An account of the life of George Ernest Locke who was a gold miner on the Yarra Track near Marysville in Victoria.An account of the life of George Ernest Locke who was a gold miner on the Yarra Track near Marysville in Victoria. George was a well-educated young man and had some success prospecting in the Cumberland area before partnering with William Chester with whom he opened the Golden Bower gold mine in 1896. George and William then discovered a second reef which they named the Silver Bower mine. George lived in a log cabin in the Cumberland reserve and was known to be a loner. He was clever with his money and chose not to have a bank account in Marysville, where everyone would learn about his financial status. He banked at the ES&A in Fitzroy and at the time of his death in 1941 he had accumulated the princely sum of three hundred and sixty pounds. George Locke was known as "the Hermit of Cumberland Valley" and lived in his humpy until his last few days during which he moved into a Forest Commission's patrol hut because his old humpy had started to fall to pieces. When George passed away at the age of 81 years he had not visited Marysville for over 14 years. george ernest locke, gold miner, gold mining, yarra track, william chester, golden bower mine, cumberland goldfield, silver bower mine, chesterville, marysville, victoria, jackie lewis, baron somers, big tree, picea sitchensis exotic, box hill cemetery, john edward locke, annie caroline locke, hermit of the cumberland valley

Tungsten Drill Bit Heads from AM50 Alpine Miner. Used at Stawell Gold Minestawell

A letter outlining the history of Andrew Kirwan who was a gold miner and road worker in Marysville in Victoria.A letter outlining the history of Andrew Kirwan who was a gold miner and road worker in Marysville in Victoria. Andrew Kirwan, along with his brothers, located and worked the Wolfram Mine at Wilkes Creek where they mined tungsten.andrew kirwan, marysville, victoria, cumberland valley, wolfram mine, wilkes creek, anderson and rowe sawmill, cumberland creek, golden bower gold mine, william chester, maria catherine kirwan, kirwan's reward, tungsten, cumberland river

Betty Vivian's maternal grandfather was a gold miner at Majorca, near Maryborough Vic and the scales belonged to himBrass scales for gold, in wooden box, with brass weights and gold ready-reckoner bookletgold mining, scales, gold rush