Showing 101 items
matching living conditions
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Royal District Nursing Service (now known as Bolton Clarke)
Photograph - Photograph, black and white, c.1930
... the Housing Commission for families living under unsuitable conditions ...The Matron and Sisters in this photograph worked in the Melbourne District Nursing Society After Care Home, (later called Hospital) full time and administered nursing care to patients who ranged in age from babes to adults. The Society also had a District Nursing division and these Sisters only worked in the community giving nursing care to patients in their homes.The Melbourne District Nursing Society were pioneers in recognizing the need for premises where patients too ill to be in their own home, but not ill enough to go to hospital, was needed, and the Society built, then opened, the After-Care Home in 1926, (from 1934 called After-Care Hospital), for these patients, and patients from Hospitals. Many children were nursed there, some long term during the Polio epidemic and the Society employed two School Teachers. The Society now ran two divisions, the After-Care with its own Sisters and nurses, and the District division. The Society were the first in Melbourne, in early 1928, to recognize some patients leaving the After-Care, and many at home, needed further social care and they set up ‘Almoners’ from their committee to visit these patients and be intermediaries in getting them social assistance. It was late the following year before the first training of Almoners took place in Melbourne. In 1930 the Society employed a full time kindergarten teacher to visit poor children in their homes. That year the Society were pioneers in opening an Ante-Natal Clinic at the After-Care, setting a high standard with equipment, keeping records, and providing leaflets with instructions in how to keep healthy during pregnancy, what complications to look for and what to do when labour commenced. In 1934 the Society were pioneers again when they opened the first Women’s Welfare Clinic in Melbourne giving advice on birth-control, at first attended by their own patients, but then accepting patients from public hospitals until their own clinics were opened. A trained Almoner was employed by the Society in 1934, doing a great deal of work with Midwifery patients, but she resigned after twelve months due to the amount of work. Due to a lack of trained Almoners, the Society employed a Social Service Officer at the After-Care who successfully gained better housing from the Housing Commission for families living under unsuitable conditions.A black and white photograph of Matron and twelve Trained nurses (Sisters) standing at the front entrance of the Melbourne District Nursing Society After Care Home, In the front of the portico is the Matron and four Sisters. Matron is dressed in a white long uniform dress and white veil over her short dark hair, and is wearing white stockings and white shores. To her right are four Sisters. Behind them are five Sisters, one standing between the left pair of round columns of the portico and the others to her right finishing just before the second set of columns. Two Sisters are to the left of the left hand column in front of the brick wall of the building. A short brick wall runs from the column to the building and hides the lower half of these Sisters. All the Sisters are dressed with white long aprons with white belts, which are covering their uniforms, only their dark grey sleeves and white collars can be seen. They are wearing white veils covering most of their short dark hair, grey stockings and black shoes. At the top of the portico can be seen the words 'District Nursing Society'. Part of the two story brick building can be seen behind the group; two long windows are visible on the upper and lower sections. To the right of the building some shrubs and a tree can be seen.nurses, after care hospital, uniforms, after-care home, melbourne district nursing society, mdns, rdns, royal district nursing service -
Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Domestic object - Hand made toasting fork, Mid 20th Century
... of earlier pioneers and settlers to adapt to their living conditions ...This fork was made by a member of the Conway family of Wodonga. It was used for making toast over an open fire well before modern toasters become widely available. It demonstrates the ingenuity of early settlers and pioneers before the advent of modern appliances and services. This item demonstrates the ingenuity of earlier pioneers and settlers to adapt to their living conditions and improvise from their available resources and environment.A hand-made wire toasting fork. It has three prongs and the handle is twisted with a loop at the top for hanging. It is made from fencing wire.hand made utensils, kitchen ware, pioneer skills -
Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Book - The Living Murray 2002 - A discussion paper on resourcing the health of the River Murray, Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, July 2002
This paper provides an introduction to the issue of environmental flows in the River Murray. It explores the health of the River and ways it might be improved. It identifies possible consequences, benefits and concerns and was intended to guide the discussion of relevant issues, including water trade and access rights to water. It outlined a process for community engagement to discuss and address these issues and improve the overall health of the river.non-fictionThis paper provides an introduction to the issue of environmental flows in the River Murray. It explores the health of the River and ways it might be improved. It identifies possible consequences, benefits and concerns and was intended to guide the discussion of relevant issues, including water trade and access rights to water. It outlined a process for community engagement to discuss and address these issues and improve the overall health of the river.murray river, environmental issues, environmental conditions., water use murray river -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Queenstown Cemetery, Smiths Gully Road, St Andrews, 28 December 2007
The discovery of gold in Smyth's Creek in 1854 and subsequent gold rush to the Caledonia diggings led to the establishment of Queenstown (present day St Andrews). The first recorded burial was July 31st, 1861 and it was officially declared a Cemetery Reserve in 1866. Many graves are unmarked and unrecorded including many Chinese and other itinerant miners. The cemetery was closed for new burials in 1851. The last recorded burial was in 1981 in an existing family grave. In Loving memory of David Band Died 30th Decr. 1862, aged 51 years. John Cork Knell Died 11th April 1867, aged 42 years. Eliza Smith Died 20th Jany. 1874, aged 3 1/2 years. William Band Died 20th Feby. 1883, aged 51 years. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p73 The discovery of gold at Smyth’s Creek* in 1854 brought 3000 people to the area in search of their fortunes.1 However in the harsh conditions many miners and their families died young, and were buried in unmarked graves. Their stories died with them but by 1861, the first burial was recorded at the Queenstown Cemetery – that of William Dalrymple aged 65 – although the cemetery was only officially declared a reserve in 1866. Even before this in 1856, a double burial had been recorded for the twin baby daughters of George Harrison at Market Square, the miners’ settlement – presumably where the cemetery is today. In 1951 the Queenstown Cemetery at 70 Smiths Gully Road, Smiths Gully, closed for burials. However the last burial in a family plot, that of Grace Evelyn Smith, occurred in 1981. Today only 55 headstones remain, but more than 380 burials are recorded. Remnant bushland dominates the cemetery where many graves are merely mounds and others have been damaged by vandalism and the neglect of time. Bushfire in 1962 destroyed the picket fencing, grave markers and cypress boundary planted in the early 1900s. The box/stringybark woodland in the 1.7 hectare Cemetery Reserve is regrowth from then and the indigenous and heritage vegetation is protected. Thanks to the volunteer Cemetery Trust and Friends & Relations of Queenstown Cemetery, the cemetery is maintained, stories recorded and the burial index corrected and expanded.2 Close by the cemetery on the site of today’s Peter Franke Picnic and Nature Reserve stood Market Square, the Caledonia Diggings village of tents and stores, the forerunner of Queenstown, now St Andrews. Many of the Caledonia Diggings miners were Chinese, many of whom, with itinerant prospectors, were buried in unmarked graves. Histories are being recorded of other immigrants, mainly English and German, who settled after the gold rush, some of whose descendants fought and died in the two world wars. Names on many headstones are also recorded on the district’s roads, reserves and war memorials such as Motschall, Joyce, Howard and Coutie. The oldest surviving tombstone is that of Scot, David Band who died in 1862 at 51 years. His oldest daughter Elizabeth, with husband John Knell, owned the Queenstown Hotel and the post office. Child-rearing in a colonial gold town was often tragically difficult, as demonstrated in the first 20 years, when 41% of the 34 burials recorded were children. Settlers endured harsh conditions graphically illustrated with the deaths of Annie Joyce at 30 years and of her family. Annie was married to gold miner Walter Joyce. Their third child Walter, born in 1886, died in March 1887. Eight months later Annie died of breast cancer. Walter died in 1909, aged 53, of miner’s phthisic caused by stone dust