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 The existence of Coal in the Ulladulla district was first brought to the public’s attention by William Marks who wrote the following letter which was published in the Illawarra Mercury, 19th of November 1861:
“COAL NEAR ULLADULLA.
(To the Editor of the ‘Illawarra Mercury.’)
“SIR, - as it may be a matter of considerable importance to our district that it should be generally known that coal appears plentiful at Yadboro. I beg permission, through your columns, to call public attention to the fact, and would suggest to my neighbours the advisability of encouraging some competent geologist, or practical miners, to test the capabilities of our district. Mr. John Taylor, of Kiama, would be probably a very suitable person.
“I am informed by Mr. James Warden, J.P., that many coal miners had expressed an opinion that coal existed at the very heads of our harbour; and he states that what is found near the Pigeon House burns with a clear steady flame like a candle.
“It is also currently believed that Gold has been found thereabouts, and this seems very probable from the volcanic aspect of the Pigeon House, its proximity to a known gold-field; the existence of the usual indications - slate and quartz - and the undoubted evidences surrounding Ulladulla evidential of our nearness to an auriferous region. It seems to me that the period has arrived, when the mineral wealth of the country will, , and should be, exhumed. Mining operations, I conjecture, will be the most successful for several years to come. If, then, payable coal and gold-fields exist in our neighbourhood, it would be of immense importance both locally and generally. I hope to visit the Pigeon House soon with several gentlemen, and with your permission I will faithfully record ‘my impressions’ of it.
“W. MARKS.”
In 1883 Mr. C.S. McGlue donated carboniferous fossils collected from the head of the Clyde River, to the Department of Mines; Annual Report, NSW Department of Mines, 1883, p. 163.
 The mine known as Rixon’s Coal Mine was discovered in September 1883 by Messrs. George Webb, E. Webb, and William Rixon. The discovery caused so much excitement and obvious optimism in the district that a public meeting was convened in Milton by the Mayor which was reported in the Shoalhaven Telegraph of the 1st May 1884:
“A public meeting, convened by the Mayor, on requisition, ‘for the purpose of considering the advantage that would accrue to the district by offering every inducement to the newly formed Coal Mining Company, by making the Port of Ulladulla their shipping place.’ was held at the School of Arts, Milton, on Monday night last.
“There was a good number of persons present.
“The Mayor, (Alderman G. Millard) took the chair, and after reading the requisition calling upon him to convene the meeting, asked Mr. William Rixon, one of the pioneers and promoters of the proposed company, to lay before the meeting any information that he was possessed of in reference to the question.
“Mr. Rixon stated that the mine was about 15 miles from Ulladulla, and from 25 to 30 miles from Jervis Bay. The thickness of the seams from base to the top was 96 feet, not all one seam, but in several sections, sandstone, shale and coal. Mr. Norman Taylor, from Melbourne, had reported most favourably on the prospects, stating there were no better in the colony, and that the shale was superior to that at Joadja Creek. There would be 8 men at work in a day or two. They were going to make a further test of the coal and shale as soon as the men had unearthed a quantity. It was contemplated, as practicable, to make the shipping port Ulladulla by way of the Gap through Petty’s and the main road to the harbour. The mine was at the head of the Clyde River, in the parishes of Endrick and Yadboro, the nearest township being Milton.
Mr. McMahon, J.P., moved, Captain Millard, J.P., seconded, and Messrs. J. Miller, J.P., and Thomas Mitchell supported the following resolution, which was carried, ‘That whereas a large coal field has been discovered in this locality, it is the opinion of this meeting that Ulladulla Harbour is the nearest port for the Coal Company to ship their coal from and they pledge themselves to aid by petitioning the Government to improve the harbour for the requirements of a coal trade, and that the inhabitants offer every facility to induce the Company to erect a tramway through the district to the port.’
“Mr. Rixon thanked the meeting for the interest taken in the project, and pledged himself to do all in his power to make Ulladulla the shipping port.
“A vote of thanks to the Mayor terminated the proceedings.”
Henry John Rixon had arrived at Yadboro, c.1856, with his wife Mary Elizabeth (nee Seekings) and their children. William thier son was born near Eden in 1846 and had married his second wife Charlotte Alcorn at Woodburn in 1880. Henry John died in 1884.
