Bendigo General History - Department of Planning and Community ...

1856: Most of the small gullies were deserted as the results of a new rush to the lower end
of Sydney Flat. Some 2,000 people, including a number of Germans, occupied the flat for a
length of two miles where the sinking in places reached thirty feet ... Later, in September, the
population had decreased considerably. Some went to a new rush at Ironstone Hill near
Epsom, but many travelled to the big rush further afield at Dunolly ... In 1856, several
puddling machines were at work on the previously-worked upper end of the flat. Here, where
Beelzebub Gully joined the head of the flat, a Chinese camp was situated for some time. 1
1856: Whipstick. Many of the smaller gullies nearby, some of them tributaries of Sydney
Flat were scenes, sooner or later, of short-lived rushes. During July 1856, there was great
activity for a brief time in a small un-named gully some 3/4 of a mile distant from the flat. An
East Indian had struck it rich, finding ten small nuggets weighing over forty ounces. The
sinking was shallow, up to 12 feet, and within a few days between five and six hundred
diggers were at work. 2
1856: Whipstick - Early in 1856 Myer’s Flat had been rushed, Wellington Gully was
opened and there was a rush to Adelaide Hill in the Whipstick. ... In April 1856 ‘a new gully
in the Whipstick’ was discovered and 600 men were there in a few days. The chief places
worked at that time were on the Whipstick verge, at Red Jacket and Blue Jacket Gullies,
German Gully and One Eye, where a one-eyed man got twenty-seven ounces of gold in a
patch. In may 1856 surfacing on Canadian Hill was opened up, and a few weeks later Dead
Horse Gully, Centipede and Sydney Flat depopulated the other places round about, and there
was a rush of about 3000 men. In July 1856 Peter the Great’s Gully and Opossum Gully were
opened, and the following December there was a large rush near Wood’s Pick and Shovel
Hotel ... 3
July 1856: Wallace Reef ... was worked by a party, Scott & Co, in July 1856. They preserved for some
time, and by Oct 1857, Wallace Reef was a busy place with a dozen claims in operation. One
party had already stuck payable gold at a depth of 20 feet ... A visitor to the Whipstick in
1862 inspected the mines on Wallace Reef, and described a crushing machine there “a
primitive looking battery of from four to six stamps driven by a small high-pressure engine,
and worked by a party of Germans” ... Towards the close of 1863, Wallace Reef was deserted
... The battery was later shifted further into the Whipstick to the Shamrock Reef, where it
remained in operations for many years. 4
1856 [c. 1907]: New Prince of Wales. Some early day records. Record available show that the ground now
included in the New Prince of Wales lease was first worked in 1856. At that period rich
surface spurs were operated upon, and a large quantity of gold was won by the pioneer
prospectors. It is recorded that crushings from spurs yielded from 1 to 10ozs. to the ton. In
1859 the small claims were amalgamated and two co-operative parties were formed. Hopkins
and Co., a party of four, taking the southern ground, and the Pegleg Company, the northern.
Hopkins and Co. working to a depth of about 300ft. were very successful, and the Pegleg
Company operated with good results down to 100ft. or more. The two co-operative parties
between them paid in dividends over £80,000. The next claim N. of the Pegleg, known as the
N. Pegleg met with the same results. Later on, an amalgamation of Hopkins and Co. and the
Pegleg claims was effected and they became the Prince of Wales United. It is also recorded
that this company worked successfully from 260 to 320ft. 5
1 Perry, 1975, p11
2 Perry, 1975, p13
3 Flett, 1979, p246
4 Perry, 1975, pp176-185
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