destroying his lungs. It was so hard to make a living that burials were usually held from 2.30 pm to allow mourners to work a day before paying their last respects.3 Most burials before 1890 were recorded as Anglicans, as the only church on the Caledonia Diggings was the Church of St Andrew, until 1897, when the Primitive Methodist Church came to Panton Hill. Generally miners came to better themselves, but some, like Grace Hopkinson (nee Milward), born in England in 1828, came from a well-off and educated family. According to family legend Grace emigrated with husband William, to live in a tent, but had kept her personally embossed sterling silver cutlery service. Amid the tough environment were some successes like that reported in The Evelyn Observer April/May 1901 of miner William Hopkinson who was buried at the cemetery in 1912 aged 81. The Observer stated that Hopkinson ‘recently dropped across another find in his claim at One Tree Hill’. The lump of gold found this time weighed more than half a kilo. Mr Hopkinson referred to it as ‘another little speck’. *Today’s Smiths GullyThis 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, david band, eliza smith, gravestones, john cork knell, queenstown cemetery, smiths gully road, st andrews, william band -
National Wool Museum
Book - Book of Newspaper Cuttings, Book II, 1935 - 1946
Second in a set of two books containing newspaper cuttings relating to the wool industry, which include topics such as arbitration proceedings, blowfly strike, sheep breeding, competitions, wages, workers unions, equine education, fencing, manpower, land valuing, shearing, pastoral conditions, rainfall, sheep dip, tanning, meetings and wool markets. Bound maroon covered book containing newspaper articles. Spine [printed]: NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS – BOOK II.wool, wool industry, wages, cost of living, shearing, legal cases, exports, horses, tax, union, women at work, newspaper articles -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Book, From tents & tin huts to timber houses & tiger snakes: Soldier Settler stories from Hawkesdale, Macarthur & Penshurst, April 2021
... following WWII, their early living conditions, development ...Soldier settler family stories from the Hawkesdale, Macarthur and Penshurst areas.A4 soft bound book with photograph of timber house in country location with post and wire fence and three children walking towards the house; a girl in light-coloured dress carrying a school case is in the middle with a boy in crossover top shorts with school bag over their right shoulders on either side of her. Text is black.non-fictionSoldier settler family stories from the Hawkesdale, Macarthur and Penshurst areas.military history, soldier settlement wwii, hawkesdale, macarthur, penshurst, eugene von guerard, robert dowling, first australians -
Clunes Museum
Painting - OIL PAINTING, Miner's Shack, Clunes. Vic
... Representation of miners living conditions during the gold ...Representation of miners living conditions during the gold rush from 1851Oil painting on chipboard with image of miner's shack with 2 x pamphlets stapled on back of paintingHandwritten in left hand corner of painting "Miner's Shack Clunes Vic" Handwritten in right hand corner "James Egan"james egan, artist, miners shack -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Letter - MERLE HALL COLLECTION: ROSALIND PARK CREATIVE VILLAGE BENDIGO PROJECT LETTERS, 1994
Merle Hall Collection: Rosalind Park Creative Village Bendigo Project Letters 31 March 1994 To: Victorian Arts Council Members From Grant Finck Project Coordinator Content: Introduces himself as the coordinator for 12 months; to members looking for expression of interest, includes Information Sheet 1994 on what the Creative Village is. 27 October 1995 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Bernard Smith (Director Environmental Services) Content: Granting access to the Victoria Hill site for small quantities of geological material. 10 January 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Bernard Smith (Director Environmental Services) Content: Endorsement of the project by the Council and confirmation that the Council will provide preliminary site work to allow the project to be enabled. Also advised the Arts Bendigo Mosaic Project makes contact with the Salvation Army (New Work Opportunity Project) 27 February 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: Ken Beasley Manager Project Development The Smith Read Training Group. Content: LEAP Project Proposal - Mining Heritage Mosaic outlining the benefits of using LEAP Trainees to undertake the project. Proposed Scope of work outlining responsibilities of each participant. Bendigo Mining NL Environmental Trust Fund (Perseverance Exploration and Department of Energy and Minerals Victoria representatives) 27 June 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Bernard Smith (Director Environmental Services) Content: Advising that the Council will match dollar for dollar funding for the engagement of an artist to supervise the construction of the Mosaic in Upper Rosalind Park up to $3,500. 