Taylor’s letter to W. McLean regarding the seam was also published in the same issue, in which he gives a geological appraisal of the area and also states that six 80 acre blocks have already been taken up.
 The discovery attracted more widespread interest as Henry Moss, of Nowra, gives notice in the same issue of a Public meeting to procure a Government diamond drill to test the rest of the Shoalhaven district. There were no more reports for that year as the newspapers were filled with speculation about coal being present at Jervis Bay, right on the shores of the most suitable port for transportation to markets, both colonial and international.
The Annual report of the NSW Department of Mines, 1885, carried a report by C.S. Wilkinson on the coal seams:
pp. 131 - 132.
“APPENDIX B.
Report upon the Coal-seams discovered in the Milton and Ulladulla
District, near Jervis Bay.
“Sir, Department of Mines, Sydney, 30 March, 1885.
“In accordance with your instructions, I have inspected the coal-seams which have been discovered near the head of the Clyde River, in the Milton and Ulladulla District.
“The Clyde River takes its rise in some peat-bog swamps, on a high tableland, consisting of the Hawkesbury sandstone formation, near the Sassafras Mountain. The waters draining from several of these swamps unite within 2 or 3 miles from their source, and have eroded a precipitous ravine about 600 feet deep, at the bottom of which the coal-seams crop out.
“The section exposed in this ravine shows about 300 feet of Hawkesbury sandstones and conglomerates, resting on about 200 feet of conglomerates, sandstones, and shales, containing marine fossils (Spirifers, Productus, Fenestella, &c.), of carboniferous age; below these are 120 feet of bituminous shales and sandstones, with interstratified seams of coal.
“The lowest of the coal-seams, No. 1, gives the following section, commencing about 20 feet below the section measured by Mr. Norman Taylor, F.G.S., as quoted in the accompanying extract from the Milton and Ulladulla Times, which publishes Mr. Taylor’s report, made for a company in Goulburn who have selected 1,920 acres of the land in this locality : -
“Dark grey sandy shales...............................(Roof)
ft. in.
Bituminous coal (sample A)........................... 3 3
Black coaly shale....................................... 0 8
Splint coal.............................................. 0 6 1/2
Coaly shale.............................................. 0 6 1/2
Splint coal (Sample B)................................. 1 0
Black coaly shale....................................... 0 5
Splint coal (Sample C)................................. 0 7 1/2
Coaly sandy shale...................................... 4 0
Bituminous coal........................................ 1 8
Coaly sandy shale...................................... 2 8
Bituminous coal........................................ 0 9
Shale and sandstone................................... 30 0
Coarse pebble conglomerate......................... 8 0
“About 50 feet above this is the No. 2 seam, from 2 feet 11 inches to 3 feet 2 inches thick, of good bright bituminous coal, suitable for steam, cooking, gas, smelting, and household purposes (sample D), and similar in quality to No. 1 seam (sample A).
“In addition to these seams there is one 2 feet thick, and several others of less thickness; but though they contain coal of good quality they occur too far apart from each other to be worked as one seam, and therefore could not be profitably worked. Associated with them are some layers of inferior kerosene shale, the best of which is from 6 inhes to 12 inches thick. (See analysis of sample E.)
“The upper portion of No. 1 seam, which contains 4 feet 9 inches of workable coal, will yield after due allowance for loss and waste in getting, at the rate of 3,778 tons of large coal and 1,259 tons of small coal per acre.
“Taking the No. 2 seam as 3 feet thick, it will yield after due allowance for loss, &c., at the rate of 2,352 tons of large coal, and 783 tons of small coal per acre.....
“The strata undulate slightly; where No. 1 seam crops out of the dip is E 35 degrees S at 3 degrees, and at the outcrop of No. 2, about 10 chains higher up the river. is at W 15 degrees S at 3 degrees; in some other places the strata are nearly horizontal.
“From here the coal could be conveyed by a line of railway about 26 miles long to the large shipping port of Jervis Bay, or else by a shorter route to the harbour of Ulladulla. I have not personally examined these routes, but I am informed that they present no engineering difficulties for the construction of lines of railway.
