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

late 1850s: The issue that occupied the most attention in the post-Eureka period, far transcending local
issues was the Land Question. The licence fee had been abolished; digger hunts were an ugly
memory; the digger voice had found an echo in parliament and local government was groping
its way into being. One major grievance persisted - the squatters iron grip on the land. The
grievance deepened as the digger’s world began to disappear. Occasional rushes flared to
keep alight his hopes but as the years drifted into the late fifties, the digger, tired of
scratching a meagre living, mostly on dying fields, turned envious eyes to the squatters’
holdings. The dream of returning home, fortune in hand had faded; for many, adventure had
ceased to beckon. Most diggers had been in their early twenties on arrival; they were now
nearly thirty. They thought of marriage, of settling down - but the lands were locked against
them ... 1
late 1850s: But if the thoughts of many diggers in the late fifties and early sixties turned hungrily to the
land, there were others in the Bendigo Valley content with the glint of gold in the puddling
tub, or convinced of the riches awaiting discovery in the great quartz reefs that buckled and
plunged deep below the valley. 2
Whipstick nuggets
Sept 1857: Brandy Gully2 nuggets, 194oz & 68oz by puddler named Pahlow. A reminder of Pahlow
still exists in Sandfly Gully. Enclosing an area of perhaps 1/4 acre, the remnants of an old
stone wall and foundation of old chimney. Pahlow’s former home.
Nov 1857: Elysian Flat. Greatest rush in the Whipstick was to Elysian Flat in Nov 1857. It was rich
nugget country and from 1858 to 1904, 21 nuggets ranging from 22 to 240 oz were
recovered. 16 of this number found during 1858, the boom year at Elysian Flat. 1857-58:
Scotchman’s Gully: 7 nuggets of from 22 to 370ozs - the 370ozs (named Whipstick
monster). 3
Nov 1857: The Elysian Flat Diggings (now Neilborough) on the fringe of the Whipstick revived
...[alluvial]...hopes. 4
1857: Whipstick - A note in 1857 tells us that one of the chief openers of the Whipstick
was a Mr Moorehead, who discovered Sandfly Reef. Early that year Drunken Scotchman’s
Gully, Paddy’s Gully and Sandfly and Brandy Gullies were opened up ... The gullies northwest
of Scotchman’s, near Flagstaff Hill, were discovered at this time, and in May 1857
Phillips and party discovered gold about eight miles to the north-east at what became
Phillip’s Gully, where 400 men were working in July. 5
1857: Bendigo Advertiser 29 May 1857 - made Phillips Gully Rush public - new and
payable gold-field had been discovered by some parties working near the outskirts of the
Whipstick Scrub, in the vicinity of Piccaninny Creek, about 28 miles from town. The
greatest drawback to mining in the Whipstick had been the almost continual shortage of
water. At Phillips Gully, the diggers united in an effort to improve their supply. By mid-June
it was possible for anyone to reach Phillips Gully without becoming lost. From the recentlyfinished
road from Scotchman’s Gully to the northern plains, a rough track branched off to
the new rush ... At this rush the population was estimated at between 150 and 200. Three
small stores and a butchers shop had been erected and the miners were busy building their
new dam ... The gold in this gully was very fine, no nuggets were found and only a few were
successful. For most it was a failure and the end of June spelled “Finish” to this rush. Seven
years later, Phillips Gully was again the scene of a minor rush. In April 1864, some 50 miners
were working here, but with unspectacular results. Today, Phillips Gully is deserted, but
numerous eroded, shallow holes remain. Also there are remnants of several puddling
machines, relics of those who worked in the gully later. 6
July 1857: The Whipstick Prospecting Association. By July 1857, many prospectors and residents of the
Whipstick realised the necessity for a combined effort to promote a more thorough search of
the scrub for mining purposes ... Little was heard concerning the Association until on 31
1 Cusack, 1973, p112-113
2 Cusack, 1973, p115
3 Perry, 1975, pp166-176
4 Cusack, 1973, p125
5 Flett, 1979, pp246-47
6 Perry, 1975, pp33-37