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The Beechworth Burke Museum
From the collection of The Beechworth Burke Museum
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Photograph - Photograph - Reproduction, c. 1900

  • A black and white photograph of a bearded man in a hat holding a mining drill standing in the corner of two concrete walls.

    7815 (cropped)

  • A black and white photograph of a bearded man in a hat holding a mining drill standing in the corner of two concrete walls.

    7815

  • A white background with pencil notes (see transcription).

    7815 (reverse)

  • A black and white photograph of a bearded man in a hat holding a mining drill standing in the corner of two concrete walls.
  • A black and white photograph of a bearded man in a hat holding a mining drill standing in the corner of two concrete walls.
  • A white background with pencil notes (see transcription).

Historical information

This photograph shows an operator for the Rocky Mountain Mining Company holding a mining drill. The drill is likely a Ford's patent rock drill, used by the Rocky Mountain Extended Mining Company to dig the Rocky Mountain Tunnel that still exists beneath Beechworth as part of gold mining efforts.

Work on the tunnel began in 1856 under Robert Dryburgh, but was met with trouble when the tail-race (a channel for removing water) fell. After the land changed hands a few times (see Beechworth: A Titan's Field, p. 99), the newly-launched Rocky Mountain Extended Gold Sluicing Company resumed the tunnelling works in June 1876, starting beneath Newtown bridge. Completed in December 1879, the tunnel was almost 800m long and cost a total of £13,500.

The mine was closed in 1921 "after yielding 47,926 ozs of gold and paying £63,639 in dividends".

The photograph appears to have been taken against a solid backdrop, rather than at a mine, possibly as a way to demonstrate the equipment the miners were using.

Significance

The search for gold is ingrained into the history of Victoria and therefore, images like this one which portray the machinery and workers involved can reveal important information for society and technology for the date when the photograph was taken. This image is of important historical significance for its ability to convey information about the specific types of machines and the methods used to find gold in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The photograph also appears to have been taken out of the drill's standard operating context of a mine, which might convey information about how mining, drills, and mine workers were portrayed in a more presentation-like context.

The Burke Museum is home to a substantial collection of Australian mining photographs which can be used to gain a deeper understanding into life on the gold fields, technology used in mining, the miners themselves and the impact of the gold digging on the environment.

Physical description

Black and white rectangular reproduced photograph printed on card.

Inscriptions & markings

7815 /
Copy 1/3 /

Subjects

References

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