“”The coal measures overlaid by the Hawkesbury sandstone formation extend much nearer to the coast in the direction of Jervis Bay and Ulladulla, but whether the seams of coal are continuous also, as they probably are, can only be proved by boring or sinking. To the westward the Coal Measures do not extend beyond Narriga [Nerriga], where the Siluro-Devonian gold-bearing formation rises to the surface.
“However, the occurrence now ascertained of workable coal seams in this district almost upon the southern margin of our great coal formation, and accessible to one of the finest harbours upon the coast of New South Wales, is one of considerable importance, though the seams are not so thick as those of the more northerly coal-fields of Illawarra and Newcastle.
“They were discovered about sixteen months ago by Messrs. George and E. Webb and W. Rixon, who, having previously found rolled framents of coal in the bed of the Clyde River, at last succeeded in tracing them to their source.
“Mount Sassafras is the highest point on the watershed between the Clyde River and Yalwal Creek, which is a tributary of the Shoalhaven River. It is of volcanic origin, and consists of a mass of intrusive basalt, rising several hundred feet higher than the tableland of Hawkesbury sandstone which surrounds it. The decomposing basalt produces rich chocolate soil, as may be seen on the farms belonging to Mr. Gregg and Mr. Halley, and where the ground has not been cleared there is a forest of fine timber.
“The Hawkesbury sandstone formation has in places been eroded into deep gorges resembling those in the Blue mountains.
“I have, &c.
C.S. WILKINSON,
Geological Surveyor in Charge.”
 In 1885 the assay results of four samples of Clyde River bituminous coal were also published in the NSW Department of Mines Annual Report. p. 27, the same year in which Wilkinson, the Government Geological Surveyor, inspected the leases. His comments were published in and advertisement for The Tianjara and Jervis Bay Coal Company, printed in the Shoalhaven Telegraph of 1st January 1890. This new company was being promoted by, mainly, local businessmen:
- John MacLean, of Nowra, Managing Director
- D.L. Dymock, Esq., of Jamberoo, Director
- J. Green, Esq., J.P., of Nowra, Director
- W. Kennedy, Esq., of Bomaderry, Director
- Stephen Major, Esq., of Kiama, Director
- W. F. Martin, Esq., of ‘Sherbrook’, Ashfield, Director
- W. McCourt, Esq., M.P., of Sydney, Director
- James Monaghan, Esq., J.P., of Nowra, Director
- James Stewart, Esq,. of Berry, Director
- John Stewart, Esq., of Berry, Director
- R.T. Thorburn, Esq., of Nowra, Director
All of the local men had been involved with mining interests at Yalwal. The capital of the new company was to be L 10,000 in L5 shares.
It is presumed that some work was done by the company as there are four adits, including Rixon’s, in the vicinity but we are unable to state this confidently as we cannot put a date on when the work was actually carried out.
A letter regarding the company was published in the Shoalhaven Telegraph on the 8th January 1890:
“The Tianjara and Jervis Bay Coal
Company.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SHOALHAVEN TELEGRAPH.
“SIR, - As an old resident of Shoalhaven and the South Coast I am right glad to see that some of our residents are at last taking a practical step to further develope [sic] the resources of our magnificent district. The size of the Shoalhaven district is large extending from the mountains 30 miles back, to the sea coast and from the Crooked River north, to Broomon [Brooman] on the South. In this area there is much tableland , poor compared with the alluvial flats and volcanic ridges. But then if these heights contain the black diamonds, as the hills do at Wollongong what, a crown of glory that will be to the district ? What would Wollongong be but for its coal ? It has but a narrow strip of alluvial or volcanic land between the ranges and the coast. It has no natural harbours.. But there the coal has been the most potent factor in pushing the district forward. The opening of the coal mines employs a large number of men. Employing men means the payment weekly or monthly of large sums of money. The store keepers, the butchers, the bakers, and all classes of producers and vendors of merchandise gather strength from a wage-earning industry such as the opening of coal mines bear Nowra.
“The impetus that coal mining, aye, the opening of a single mine gives to Bulli and Clifton and other parts of Wollongong is wonderful.