22 July 1996 To: Anne Buzza From Geof Brown Camp Hill Primary School Content: Thanks for using and managing the school students to help create tiles. 9 October 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Bernard Smith (Director Environmental Services) Content: Enclosed cheque for matching grant of $3500 15 October 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Bernard Smith (Director Environmental Services) Content: Agreement to relocate the project facilities to the car park and to maintain a close liaison between the Council and Arts Bendigo. 13 November 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: The Sidney Myer Fund Helen Morris Research Officer Content: Remittance advice for $1000 22 April 1997 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: John Little Administrator Victorian Arts Council Content: Remittance advice for $500 towards the project and enclosing 12 VAC Annual reports. 20 October 1998 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Andrew Hall (Director Community Development) Content: Advising that the Council will make a grant of $1090 for the purpose of printing of Brochures for Bendigo Heritage Mosaic. A service agreement to be signed before the issue of the grant, 21 March 2001 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: City of Greater Bendigo, Justin Hanney (Director Community Services) Content: A reference from Council supporting the project application to Vic Health for the development of a series of small mosaic pieces along the linear pathway asjacent to the Bendigo Creek. 12 November 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: Arts Bendigo Inc. Content: Cheque for $2000 being first payment as under contract two for mosaic project. 4 December 1996 To: Mrs. Mearle Hall From: Arts Bendigo Inc. Content: Cheque for $2000 being second payment as under contract two for mosaic project. 27 July 1997 To: Maery Gabriel Mosaic Artist From: Arts Bendigo Inc. Content: Cheque for $2000 being final payment as under contract two for mosaic project. 12 June 1997 - Two copies To: Maery Gabriel Mosaic Artist From: Arts Bendigo Inc. Content: Agreement between Maery Gabriel (The artist) and Arts Bendigo Inc. to complete the final two sections of the Bendigo Heritage Mosaic at the base of the Rosalin Park Poppet Head, Bendigo with a design of approximately two square meters within each section. The work to be completed by the endo of July 1997, unless severe weather conditions make the laying impossible. Agreement for two lots of $2000. 14 June 1996 From: Maery Gabriel Mosaic Artist To: Arts Bendigo Inc. Content: receipt for 50% payment for two weeks and $60 Travelling expenses. 21 May 1996 Agreement between Arts Bendigo of P.O Box 563, Bendigo in the State of Victoria (hereinafter referred to as the ‘AB’ of the first part AND Meary Hall of Morningswood, Petersons Road, Ellinbank, 3821 in the State of Victoria (hereinafter referred to as ‘the artist’) of the second part. ENGAGEMENT: (a) AB engages the Artist to provide her services as Mosaic Artist for the design and creation of a Mosaic pavement surround to the poppet head lookout in Rosalind Park, Bendigo and matters incidental thereto at such schools, halls and any other places as required from time to time by AB and the Artist accepts the engagement upon the term and conditions hereinafter appearing. (b) Services to be provided by the artist include community consultation and design work in association with AB Co-Ordinator and Arts Bendigo, a minimum of six weeks of the artist’s time within the six months of the project. Completion of section one of the whole design with further work on the other sections to depend on available funding. The agreed fee was $5400 and $60 per visit to Bendigo with living away to be provided by Arts Bendigo 1 November 1996 Agreement between Arts Bendigo of P.O Box 563, Bendigo in the State of Victoria (hereinafter referred to as the ‘AB’ of the first part AND Meary Hall of Morningswood, Petersons Road, Ellinbank, 3821 in the State of Victoria (hereinafter referred to as ‘the artist’) of the second part. ENGAGEMENT: (a) AB engages the Artist to provide her services as Mosaic Artist for the design and creation of a Mosaic pavement surround to the poppet head lookout in Rosalind Park, Bendigo and matters incidental thereto at such schools, halls and any other places as required from time to time by AB and the Artist accepts the engagement upon the term and conditions hereinafter appearing. (b) Services to be provided by the artist include community consultation and design work in association