BHS CollectionSepia copy of a photograph titled Views of Bendigo No. 10. Photo has a printed decorated edge. Under the photo is View of North Old Chum Claim, showing surface Excavations. N J Caire was the Sandhurst photographer. Printed at the bottom is: The dividing range between Happy Valley, Victoria Hill and Iron Bark, Lansell's No 180 Claim and New Chum and Victoria Company's Quartz Crushing Battery, J W Forbes, Agend and another name beginning with a W. In the photo are three tall chimneys, poppet legs, buildings, stacks of wood, fences and in the foreground a large excavation with a heap of rubble beside it.bendigo, history, long gully history group, the long gully history group - views of bendigo no 10, north old chum claim, n j caire, j w forbes, lansell's no 180 claim, new chum and victoria company's quartz crushing battery

Tarilta is a rural locality and former gold-mining town 12 km south of Castlemaine, 4 km north-west of Guildford and 3 km north-east of Vaughan. The last gold mining activity took place around the 1880s. It was originally Kangaroo Flat, being located where the Kangaroo Creek enters the Loddon River. It was surveyed and named in 1864. Gold was discovered at Tarilta in 1853. The Tarilta School was opened in 1860 in a Wesleyan chapel, and closed i n1925. In 1864 a township was surveyed and named Tarilta, the word being derived from an Aboriginal expression thought to mean kangaroo. In 1865 Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer described Tarilta as being an alluvial and quartz gold-mining town with three quartz-crushing mills, three horse-puddling machines and two hotels. The elevated nature of the land around Tarilta made it accessible only by horse and dray, or on horseback. Colour photograph of Tarilta in Central Victoria. tarilta, central victoria, landcape

Frederick Mitchell was born c1874 at Staffordshire Flat, Redcastle, near Heathcote. His father was an engineer from Cornwall, and had a quartz crushing battery at Staffordshire Flat from 1870 to at least the 1890s. Around 1886 Frederick Mitchell was an 18 year old "Engineer and Instrument Maker". He was awarded an 'Honorary Mention' at the Australian Juvenile Exhibition 1890-1. It was donated to the Ballarat School of Mines Museum in 1892. In the early 1960s the model was transferred to the Heat Engines Laboratory. All Heat Engines laboratory was moved from the Ballarat School of Mines to the Mt Helen Campus on October 1869. The model was accommodated in the thermodynamics laboratory. It was shown working during open days. The Ballarat School of Mines Calendar for 1893, page 66 refers to this item. There is correspondence between Frederick Mitchell's grandson, F.W. Mitchell; E.J. Barker, Director of the Ballarat College of Advanced Education; and Graham Beanland, Ballarat School of Mines.A working model of a vertical oscillating twin cylinder steam engine with fly wheel, mounted on a wood base board and covered in glass. Usually stored under a wood-framed glass cover. steam, model, engine, frederick mitchell, flywheel, ballarat school of mines museum

This photograph is of the Burdun Pan where small quantities of quartz material can be crushed. The Pan revolves and the large manganese iron ball does the crushing. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details. Colour photograph of a metal pan, mounted on a geared shaft, with a metal ball.gold battery, gold processing

A bound book of 16 drawings B&W (lithographs?) in ''photographic'' detail of well-known Sandhurst Views - Town Hall, Mechanics Institute, Masonic Hall, Bendigo Hospital, Bendigo Benevolent Asylum, Post and Telegraph Offices, Mining Exchange, View from Post Office Tower looking East, View from Post Office Tower looking West, Central State School, Alexandra Fountain, Upper Lake,Rosalind Park, Fernery Rosalind Park, St Pauls Church, Bishop's Palace, General View - New Chum Line, Koch's ''Pioneer'' Crushing Works, Quartz Crushing batteries, Town Hall - Eaglehawk, Railway Station. Appended with two pages summarizing Sandhurst history; current councillors and officers, brief review of five places - Bendigo Hospital, Benevolent Asylum, Mechanics Institute and Free Library, School of Mines and Industries, Masonic Hall. Date is given as ''The present (1888) occupants are ....''