“Now in this district we grow corn and make butter. These are very good industries, especially the butter which brings in something every day, but corn grows and yield only once a year.
“We have fine natural harbours at Crookhaven, the River itself, and Jervis Bay. We ought therefore to have no trouble in developing a coal trade if we are sure that we have marketable coal.
“Have we in the district 100 or 150 persons willing to pay one pound a month or so to prove their district by boring ? The individual outlay would be small. If coal were found their out-outlay [sic] would be repaid tenfold. If no coal were found, they would be in a position to gauge the resources of the district.
“There seems to be every reason to believe that we have this coal close to us. If we have it, our nearness to Melbourne, but above all our fine harbours will give us a ready advantage over the northern coalfields, upon the harbours near to which so much public money had to be spent, , before coal could be shipped.
“Let us hope sir, that your storekeepers, your tradesmen and all classes whose interests are mutual in the progress of the district, will apply will apply for and take up shares to help on the enterprising men who have already spent their money on the Tianjara and Jervis Bay Coal-Company.
“I am. etc.,
NOWRA.”
 The area was subject to official investigation in c.1890 when several bores were sunk to determine the extent of the measures. The Shoalhaven Telegraph of the 29th October 1890 carried the following:
“Our Coal Measures.
AN IMPORTANT REPORT.
“The Minister for Mines has received a detailed report on the coal measures of the Shoalhaven district and on the Wandrawandian [Wandandian] bore near Nowra by Geological Surveyors T.W. Edgeworth David, B.A., F.G.S., and G.A. Stonier. The report is an interesting and important one and the following summary has been furnished to the press.
“For many years past there has been a great uncertainty as to the mutual relations of the two sets of coal measures existing in this district and also as to the relation of both the preceding and those of the Newcastle district. In the Newcastle district there are three sets of productive coal measures - (1) the Newcastle, (2) the Tomago and (3) the Greta (the lowest and oldest set). In the Illawarra and Shoalhaven district there are two - (1) the Bulli coal measures and (2) the Clyde coal measures.
“It has long been a vexed question as to whether the Bulli coal measures were the same as the Clyde coal measures and identical with the Greta measures, or whether the Clyde measures were distinct from the Bulli and below them, in which latter case the Clyde measures would probably be the equivalent of the Greta measures, and the Bulli measures the equivalent either of the Newcastle coal measures or of the Tomago coal measures. There is obviously a vast and important differences [sic] between these two alternatives. If the former were true then there would probably be no productive whatever below the Bulli coal measures, whereas if the latter were true there might be an extensive coalfield below the level of the Bulli coal measures.
“Quite recently Mr. C.S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., in company with Mr. Geological Surveyor Stonier, examined the Clyde coal measures, and believing them to be probably the Greta measures and therefore below the Bulli, recommended that iad should be given out of the prospecting vote towards putting down a bore at Wandawandrian Creek [Wandandian Creek], near Nowra. This geological examination has now been completed by Messrs. David and Stonier, and the fresh evidence which they have been able to gather entirely confirms the theory as to the identity of the Clyde coal measures with the Greta. The Bulli coal measures ascend from sea level near Clifton to a height of about 1700ft. above sea level in the Jamberoo Mountains, and thence extend horizontally to the top of the gap in the Cambewarra Ranges on the road from Nowra to Moss Vale, where they are still about 1700ft. above sea level. The Bulli coal measures terminate abruptly in the steep escarpment of the latter ranges overlooking Nowra. The seams here are much damaged by intrusive dykes of volcanic rock which have arisen from great depths through fissures and spread along the seams and burnt part of the coal and rendered the remainder more or less stony.