with AB Co-Ordinator and Arts Bendigo, a minimum of six weeks of the artist’s time within the six months of the project. Completion of section one of the whole design with further work on the other sections to depend on available funding. The agreed fee was $5000 and $60 per visit to Bendigo with living away to be provided by Arts Bendigo, plus transfer of the diamond saw purchased by AB 28 August 1996 Memorial to Bendigo’s Mining Heritage and Traditions financial and other support as at August 128th Arts Bendigo Financial contribution: $7000 Local Busine Sponsors: $2800 City of Greater Bendigo Matching Above: $2800 City of Greater Bendigo Site works: Equiv, $12000 Local Businesses and institutions supplying goods and services to total value of: Equiv: $7600 Expenditure: Purchase of equipment, including diamond saw: $2000 Purchase of materials: $800 Artists design fees: $3000 Artists on site work, travel and accommodation: $12000 insurance, administration etc.: $700 31 May 1996 List of possible donors' checklist Undated Budget Sheet 21 September 1995 From: The Victorian Arts Council To: City of Greater Bendigo Content: Invoice for $5000 10 December 1995 From: Maery Gabriel artist To: Arts Bendigo Content: Invoice $1575 for design of Rosalind Park Lookout. 45 hours @ $35/hour 1 October 1996 Historic mining Mosaic Pavement, Rosalind Park Poppet Head Financial Statement as a October 1st, 1996 28 October 1996 From: Maery Gabriel To: Ann Buzza (representing Arts Bendigo) Report on project of Rosalind Park Mosaic as at October 1996. The report lists the difficulties faced with the weather, unsuitable facilities on site and problems with the LEAP team labour.victorian arts council, city of greater bendigo -
Victorian Railway History Library
Book, Nick Anchen, Iron Roads in the Outback, 2017
... and roadmaster's wife Cathy Beek, tell not only of the rudimentary living ...The Iron Roads of the Australian Outback - the legendary Commonwealth Railways were built through some of the harshest landscapes on Earth. They were railways like no other, where men and women battled extreme temperatures, flash floods and maddening isolation to keep the trains running. This publication is the culmination of 25 years of Outback exploration, research, photography and interviews by author Nick Anchen. The result is a diverse book which brings to life both the beauty and harshness of the Australian Outback, through a collection of fascinating and historic images, along with the memories of former Commonwealth Railways employees. Following an introductory chapter on the vastness and grandeur of the Australian interior - highlighted by the memoirs of 1950s flying doctor Macarthur Job - the book delves into the story of the Central Australia Railway. This was the line built through the 'back of beyond' - the forbidding desert country of South Australia and the Northern Territory. It was here that operators of famous trains such as The Ghan battled searing heat, dust storms and raging floodwaters to keep the trains running. The chapter includes stories by well known Ghan conductor 'Aspro' Lyons, and 'Piano Playing Chef' Paddy Greenfield - along with enginemen Wolf Markowski and John Theel, both of whom worked trains on this famous railway. The story of the North Australia Railway - 'The Line to Nowhere' - is the tale of a ramshackle railway which came alive during the dark days of World War II. The memoirs of wartime engineman Jim Prentice are eye opening, as are the hair raising accounts of surviving Tropical Cyclone Tracy, as told by rolling stock foreman Bill Donaldson. The Trans-Australian Railway was built across one of the harshest and loneliest environments on Earth - the vast Nullarbor Plain. Stories from enginemen Jack Slattery and Ron Howrie, along with Nullarbor resident and roadmaster's wife Cathy Beek, tell not only of the rudimentary living conditions and maddening isolation, but of the great camaraderie amongst the railway people who kept trains such as the Trans-Australian and the Tea and Sugar running. As well as examining the ruins and relics from the long-closed CR narrow gauge lines, the book also includes a chapter on the much-loved Pichi Richi Railway - the last surviving portion of that great Transcontinental Railway dream from another age.ill, maps, p.208.non-fictionThe Iron Roads of the Australian Outback - the legendary Commonwealth Railways were built through some of the harshest landscapes on Earth. They were railways like no other, where men and women battled extreme temperatures, flash floods and maddening isolation to keep the trains running. This publication is the culmination of 25 years of Outback exploration, research, photography and interviews by author Nick Anchen. The result is a diverse book which brings to life both the beauty and harshness of the Australian Outback, through a collection of