Gold was discovered on Victoria Hill in 1854 and by 1861, 1,200,000 ounces of gold had been extracted from the site. The first claim was bought for 80 pounds by Prussian immigrant Christopher Ballerstedt and his son Theodore. Christopher Ballerstedt was nicknamed the "Father of the Hill" and was the first to prove that gold reefs extended below the surface. His 200-foot plus mine shafts yielded quartz rich with gold, inspired other miners, and were instrumental in Bendigo becoming the world's deepest and richest goldfield. The site still features relics of nineteenth century mining including quartz crushing machinery and the foundations of George Lansell’s 180 mine. These features are characteristic of Bendigo’s mining history and represent two prominent nineteenth century miners, Christopher Ballerstedt and George Lansell, who held important roles in the development of Bendigo. Victoria Hill Quartz Gold Mines are registered as a site of significance. The site is of historical, archaeological and scientific importance to Victoria. The mines represent the symbolic heart of Bendigo’s gold mining history and the importance that mining played in wealth creation and the development of Victoria. The diggings reserve is accessed from the rear of Albert Richardson Reserve located at 40-56 Marong Road, Ironbark. The site has steep and unformed paths and is closed to the public at dusk. It is important to stay to the paths to avoid the diggings. Interpretive signs help visitors to appreciate the importance of the site and the remaining relics of Bendigo’s mining history.Victoria Hill Ironbark, Bendigo. Photos of the poppet head, sand heap, tailings, shafts and tunnels. Before development into a tourist attraction.history, bendigo, victoria hill, ironbark, diggings

This photograph is a view of the flywheel that drives the stampers. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details. Colour photograph of a large piece of machinery inside a buildinggold battery, gold processing

This photograph is of the side of the Gold Battery building, and is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. Its purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the side of a corrugated iron buildinggold battery, gold processing

The table was used to separate gold from crushed quartz through vibration movement The Phoenix Foundry, part of James Martin and Company, was established by James Martin, MLC, often referred to as the “Father of Gawler”. The Phoenix Foundry was significant, historically, because it formed part of the leading engineering works in the state in the late nineteenth century when Gawler was one of Australia's most important industrial centres. The company was established in 1848 and ceased operation: in1907 Large Phoenix-Weir concentrating table. Rectangular green and pink painted table, inscription on one side with decorative motives, comprises of slatted table top which creates ridges, wooden channel which is bolted on table top, box with holes in base sitting loosely next to channel, table is joined to gear/s which in turn runs belt wheel, gear/s sits on unpainted concrete block, whole table sits on 2 concrete pillars which are raised, table top is tilted on an angle, wooden trough is on lower side of table and sits underneath which is sitting on rusty tins."the phoenix-weir jas martin & co/concentrating table sole makers/gawler. S.A"

William Rae (1823-1887) was born into a farming family in Scotland and came to Australia in i852. After coming to the Bendigo area, he established a puddling machine in American Gully. He then bought a claim on the Victoria reef and was quite successful. Subsequently he bought a steam engine and three batteries to begin crushing quartz. This was such a boon that he moved to a more convenient location in Happy Valley, where he set up a crushing battery with 35 heads.Sketch of a crushing works. Printed underneath is: Wm. Rae's Crushing Works, Happy Valley, Bendigo. Written on the back is: Happy Valley Rd. South side below Wells St. Picture shows a crushing works building with a tall chimney and some smaller outbuildings. On the hill in the background are poppet legs, other mine structures and some trees. There are heaps of mullock and in the foreground are a number of people.bendigo, history, long gully history group, the long gully history group - wm rae crushing works, george ellis

This photograph is of the viewing room inside the Gold Battery building, with story boards on the wall. One of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. Its purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the interior of a building showing three story boards mounted on a corrugated iron wall.gold battery, gold processing

This photograph is a view from the lower side of the stamper, showing amalgam table, box and stampers. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details. Colour photograph of a large piece of machinery inside a buildinggold battery, gold processing