“Below the Bulli coal measures at Cambewarra and between their last point of outcrop here and the head of the Clyde River the geological surveyors estimate that there is a thickness of 4000 feet of strata separating the Bulli coal measures from the Clyde coal measures, of which thickness the upper 1000ft. is composed of two sheets of dense lava, separated from one another by a thick bed of red tuff (volcanic ash). These are classed as - (1) The Bombo lava, the well-known blue metal quarried at Bombo, &c., near Kiama, (2) The red tuffs, and (3) The Kiama lava. These lava and volcanic ash beds were erupted before the Bulli coal measures were formed and after the formation of the Clyde measures. Below the volcanic series are marine strata crowded with fossil shells and having an approximate thickness of 3000ft. Coal seams outcrop from below these marine strata, at the head of the Clyde River and at Conjola, near Milton. The coal seams rest almost immediately on the upturned edges of slate rock with quartz reefs, which in places are gold-bearing. The thickest layer of clean coal at the Clyde is 3ft 3in., and the total amount of coal in the measures is about 9ft., with a thin seam of inferior kerosene shale at the top of the measures. At Conjola there is a total thickness of only about 2ft. 3in. of coal. At West Maitland, however, and Greta, in these same measures there is a thickness of from 17ft. up to 43ft. of coal. It is thought to be probable that the Clyde coal will thicken and improve in quality towards the dip, the latter being from the Clyde towards the ocean in an east-north-east direction at the rate of about 200ft. per mile.
“In parts of this coal basin hills of slate rise above its general level, and in such cases the coal seams do not ascend over the top of the slate hills, but thin out at their base. As the thick strata in the marine series in most places have completely buried these slate hills, so that they make no visible outcrop, it is obvious that by mischance the spot where a bore for coal is started may be situated just over one of these underground hummocks or hills of slate, and so may strike a barren patch devoid of coal. Such a mischance is, however, less likely to occur towards the central portion of this coal basin than near its edges. The bore now in progress at Wandra Wandrian Creek [Wandandian Creek] is down 1000ft., and it is estimated that it may have to be continued to a depth of perhaps 2000ft. before the horizon of the coal is reached, the advice given being to continue the bore until it strikes, coal, slate, or volcanic rock. The report concludes as follows -
“ ‘If conclusions arrived at by us as stated in this report are correct there is probably a vast coalfield extending extending in the form of one or more basins from near Ulladulla on the south to Maitland on the north and westwards from the seaboard to at least as far as the foot of the Blue Mountains. A large area of this coalfield probably lies within a depth of 4000ft. below the surface, the assumed maximum depth down to which coal can be profitably worked, , even with the best modern appliances. There may, however, be a far larger area of this coalfield , in which the depth of the Clyde and Greta coal exceeds 4000ft. , Under Sydney, for instance, the depth of the Greta coal, if it underlies this area, and has not thinned out against a possible hill of slate or granite, &c., would probably be not less than 7000ft. at which depth the temperature of the rocks and coal would probably be above that of boiling water. In View, however, of the great progress which mining engineering has made of late years in improving the ventilation of mines, it is possible that in the future coal will be worked to depths exceeding 4000ft. The principal tract in the southern coalfield, in which the Clyde coal measures may be expected to be met with at depths less than 4000ft., lies between the Clyde River, Ulladulla, and Wollongong, the fine harbour of Jervis Bay lying within this area. If, therefore, workable coal can be procured in the present bore the estimates previously formed of the quantity of unworked coal in the country available for future use must be considerably increased, and the national assets in coal will consequently be far greater than formerly supposed. Even should the present bore prove a failure from some of the possible mischances alluded to above, it would not of course prove the non-existence of coal in this basin, but rather a local thinning of the measures at the spot where the bore was put down.
“ ‘As regards the probable depth of coal at Jervis Bay, it would be premature to attempt to calculate it exactly until the completion of the Wandrawandandian [Wandandian] bore. At Huskisson, on the west side of Jervis Bay, a bore has already been put down to a depth of nearly 2000 feet, without reaching coal, and this is quite in accord with the surface geological evidence, as according to the direction and dip of the coal from the Clyde and Conjola towards Huskisson, its depth at the last place would exceed 2000ft.
“ ‘Our recent observations in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven districts appear to us to have supplied the last piece of evidence necessary to complete the preliminary correlation of the Paleozoic coal fields of New South Wales, so far as relates to the northern, southern, western, and south-western coal fields. The discovery by us of the fossil plant, glossopteris and gangamopteris (?), in the coal measures at Conjola and the Clyde, when added to the evidence previously collected, enables us confidently to correlate the Clyde measures with the Greta coal measures.
