Diggers & Mining. The gold licence. The Government Camp. The goldfields police were stimulated to this sort of activity by an absurd regulation which allotted them half of the fines paid by prisoners they arrested. Many Commissioners, too, antagonized their diggers by their overbearing conduct. (See Unit 8) Markings: 36 994.LIF. 4. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, goldfields

Grassmere is a small hamlet about 12 kilometres from Warrnambool. It is a farming area. The Grassmere Gold Mining Company, presumably established by local people in Grassmere, was created in 1898 for the purpose of acquiring from Messrs James and Mewha a lease of a Cassilis gold mine (23 acres). £5000 was to be raised in shares of five shillings and one shilling each. The Manager of the Company was Horatio Dickson of Melbourne and the brokers were McMeekin and Co. of Melbourne and Warrnambool and Dickson and Osborne of Melbourne. This reef mine was one of several in Cassilis, Gippsland, 12 kilometres north west of Swifts Creek. The gold-bearing quartz reefs were discovered in 1885 and worked to 1914. It is not known whether the Grassmere Cassilis mine was a financial success but the mining operations were impeded by the hardness of the stone in the area. William Robinson was a farmer in the Grassmere district. This certificate is of considerable interest as one of only three items the Warrnambool and District Historical Society has that is connected with the establishment of the Grassmere Gold Mining Company. The gold mine establishment was one of the many minor events in the district in the 1890s. This is a small buff-coloured certificate detailing the shares of William Robinson in the Grassmere Gold Mining Company (1898). The certificate has green printing and black-ink handwriting. The bottom section (Form of Transfer) is not filled in. There is a stamp of the Grassmere Gold Mining Company with the words ‘No Liability’. There is a decorative pattern in green on the left margin with the address of the company and the name of the printer. ‘This is to certify that Wm. Robinson of Grassmere is a member of the above-named company and the proprietor of fifty (50) shares, numbering 12651/12700 therein, upon which the sum of one shilling has been paid up, subject to the Rules and Regulations of the Company. Dated this 15th day of September, 1898. W.J. Roland, Director, .H. (es) Dickson, Manager.’grassmere, grassmere gold mining company, william robinson, warrnambool