This photograph is of machinery in the yard of the Gold Battery. The Baler Bucket is at the rear, the cage in the centre and the skip at the front. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of a pieces of machinery in the yard of the Gold Batterygold battery, gold processing

Three page typed report titled ' Notes on diagram showing pitch lines, Bendigo'. Longitudinal sections along the lines of reefs or anticlines within the 8 mile block at Bendigo are shown in a diagram' (diagram not included with notes) Mines and reef lines mentioned in the report are : New Chum line, New Chum Railway mine, Catherine United mine, Hercules and Energetic mine, Garden Gully, Hustlers and Redan, Sheepshead Reef, Sea Mine, Garden Gully, Miller's line of reef and Bendigo Development Mine. The 'old stacks' or chimneys, on Bendigo are described. 'Among the earliest of the stacks built at Bendigo in connexion with Quartz crushing plant, are the two figured in this Annual report No 1 was situate in Sailor's Gully but was demolished about three years ago. This, if not the first, must have been one of the first built, for it had a stone inserted on which chiselled the date 1854. It was built altogether of rough masonry. The other, No. 2, is still standing at the Sheepshead line and was apparently of later date, the upper portion being of brick. They are intersting landmarks of an era that is rapidly passing.' Map attached to report showing location of stacks. Stack at Sailors Gully was near the corner of Murchison Street and Lester Street. The stack at Sheepshead ( Deborah Triangle area) was near the intersection of Belle Vue Road and Adam Street.bendigo, mining, pitch lines bendigo

BHS CollectionSepia toned photograph. Photograph No. 5 - Battery of Stampers for crushing quartz. Printed on front of mount - 'The reduction of Quartz by means of Stampers, adopted on the Gold Fields of Bendigo. The most extensive Plants, being those at Koch's Pioneer Claim, Long Gully; The Great Extended Hustler's; also the Garden Gully United; and the Crushing Plant, New Chum Gully. Nicholas CaireN.J. Cairetopic, mining, battery

This photograph is of the viewing room inside the building, this side with windows overlooking the machinery and a video screen with a switchboard to run the video. One of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. Its purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the interior of a building showing two large windows and a video screen on a corrugated iron wall.gold battery, gold processing

This photograph is of Battery Box, showing the mouth where quartz is fed in. The five stamper rods can also be seen. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details. Colour photograph of a large piece of machinery inside a buildinggold battery, gold processing

Nicholas Caire was born on Guernsey in the Channel Islands in 1837. He arrived in Adelaide with his parents in about 1860. In 1867, following photographic journeys in Gippsland, he opened a studio in Adelaide. From 1870 to 1876 he lived and worked in Talbot in Central Victoria. In 1876 he purchased T. F. Chuck's studios in the Royal Arcade Melbourne. In 1885, following the introduction of dry plate photography, he began a series of landscape series, which were commercially successful. As a photographer, he travelled extensively through Victoria, photographing places few of his contemporaries had previously seen. He died in 1918. Reference: Jack Cato, 'Caire, Nicholas John (1837–1918)', Australian Dictionary of Biography.An original, rare photograph from the series 'Views of Victoria: General Series' by the photographer, Nicholas Caire (1837-1918). The series of 60 photographs that comprise the series was issued c. 1876 and reinforced a neo-Romantic view of the Australian landscape to which a growing nationalist movement would respond. Nicholas Caire was active as a photographer in Australia from 1858 until his death in 1918. His vision of the Australian bush and pioneer life had a counterpart in the works of Henry Lawson and other nationalist poets, authors and painters.Albumen silver photograph on boardprinted in ink on support l.c.: VIEW OF STURT STREET, BALLARAT, TAKEN FROM THE TOWN HALL TOWER. / COPYRIGHT REGISTERED. printed in ink on support reverse c.: VIEWS OF VICTORIA. / (GENERAL SERIES.) / No. 13. / VIEW OF VICTORIA HILL, BENDIGO, TAKEN FROM OLD CHUM HILL. / This scene represents two of the principal Quartz-reef claims in the district of Bendigo, with their surface / excavations. The one nearest the foreground is the North Old Chum's Company's claim, which is very rich with / gold-bearing quartz. The other claim, on the hill side, is the private property of Mr. George Lansell, and is even / more valuable than the former, giving employment to over 100 men. The building on the right is the quartz-crushing / plant belonging to the new Chum and Victoria Companies. The excavations are several hundred feet in depth. printed in ink on support reverse l.c.l.: J.W. FORBES, Agent, printed in ink on support reverse l.c.: ANGLO-AUSTRALASIAN PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPANY, MELBOURNE. printed in ink on support reverse l.c.r.: 10 Temple Court, Collins Street West.nicholas caire (1837-1918), landscape photography, victoria hill - bendigo - victoria