“ ‘It is by no means certain that the Greta coal measures extend in an unbroken basin from the Clyde to Maitland and from Penrith to Sydney,as shown on the above sections as their continuity may be broken by underground ridges and islands of slaterock, &c., perhaps to such an extent as to produce a number of isolated basins rather than a single continuous one. The evidence for the correlation of these coal fields was collected principally by the Rev. W.B. Clarke, F.R.S., and it is to him that the credit of the preliminary correlation lately originated by us is principally done. The geological observations of Mr. C.S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., and the paleontological researches of Mr. R. Etheridge, jun., have largely contributed to this end and we have freely stated ourselves of the results of their labors when compiling the above report.’ ”
The full report was published in the Department of Mines Annual Report for 1890. pp. 244-255.
In Decmber 1907 Mr. D. White applied for ML 1, parish of Endrick, and although it was surveyed it is unclear whether the lease was granted.
In 1909 Mr. D. White again applied for the 320 acre Mineral Lease, ML 1, to mine for coal in the parish of Endrick but this was declared void on the 18th of August 1909. S.E. Laidley then applied for the same lease in September but the application was refused in November 1909.
On the 19th of April 1911 an article was published on the front page of the Shoalhaven Telegraph which revived interest in the area:
“The Sassafras-Clyde Coal Field.
“Extensive coal measures are known to exist at the head of the Clyde River, at Sassafras, within easy distance of Jervis Bay, the finest over-sea port on the Australian coast. Unfortunately, these coal measures have not received the attention their importance from an economic point of view demands, but with Jervis Bay as the Federal port it is only reasonable to assume that the hidden resources in the immediate neighbourhood will before long be exploited. Lying, as the coalfield does, midway between the Federal port and territory, its development is only a matter of time. The following informative article on the extent and possibilities of the field is from the pen of Mr. Charles A. Harper. Licensed Surveyor, who may be taken as writing with some authority :
“This coal field is in the County of St. Vincent, and embraces an area of at least 400 square miles, included in several Parishes. The surface is an elevated plateau of moorland, comparatively valueless from an agricultural or pastoral view, and comprises the main catchment area of the Clyde River, at it head, discharging its waters into Bateman’s Bay. Up to the present time no attempt has been made to open up and develop this coalfield, which extends northerly towards Jervis Bay, southerly towards Braidwood, south-easterly to within a short distance of the town of Milton.
“At only a few places are the coal bearing strata laid bare, the chief of which is in a gorge or canyon cut through the overlying sandstone, by the denuding action of the Clyde River throughout countless ages of time to a depth of nearly one thousand feet. Through this gorge the Clyde River flows for several miles, and unless almost insuperable difficulties impossible to traverse even on foot, and it is very doubtful if anyone - white or black - ever followed its bed for any distance, piled as it is with huge boulders fallen from its sides; and only by extreme care, and some danger, can the descent of the gorge be made to the only point where the coal measures are exposed to view.
“Immediately below this immense thickness of overlying sandstone strata, and almost on a level with the running water, are first seen the coal measures. In in [sic] tercalated shales, below the sandstone, is a thick seam of superior coal 20 inches thick; a foot or two below is a seam of similar quality 26 to 30 inches thick, and below that a few feet, and further down the river, is a seam, 6 feet thick, of excellent coal, a solid mass, without a break or ‘chitter’ band from top to bottom. What may be deeper down in the strata can only be determined by boring down, but we may reasonably conclude there are other seams below. The river gorge can be followed for many miles along its northern summit, in a south-easterly direction towards and past the Pigeon House maintain [sic], which is the most conspicuous landmark in the district, then the cliffs or bluffs leave the course of the Clyde and take a northerly strike, as seen to the west when travelling from Milton to Nowra. These overlying beds of carboniferous sandstones - some of which contain the fossil remains of marine organisms - have apparently never been disturbed or tilted to any extent during their upheaval, as their whole area is practically horizontal.