fascinating and historic images, along with the memories of former Commonwealth Railways employees. Following an introductory chapter on the vastness and grandeur of the Australian interior - highlighted by the memoirs of 1950s flying doctor Macarthur Job - the book delves into the story of the Central Australia Railway. This was the line built through the 'back of beyond' - the forbidding desert country of South Australia and the Northern Territory. It was here that operators of famous trains such as The Ghan battled searing heat, dust storms and raging floodwaters to keep the trains running. The chapter includes stories by well known Ghan conductor 'Aspro' Lyons, and 'Piano Playing Chef' Paddy Greenfield - along with enginemen Wolf Markowski and John Theel, both of whom worked trains on this famous railway. The story of the North Australia Railway - 'The Line to Nowhere' - is the tale of a ramshackle railway which came alive during the dark days of World War II. The memoirs of wartime engineman Jim Prentice are eye opening, as are the hair raising accounts of surviving Tropical Cyclone Tracy, as told by rolling stock foreman Bill Donaldson. The Trans-Australian Railway was built across one of the harshest and loneliest environments on Earth - the vast Nullarbor Plain. Stories from enginemen Jack Slattery and Ron Howrie, along with Nullarbor resident and roadmaster's wife Cathy Beek, tell not only of the rudimentary living conditions and maddening isolation, but of the great camaraderie amongst the railway people who kept trains such as the Trans-Australian and the Tea and Sugar running. As well as examining the ruins and relics from the long-closed CR narrow gauge lines, the book also includes a chapter on the much-loved Pichi Richi Railway - the last surviving portion of that great Transcontinental Railway dream from another age. commonwealth railways (australia) -- history., central australia railway -- history. -
The Beechworth Burke Museum
Photograph
This image is a reproduction of an 1899 original depicting the 'Williams Good Luck Mine' on the Mopoke Reef (also called 'Morepork Gully') in the Dingle Ranges, approximately three miles from Beechworth. A large opening to a mine can be seen behind the men in the photograph, with a wheeled cart on a track leading to the men's position, where the soil and rocks have been hauled away. This photograph interestingly contains dogs alongside the miners. While dogs have been recorded as deterrents to thieves in the Victorian goldfields, these dogs appear as companions to these men. Following the discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852, rushes quickly followed at surrounding creeks and gullies in the district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, small syndicates of miners continued to work old or abandoned quartz reefs, often persisting without the assistance of heavy machinery to remove the large amounts of rock, in order to obtain yields at ever greater depths. The group of miners in this photograph are Mr. Roger Williams and Sons, who revived operations at the ‘Old Good Luck’ mine on the Mopoke Reef in the Dingle Range near Beechworth around 1892, working the site for more than two decades. An emigrant from Cornwall with experience in the tin mining industry, 19 year old Roger Williams senior sailed to New Zealand in 1840, then to Australia where he spent time in the Bendigo Gold Fields before settling in Beechworth in the early 1860s. Mr Williams senior worked on various mining activities in the district, including the Rocky Mountain Tunnel project. Conversant with the character of gold-bearing reefs in the area, the syndicate dug an eight hundred foot tunnel, digging down as far down as two hundred feet with little capital save their labour, to connect and provide better working access to the mass of reefs and veins in the vicinity. Progress was hampered by poor air quality charged with fumes from dynamite and large quantities of rock had to be crushed to obtain payable yields. The Victorian Goldfields are filled with ruins and remnants of the area's rich mining history, ranging from small alluvial diggings to the remains of huge mining companies. Site names often changed several times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some sites were abandoned and forgotten, others were worked continuously over many decades. The names of mines were often repeated at different locations throughout the Victorian Goldfields. For example, there is a Mopoke Gully heritage mine near Fryers Creek, Victoria. 