This photograph is a general view of the machinery of the Gold Battery. The Bergin Pan is on the left, Stamper Box and in foreground concrete bed for Wilfrey table which has been removed. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of a number of large pieces of machinery inside a buildinggold battery, gold processing

This photograph is of the side of the main building of the Gold Battery with workshop at rear (now demolished). Beside building is a hand windlass, along with some old pulleys and various parts. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the side of a corrugated iron building with a smaller building at the left, and a number of pieces of machinery next to the buildinggold battery, gold processing

This photograph shows the workers' amenities at the Gold Battery. The building has a bedroom and kitchen. In front is a Baler Bucket and a cage. This particular cage was for raising and lowering the skips which brought the material to the surface. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of a corrugated iron cottage, with several pieces of machinery around it.gold battery, gold processing

This photograph is of the back end of the side of the main building of the Gold Battery with workshop at rear (now demolished). Beside building is a hand windlass, along with some old pulleys and various parts. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the side of a corrugated iron building with a smaller building at the left, and a number of pieces of machinery next to the buildinggold battery, gold processing

This photograph shows the pre-heater on the left and the furnace on the right. After clean up of stamper table, amalgam is placed in a retort, then placed in the furnace where mercury is condensed and runs down the small pipe into an enamel bucket and can be reused. This is one of a series of photographs of the Rutherglen Gold Battery. The battery's purpose was to crush quartz from nearby quartz reefs and extract gold from within. The battery was erected in 1908 and consists of a five-head battery, Wilfrey table, Bergin pan, portable steam engine and shed. The battery was restored in 2011/12 and can be viewed daily between 9.00am and 5.00pm. See website for details.Colour photograph of the interior of a room with corrugated iron walls, with a fireplace on the left and a furnace on the right.gold battery, gold processing

Copies of Photographs from - Views of Bendigo by Nicholas Caire Originals in Box 13 No.1 Sandhurst east/ City Reserve x 2 No 2 New Chum Line of Reef No 3 Sandhurst to North from top of Masonic Hall No.4 Hustler's Line of Reef No.5 Battery of stampers for crushing quartz x 2 No.6 View Sandhurst from top of Masonic Hall x 2 No.7 Excavation Quartz Reef, Ironbark Hill. No 8 St. Paul's Church. No.9 View Camp Reserve from Court House. No.10 View of Nth. Old Chum. No.11 View Camp Hill near the Lodge x 2 No.12 Garden Gully. No.13 Shamrock Hotel, Sandhurst. No.14 View from Court House, east end Pall Mall. No.15 Wesleyan Church, Golden Square x 2 No.16 Savings Bank, Sandhurst No.17 Bendigo District Hospital. No.18 Interior Wesleyan Church x 2 No.19 View Golden Square township. No.20 The Town Hall, Sandhurst. No 21 The City Hotel,Sandhurst. No 22 Pall Mall Sandhurst, No 23 Sandhurst City Market No 24 Pall Mall looking west x 2 No 25 Camp Hill x 2 No 26 Charing Cross No 27 View Sandhurst. x 2 No 28 Long Gully. No 29 Railway station and sheds No 30 Cemetery Back Ck. No 31 Kock's Pioneer Quartz Crushing Plant Long Gully. No 32 Masonic Hall. No 33 Bendigo Benevolent Asylum. No 34 Bendigo Flat. No 35 Old Chum Hill x 2 No 36 New Chum Gully No 37 Township of Eaglehawk No 38 From St Paul's tower looking west No 39 Tunnel Big Hill. No 40 From St Paul's tower looking south x 2 No 41 From St Paul's tower looking eastward x 2 No 42 From St Paul's tower looking north west x 2 No 43 Great Extended Hustlers Quartz Mining Claim No 44 Big Hill Rail line x 2 No 45 From St Paul's tower looking westward x 2 No 46 From St Paul's tower looking north west No 47 Big Hill Ranges Buick. x 2 No 48 St.Paul's Tower x 2 No 49 Eaglehawk township. No 50 Mitchell Street No 51 Botanical gardens, White Hills x 2 No 52 View Point, Sandhurst. .N.J. Caire.place, bendigo, bendigo area., views of bendigo.