“These coal measures, or coal bearing strata, must outcrop beneath the base of the cliffs which surround this plateau on the Pigeon House side, as also on its eastern or Milton side, and it is evident that the upper seams could be worked and the coal exploited from the locality of the Pigeon House to within 15 miles of Jervis Bay, by tunnelling, thus obviating the use of expensive winding and pumping gear, securing economy in working costs. Having in view the horizontal or level conditions of the overlying strata, we can conclude, from known outcrops, that the coal seams are practically horizontal, and by obtaining above the sea level of the points where the coal seams are exposed in the gorge or canyon of the Clyde, and determining a similar altitude under the buffs 12 or 13 miles north-westerly, we should - and undoubtedly would - find the outcrops of the coal-bearing strata.
“There are three different trading outlets from this coal-field. The largest, safest, and best, is the federal port of Jervis Bay, where ships of any carrying capacity or tonnage, could load expeditiously. At Ulladulla ships up to 1000 tons could load, by increasing the wharfage facilities. At the head of the navigable waters of the Clyde, coal barges up to 2000 tons, or sea going vessels up to 500 tons, could load at no great distance from the southern end of the coalfield.
“These ports of outlet posses many decided advantages over the ports of the northern coalfields, as being days nearer to Melbourne, Adelaide, the Leuin, and the western ports of Australia, thus saving considerable expense to shipowners, and the coal is proved by analysis to be equal, if not superior, to anything yet found in Australia, for steam and general purposes. Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that in the future, both the Federal port of Jervis Bay and Ulladulla will become two of the greatest centres of manufacturing industry in the Southern Hemisphere. Another important factor towards that end is that in the Clyde River ravine water power is now going to waste sufficient to produce thousands of horse power, and would be capable of developing electricity enough to illuminate all the mines and drive all the machinery necessary to work and develop them, with plenty of power to spare for other purposes. This river takes its rise in an immense area of swamp and bog land, thus assuring a regular and constant supply of water for this purpose. The value of this immense coalfield, untouched and undeveloped as it is, must add millions sterling to the wealth of the future generations of the State, no matter what racial changes may take place in the people of the Commonwealth, be they of British, German, or Japanese descent.”
A remarkably optimistic and simplistic projection is outlined by Harper.
His full report was published in the Department of Mines Annual Report for 1912, pp. 181-186; and it is worth reprinting the following extracts here:
p. 182.
“ In the ‘Mineral Resources of New South Wales,’ 1901, p. 314, Mr. E.F. Pittman, Government Geologist, refers to the extreme southern portion of the Illawarrra Coal Field as follows : - ‘The lower coal measures have also been recognised in the Clyde Valley, in the extreme southern portion of the Illawarra Coal Field, but the seams here, as far as they have been prospected, do not appear to be workable under present conditions, the coal being slightly inferior and the seams thin. Kerosene shale, of somewhat inferior quality, has also been met with in this neighbourhood.’
“In the ‘Memoir on Kerosene Shale Deposits of New South Wales,’ * [Footnote - * Geology Memoir, N. 8, p. 284.] Mr. J.E. Carne, F.G.S., Assistant Government Geologist, refers to the presence of kerosene shale in the Clyde River.
“Mr. J.B. Jaquet, A.R.S.M., F.G.S., Chief Inspector of Mines, and the writer, dealt with certain areas in the county of St. Vincent, in a paper published in the Records of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Vol. III, Part 2, pp. 68-78.
“Speaking of the Clyde River outcrops, the extent of the measures, and the variable thickness and quality of the coal seams is pointed out.”
p. 183.
“The most extensive exposure occurs near the head of the Clyde River gorge, and comprise an area of about 100 acres. The coal measures are here 150 feet thick, and contain two important seams of bituminous and splint coal”
p. 184.
“In portion 8, parish of Endrick, two tunnels, 20 chains apart, have been driven on the top coal seam.”
Early in the following year the Shoalhaven Telegraph of 6th March 1912 reported the following:
“Mining Developments.
Near Sassafras.
COAL LEASES TAKEN UP.
“It has been known for some time that valuable coal deposits existed at the head of the Clyde River. The inaccessibility to market has stood in the way of this great storehouse of nature being exploited. The proposal to open up the country in that direction by the proposed railway line from Yass-Canberra to Jervis Bay will make it possible to secure ready access to a good port, and subsequently attention is being directed to the coal measures in the parish of Tianjara. Recently Mr. John Hanson, of Nowra, acting for a syndicate took up a lease of 640 acres of coal land, and since then other coal leases have been taken up.
