly an hour we noticed certain lights on the river bank which finally convinced us that we had been pulling in the wrong direction. We at once put about, and had the satisfaction of pulling back over the same waters, but at a much quicker pace, as we were on the back of a spring flood. Without further mishap we arrived at Nelligen about 10 p.m. and made fast for the night to the wharf. Early on Monday morning, we proceeded a mile up the river, and breakfasted; and shortly after resuming our journey, two rowing boats passed us, each with passengers and stores, evidently bound for the field also. At 1 p.m. we arrived at Sewbridge’s [Shoebridge’s] saw mill, 13 miles from Nelligen; and this proved, after inquiry, to be the end of our water journey. Next day we started for Brooman Gold Fields, humping our blueys.”
The Australian Mining Standard 21st of April 1894:
“THE CLYDE GOLD RUSH.
THE FIELD CONDEMNED AND PRACTICALLY DESERTED.
“THE latest reports from Brooman confirm the previous opinion as to the Clyde River goldfield. Mr. John Chicken, an experienced miner, who was on Mr. M’Mahon’s property at the Clyde River for a week, states that when Mr. M’Mahon gave the men permission to test the ground they cleared out the prospector’s shaft, which had been filled up, and washed about 50 dishes of dirt, only getting about two grains of gold in the best dish, and in the majority of dishes nothing more than ‘colors,’ the samples being water-worn gold. Mr. M’Mahon then gave permission to the men to sink two shafts further up the river, but they only bottomed one, which took 12 men a day to sink 10ft or 12ft, the water being so troublesome. The result only gave a few ‘colors’ to the dish. Nearly the whole of the men who rushed to the field have left again, many of them being in distress and having to beg their way back to their homes. The Warden induced three parties of six men each to prospect Cockwhy and Temon Creeks, in the neighbourhood, and a syndicate has been formed to work the flat where the gold was first discovered by sluicing. This, so far, is the only outcome of the rush and the excitement attaching to it.”
The Australian Town and Country Journal of the same date carried the following report:
“NELLIGEN, April 17. - Two syndicates have been formed to work the river bed at Brooman. Eight claims, including the prospector’s, have been pegged out north from the prospector’s claim, one syndicate having 36 men’s ground and the other 12. Both syndicates have amalgamated to cut a kilrace to drain their ground, commencing at No. 1 claim. A start was made to cut yesterday afternoon. They intend erecting machinery if required. About 80 men are still camped at Brooman, and fully 150 are prospecting on the adjoining Crown lands. The men remaining are practical miners with a little money. The majority of the men who left Brooman have gone to prospect on Little River [Mongarlowe], near Braidwood. The police are leaving the field to-day, everything being quiet. Sergeant Bragg (Moruya), Sykes (Nowra), Senior-constable Penlington (Milton), and Constables Colyer (Nelligen), and Wilkinson (Ulladulla), who have been on the field for nearly three weeks, deserve praise for the manner in which they performed their duties. By their kind advice to the miners many threatening difficulties were overcome.”
And so the story of the second rush at Brooman ends in a dignified whimper, but prospecting and mining in the area continued as the above article reports.
In Gold Nuggets found in NSW, Minfact no. 53, NSW Department of Mines, 2000; it is stated that ‘Several Nuggets’ were found at Fenian Gully in 1899.
The Braidwood Dispatch, of 12th August 1899, reported:
“Application having been made by Mr. J. Bravan for aid from the prospecting vote to enable him to cut a tunnel to prove land near which rich gold nuggets have been obtained from time to time near the Clyde river in the Brooman neighbourhood, an officer came down last week-end to inspect with a view to furnishing a report to his Department. It would bee good to have the auriferous and alluvial country in that locality systematically treated, for the general opinion is that gold is there.”
During the same period an application was made to dredge the Clyde River as this report from the Shoalhaven Telegraph, 26th August 1899, states:
“DREDGING LEASE. - Mr. Alex. Fraser, representing a Sydney Syndicate, made application for 300 acres, comprising about 7 miles of the Clyde River, from Shallow Crossing to Brooman, for gold dredging purposes. The many well-known gold-carrying tributaries running into the upper Clyde, point to the probability of something good on the tapis. - Braidwood Dispatch.”
In the Annual Report of the NSW Department of mines for 1905, the following report appeared:
p. 21.
“Nelligen Division
“AT Brooman, about 30 miles from Nelligen, several reefs have been opened up in new country, and aid from the Prospecting Vote has been allotted to further prove their value.”
On the 26th of August the Shoalhaven Telegraph reported on the Turnastone Mine at Bridge Creek:
“Mining at Brooman.
 “Mr. W. Simpson, who is now engaged on a gold-mining sluicing proposition at Bridge Creek, Brooman, waxes enthusiastic about the prospects. He thinks the party, known as the Turnastone Gold Mining Company, is in for big things. A dam has been constructed, with a capacity of millions of gallons of water, over two miles in length [sic], and an engine, 76 h.p. has been installed, capable of throwing 32,000 gallons per hour to a height of 300ft, its capacity being 120 lb to the square inch. The pipe line is nearing completion. However, that power is scarcely necessary, as not more than 45ft to 60ft is required. It is stated that the company is being capitalised to the extent of L50,000, and it is expected that operations will be in full swing by the middle of next month, when the company hopes to lift much of the precious metal.”
The NSW Department of Mines Annual Report for 1931:
p.13.
“Milton Division. - A fair amount of prospecting was carried out in the vicinity of Bridge Creek, Clyde River ..... “
There were actually two leases in the vicinity of Bridge Creek, not surprisingly GL’s 1 and 2. The lease plan for GL 1 is no. G21315 whilst for GL 2 it is No. G21503.
If you are researching your family history in the Clyde River area be sure to have a look at our index to landholders.
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