Panning dishes were used for washing fine gold from river sediments or from the residue trapped in cradles and puddling tubs. They were often used on the edge of streams/rivers to sift gold from alluvial soil or crushed quartz. This simple pan would have been filled with sand and gravel which might have contained gold. The pan was submerged in the water and shaken to sort the gold from the gravel and other material, with the lighter material gradually being washed over the lip until only the heavy deposits, such as gold, remained at the bottom. (ref. Museum Victoria) This pan was used by George Henry Douglas Russell Snr. As a young man prior to his enlistment in WW1 he panned for gold using this dish. During the war he became a vet sergeant in charge of horse lines.Gold panning is the oldest and simplest method of extracting gold. Gold pans had widespread use in alluvial gold fields where water is available. This item is an example of the type of pan commonly used on Victorian gold fields.A circular dull metal panning dish which has a wide rolled top lip which tapers down to a smaller diameter for the base which is flat. The pan has been made from ironmetal which has a coating of another metal with a matte grey finish. It has a small hanging hole and a reinforcing ring all around the top.russell-doug gold-panning mining

Full set (52 photos) of Nicholas Caire ''Views of Bendigo'' photographs. 1) Sandhurst East with a portion of the City Reserve. 2) New Chum line of reef. 3) Sandhurst-North part as seen from the top of the Masonic Hall. 4) The Hustler's line of reef seen from Redan Hill. 5) Battery of stampers for crushing quartz 6) View of Sandhurst as seen from the top of the New Masonic Hall. 7) Excavation of quartz reef near Ironbark Hill. 8) St. Paul's Church, tower and belfry. 9) View of the Camp Reserve as seen from the Court House. 10) View of North Old Chum showing surface excavations. 11) View as seen from the Camp Hill near the lodge. 12) Garden Gully amalgamated claims. 13) Shamrock Hotel, Sandhurst. 14) View as seen from Court House showing the willows & East Pall Mall. 15) Wesleyan Church, Golden Square. 16) Savings bank, Sandhurst. 17) The Bendigo district hospital. 18) Interior of the Wesleyan Church, Golden Square. 19) View of Golden Square township. 20) The Town Hall, City of Sandhurst. 21) The City Hotel, Sandhurst. 22) Pall Mall, Sandhurst. 23) Sandhurst City Market. 24) Pall Mall, Sandhurst looking west. 25) View from Camp Hill looking north - east 26) View of Charing Cross, Sandhurst. 27) View of Sandhurst as seen from Knipe's Castle. 28) Township of Long Gully. 29) View taken from St. Paul's tower. 30) View of the Sandhurst cemetery at back creek. 31) Kock's pioneer quartz crushing plant, Long Gully. 32) The New Masonic Hall, Sandhurst. 33) The Bendigo benevolent asylum and industrial school. 34) Bendigo flat as seen from Wattle Hill. 35) View of Old Chum Hill. 36) New Chum Gully as seen from Specimen Hill. 37) Township of Eaglehawk. 38) View from St. Paul's tower looking south west. 39) View of the railway tunnel through the Big Hill, near Mt. Herbert. 40) View taken from St. Paul's looking south. 41) Scene taken from St. Paul's tower looking eastward. 42) View of Sandhurst from St. Paul's tower looking north-west. 43) The great extended Hustler's co's. quartz mining claim. 44) View from the Big Hill showing the line of railway to Melbourne. 45) View from St. Paul's Church tower looking westward. 46) View from St. Paul's Church tower looking north-west. 47) Scene near the Big Hill ranges taken from Mr. Buick's residence. 48) View from St. Paul's Church tower looking north eastward. 49) Township of Eaglehawk 50) View of Mitchell Street, Sandhurst. 51) Botanical gardens near the White Hills. 52) View Point, Sandhurst.bendigo, streetscape, various views, nicholas cairne