'Mopoke' is a common onomatopoeic name for Morepork and Australian Boobook owls.This image has historical, social and research significance for patterns of emigration during of the Victorian Gold Rush, and the historical, social and environmental impacts of mining at Beechworth at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As gold became scarce and government support and large company investment waned, poor hard-working miners laboured intensively to make a living through periods of high unemployment. This image can be compared and studied alongside other historical mining photographs and objects in the Burke Museum Collection. It has potential to improve our understanding of miners working conditions and the shifting character of mining in the Beechworth district.Sepia coloured rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic paper mounted on card. Obverse: Williams/ Good/ Luck Reverse: A02498/ 1997. 2498/ Good Luck/ Mine/ 1899/ Mopoke. burke museum, beechworth museum, beechworth, gold fields, gold rush, victorian gold rush, gold ming history, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, good luck gold mine, victorian goldfields, mining syndicates, gold fever, quartz-mining, small-scale mining, old good luck mine, mopoke gully, quartz reefs beechworth -
The Beechworth Burke Museum
Photograph
This image is a reproduction of an 1899 original depicting the 'Williams Good Luck Mine' on the Mopoke Reef (also called 'Morepork Gully') in the Dingle Ranges, approximately three miles from Beechworth. The foreground of the image is littered with piles of smashed rock and detritus, known as ‘mullock’, beside a reinforced mine shaft, a vertical access passageway allowing miners to enter the mine and haul ore out using lifting technology such as a poppet heads, whims or windlasses. A group of miners and a dog appear close to an open-sided miner’s hut. Following the discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852, rushes quickly followed at surrounding creeks and gullies in the district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, small syndicates of miners continued to work old or abandoned quartz reefs, often persisting without the assistance of heavy machinery to remove the large amounts of rock, in order to obtain yields at ever greater depths. The group of miners in this photograph are Mr. Roger Williams and Sons, who revived operations at the ‘Old Good Luck’ mine on the Mopoke Reef in the Dingle Range near Beechworth around 1892, working the site for more than two decades. An emigrant from Cornwall with experience in the tin mining industry, 19 year old Roger Williams senior sailed to New Zealand in 1840, then to Australia where he spent time in the Bendigo Gold Fields before settling in Beechworth in the early 1860s. Mr Williams senior worked on various mining activities in the district, including the Rocky Mountain Tunnel project. Conversant with the character of gold-bearing reefs in the area, the syndicate dug an eight hundred foot tunnel, digging down as far down as two hundred feet with little capital save their labour, to connect and provide better working access to the mass of reefs and veins in the vicinity. Progress was hampered by poor air quality charged with fumes from dynamite and large quantities of rock had to be crushed to obtain payable yields. The Victorian Goldfields are filled with ruins and remnants of the area's rich mining history, ranging from small alluvial diggings to the remains of huge mining companies. Site names often changed several times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some sites were abandoned and forgotten, others were worked continuously over many decades. The names of mines were often repeated at different locations throughout the Victorian Goldfields. For example, there is a Mopoke Gully heritage mine near Fryers Creek, Victoria. 'Mopoke' is a common onomatopoeic name for Morepork and Australian Boobook owls.This image has historical, social and research significance for patterns of emigration during of the Victorian Gold Rush, and the historical, social and environmental impacts of mining at Beechworth at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As gold became scarce and government support and large company investment waned, poor hard-working miners laboured intensively to make a living through periods of high unemployment. This image can be compared and studied alongside other historical mining photographs and objects in the Burke Museum Collection. It has potential to improve our understanding of miners working conditions and the shifting character of mining in the Beechworth district.Sepia coloured rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic paper mounted on card.Obverse: Reverse: A02497/ 1997.2497/ 'Good/ Luck/ Mine'/ Morepork/ Gully/ Mrs Joyce/ Bright/ Tunnel/ 800 ft/ 1899. burke museum, beechworth museum, beechworth, gold fields, gold rush, victorian gold rush, gold ming history, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, good luck gold mine, victorian goldfields, mining syndicates, gold fever, quartz-mining, small-scale mining, old good luck mine, mopoke gully, quartz reefs beechworth