Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - GOLD SALE NOTES FOR NICHOLAS BOLLE, 1868 - 1887
... Claim in December. In 1881, he was again called to give evidence when one of his employees Mr Thomas Garrett was killed while working at his claim at Old Tom Reef. So we are fortunate to have Nicholas describing his day’s work in his own words. Reference: Michelle Dennis...Claim in December. In 1881, he was again called to give evidence when one of his employees Mr Thomas Garrett was killed while working at his claim at Old Tom Reef. So we are fortunate to have Nicholas describing his day’s work in his own words. Reference: Michelle Dennis ...
Nicholas John Bolle was born in Dorstadt, Germany in 1836 to parents Heinrich (Johannes Heinrich Wilhelm) and Friederike Hartmann (Anne Marie Friedericke). Around the age of 20 he immigrated to Australia and made his way, most likely on foot, 150km in a northerly direction to the Bendigo goldfields.
In March 1863 Nicholas registered his first mining claim, naming it Bolle’s Reef. Having worked this reef until it no longer paid, he went on a prospecting tour of the area and found another gold reef towards Elysian Flat, staked a claim and registered it under the name of his beloved wife ‘Rosanna’.
Sadly, as was often the case, the cost of hiring men to get the gold out of the ground, and removing it from the clay and quartz, outweighed the amount of profit he was making from his discoveries. In November 1863 while living and working at Old Tom Gully, Nicholas appeared in the Government Gazette as insolvent.
Nicholas continued to struggle on, scoping out the surrounding area in the Whipstick Forest, and having some little success and by 1869 he was given a government reward of 25 pounds for discovering a new area of gold in the Whipstick. The Government Gazette records this reward – 'for the discovery of the Whipstick, 25 pounds' (Government Gazette 1869)
By 1872 Nicholas had established a quartz crushing plant at his mine in Old Tom Gully, (the Old Tom mine) a remote place in the middle of the Whipstick.
Mining was a dangerous business, and in 1875 Nicholas was called as a witness in a coroner’s inquest into the death of a John Bashton who was accidentally killed in a mining accident at nearby Easter Claim in December. In 1881, he was again called to give evidence when one of his employees Mr Thomas Garrett was killed while working at his claim at Old Tom Reef. So we are fortunate to have Nicholas describing his day’s work in his own words. Reference: Michelle Dennis Family History http://www.michelledennis.com.au/?page_id=1067)
The Old Tom Mine site is situated between Old Tom Road, Scotsman Road, Eaglehawk-Neilborough Road and an unnamed road, Whipstick VIC 3556. The Marong Heritage Study, Mining Sites ( City of Greater Bendigo) describes the former mine site as follows:
'40 metre-long mullock heap with one dumping line running north from a filled shaft. The heap has been partially quarried. 20 metres south is a scatter of red hand-made bricks and rough concrete rubble. Further south there are smaller mullock dumps and a line of shallow reef workings Surface workings 30 metres west of the mullock dump, running north, is a line of small mullock paddocks, terminating in a shallow open cut.
On the same line to the south, in an area north and west of the most southerly section of reef workings there is an area of hydraulic sluicing.
West of the cyanide works and along Scotchman Gully there are patches of shallow alluvial workings.
Battery site
On the eastern side of the open-cut is a small mullock paddock, below which is a spread of hand-made red bricks and fire bricks. Near this rubble is a dry dam, with traces of battery sand nearby.
Puddling machine site
10 metres north of the water race is the outline of a 20 foot diameter puddling machine.
The central mound retains its wooden post and fragments of timber side-boarding are still present in the puddling trench.
Water was fed to the puddling machine from the race by a pipe, now largely buried. The dumps are weathered and partially quarried, but the puddling machine is in good con
40 metre-long mullock heap with one dumping line running north from a filled shaft. The heap has been partially quarried. 20 metres south is a scatter of red hand-made bricks and rough concrete rubble. Further south there are smaller mullock dumps and a line of shallow reef workings Surface workings 30 metres west of the mullock dump, running north, is a line of small mullock paddocks, terminating in a shallow open cut.
On the same line to the south, in an area north and west of the most southerly section of reef workings there is an area of hydraulic sluicing.
West of the cyanide works and along Scotchman Gully there are patches of shallow alluvial workings'.
Reference: https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/553/old-tom-mine/
Document. Gold Sale notes for Nicholas Bolle. Papers pinned together covering the years 1868 - 1887 being statement of gold melted and assayed for Nicholas Bolle from the Eaglehawk branch of the Bank of Victoria. A few of the papers are from the Bank of New South Wales - Eaglehawk Branch, Bank of Australasia, Bank of Australasia Gold Office. The earliest statement dated 3 Jul 1868 is for Messrs Harrison & Bashton. Other early ones are for Derbyshire Reef. The Bank of Victoria cards mention R. H. Andrews, Agent on the back. The Bank of Australasia Gold Office statement contains an ink picture of the building on the back.gold sale notes for nicholas bolle, bank of victoria - eaglehawk branch, bank of new south wales, bank of australasia, bank of australasia gold office, messrs harrison & bashton, derbyshire reef, r. h. andrews
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.