“Mr. Austin Chapman last week lodged 3 mineral lease applications for coal, of 640 acres each, with the Warden’s Clerk, Milton. The areas are in the parishes of Tianjara, and Mr. Harper, a surveyor, will prospect the country, and prove the coal measures known to exist there. The leases are in close proximity to the trial survey of the Yassberra [sic] to Jervis Bay line.
“Mr. Austin Chapman, who has been the pioneer in many movements, social, political, and commercial, has made a new departure this week by stepping into the coal arena, and applying for 1920 acres of coal-bearing land at the head of the Clyde River, close to Jervis Bay, and on the proposed route of the railway from Yass-Canberra to the port. During a confidential chat with Austy at Tilba, where he stayed on his way to Bega, he informed the correspondent of the Cobargo Chronicle that much time, thought, and money had been expended in exploration and testing before the land had been applied for, and as far as possible it had been proved to contain good seams of coal of excellent quality, especially for steaming purposes. Austy is pretty level-headed, and so far has been successful with gold dredging ventures; but as regard ‘black diamonds,’ this is the first attempt, and the result will be looked forward to by his many friends with much interest, and if it clashes with other big vested enterprises the bump should be a tough one, especially as there is a certainty of any amount of capital behind anything Austin Chapman takes in hand. This enterprise affects the South Coast districts considerably, for if it turns out as confidently expected, it will be the nearest coal supply for Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.
“In addition to the prospects of a development of the coal measures, it is certain that with the construction of the line connecting the Federal capital territory and the port, something will be done to develop the rich metalliferous deposit at Ettrema. The gold bearing country in the same direction will also doubtless receive attention. It is only a matter of time, therefore, when some big mining developments may be looked for in the country to the west of Nowra.”
There were a number of leases applied for, in 1912, in the parishes of Endrick and Tianjara to mine for coal:
MP 2 Austin Chapman 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; refused
ML 1 Austin Chapman 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; refused
ML 3 Austin Chapman 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; refused
ML 4 C.R. Woodhill, 320 acres, parishes of Endrick & Tianjara; granted March 1912, Cancelled April 1920.
ML 5 S. Rickard 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; granted August 1912, cancelled January 1914.
ML 6 S. Rickard 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; granted August 1912, Cancelled January 1914. ML 6 was actually situated on upper Boolijah Creek and the Wool Road passed through it.
ML 7 A. Rickard, parish of Tianjara; granted March 1912, Cancelled january 1914.
MP 1 William Barron, 640 acres, parish of Tianjara; granted December 1912, Cancelled August 1914.
ML 1 C.R. Woodhil, applied for February 1912
ML 5 C.R. Woodhill, parish of Endrick; granted March 1912, Cancelled August 1914.
ML 15 C.R. Woodhill, 640 acres, parishes of Endrick & Tianjara; granted December 1912, Cancelled August 1914.
As can be seen from the above Chapman’s leases were all refused by the Department of Mines for reasons unknown to us.
We know that S. Shepherd held ML 1, Endrick, probably at the same time as ML 4, but we don’t know the date; and in 1930 he took up ML 4, Endrick & Tianjara, an application which was refused in the following year. In 1931 a chap by the name of A.R. Tayson, or Trynon, applied for the same two leases which were again refused in 1932.
Mr. J.B. Taylor applied for ML 1, Endrick, in March 1939 but the application was refused in March 1941.
During the following years several lease applications in the area were refused:
John Boland Taylor, of Berrima, July 1941, 2240 acres; parishes of Endrick & Tianjara.
Rupert Beale, of the Brighton Hotel, Kiama, July 1942, 120 acres, parish of Tianjara.
John Joseph King, of Moruya, July 1942, 120 acres, parish of Tianjara.
John Daniel Bowdler, of Newcastle, March 1952, 2 leases of 640 acres each, parish of Endrick.
Lindsay Wilson, of Nowra, March 1956, 100 acres, parish of Tianjara.
The area was again investigated by Argyle Explorations in the early 1970’s with some DD being undertaken but access issues and increasing environmental constraints have seen the area preserved in the Reserve System.
Clyde Coal Map
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