Gold was discovered on One Tree Hill in 1854. The site has been worked intermittently until fairly recent times. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p53 Though still a working mine, One Tree Hill Mine at Smiths Gully, now stands in a tranquil reserve surrounded by bush and native animals - in contrast to its heyday. In the mid 19th century, when the mine was part of the Caledonia Goldfields, hundreds of men in search of their fortune worked the alluvial gold in the Yarra River, its tributaries and the reefs that made up the goldfields. Miner Stan Bone, assisted by Wilfred Haywood, is the last of the independent gold miners in the area and still uses the quartz crushing battery as miners did when gold was first discovered in the area in 1851.1 Stan, who is the last of six generations of miners in his family, was aged 17 when he began mining on his father Alex’ mine, The Golden Crown in Yarrambat. These days, after blasting the gold-bearing rock in Mystery Reef, one of the four reefs at One Tree Hill, Stan transports it around five kilometres by tip truck to the Black Cameron Mine for crushing. There he uses water from the waterlogged mine, (which still contains gold), as the Happy Valley Creek at One Tree Hill is usually dry.2 The One Tree Hill Mine has been worked for close to a century since it opened around the late 1850s.3 The Swedish Reef was its most productive reef and one of the largest in the area. Around 1859, extractions included 204 ounces (5.8kg) of gold, won from 57 pounds (26kg) of stone.4 Then during World War Two, Stan’s uncle, Bill Wallace, and Alex Bone, closed the mine. In 1973, Stan, with his Uncle Bill, reopened the Black Cameron Mine and worked there until 1988. Stan resumed mining One Tree Hill in 1998. As late as the 1920s gold was picked up by chance! When crossing a gully on his way to vote at the St Andrews Primary School, Bill Joyce picked up some quartz containing gold. This site was to become the Black Cameron Mine. The Caledonia Diggings, named after Scotland’s ancient name by local Scots, began around Market Square (now Smiths Gully) and included Queenstown (St Andrews), Kingstown (Panton Hill) and Diamond Creek. There were also poorer bearing fields in Kangaroo Ground and Swipers Gully (now Research). * None of these compared in riches to the Ballarat and Bendigo fields5, but the Caledonia Diggings continued intermittently for close to 100 years. Gold was discovered in Victoria following a bid to stem the disappearance of much needed workmen to the New South Wales diggings. Several businessmen offered a reward of £200, for the discovery of gold within 200 miles (322 km) of Melbourne. Late in June 1851, gold was first discovered at Andersons Creek, Warrandyte. Then in 1854, George Boston and two other men discovered gold at Smiths Gully. Gold transformed the quiet districts, with a constant flow of families and vehicles on the dirt tracks en route to the Caledonia Diggings. Three thousand people worked the gullies in Market Square, including about 1000 Chinese miners. The square established its own police, mining warden, gold battery, school, shops and cemetery and grog flowed. Market Square flourished until the middle 1860s. Bullocks transported quartz from the Caledonia Goldfields to the crushing machinery at the Queenstown/St Andrews Battery, near Smiths Gully Cemetery. It was destroyed by bushfire in 1962. By the late 1850s, most early alluvial fields were in decline, but minor rushes continued until around 1900 and some until the early 1940s. Some miners did well, although most earned little from their hard labour in the harsh and primitive conditions.6 But according to historian, Mick Woiwod, the gold fields helped to democratise society, as individuals from all walks of life were forced to share experiences, and the ability to succeed, depended less on inherited wealth or social rank.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, gold mining, one tree hill mine, smiths gully