Historical information

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). 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 Grasmere area.

Significance

This receipt is of considerable interest as one of only three items the Warrnambool and District Historical Society that is connected to 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.

Physical description

This is an 1899 receipt for William Robinson upon payment of six shillings and three pence, being part payment for shares in the Grassmere Gold Mining Company. The buff-coloured paper has black printing and black-ink handwriting. There are two stamps – one is the stamp of ‘H.S.Dickson’ and the other is the stamp of the ‘Grassmere Gold Mining Company, No Liability’. The certificate has silver fish damage at the top and the right-hand side

Inscriptions & markings

‘May 30th 1899, Received from Mr Wm. Robinson the sum of six shillings and three pence, being the amount of 5th call of 1½ per share, due on 50 shares, nos. 12651/12700 in the above company, H.S. Dickson, Manager’