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

April 1858: In April 1858 the local Mining Board passed a first by-law governing the sludge question. A
series of amendments and subsidiary regulations on the issue followed. A fee of £12 per
machine per annum was introduced for the maintenance of existing facilities until such time
as the Government provided a main sludge channel for the district. 1
1858: Lightning Hill/Whipstick ... One of the richest s0-called "main" lines of reef on the
Bendigo goldfield was the Hustler's ... The reef continued northward, entering the Whipstick
... at the foot of Lightning Hill. It was here in 1858n that a party of Germans began
prospecting on their claim that extended for 200 yards long the line of reef. At first they were
unsuccessful, but they preserved until in 1861 they struck rich stone which yielded 2-1/2ozs
of gold to the ton. A company consisting of 11 partners was formed, and as most of them
came from the Black Forest region in Germany, they named their mine after this district of
their homeland. On 18 Nov 1861 ... named the mine "Black Forest Reef Company" ... from
1861 to 1867 some 2036 oz of gold were obtained. In 1899 the Black Forest was being
worked by the J.R. Exploration Syndicate, when a shaft was sunk to 250 feet ... This
syndicate erected a wooden poppet legs and installed a steam winch. Later the shaft was
deepened to 1060 feet but with poor results. Calls amounting to £8770 were paid during the
years 1904 to 1907, and the mine proved a failure. 2
mid 1858: As Chairman of the Sandhurst Mining Board, ‘the indefatigable John McIntyre’ fought a lastditch
stand on the private miners’ behalf but it was a losing battle. In mid-1858, O’Shanassy,
then Premier, convened a meeting of representatives of the Boards to resolve the issue.
1858: Gold was being worked near Axedale in 1858, and in 1860 the Great Eastern Reef
at Axe Creek was discovered by Lowden, Lamont and Talbot. 3
Nov 1858: A Royal Commission under the chairmanship of Sullivan, was appointed to enquire into the
best means of coping with sludge disposal on the Bendigo Goldfield and £25,000 was placed
on estimates for dealing with the problem throughout the colony. When the Commission
tabled its report, it recommended construction of a box-drain channel running the length of
the valley (10 miles) and draining into Tyson’s Swamp, below Huntly. There, a reservoir was
envisaged. As well, the construction of a storm-channel was recommended. Work
commenced almost immediately ... The channel did not prove wholly satisfactory.
Maintenance was costly. The Commission’s recommendations of hardwood planking were
shortsighted. Before the decade was out, it was replaced with sandstone, and in some
instances, bluestone flagging of the central section of the creek. Later still, it was considered
advisable to pave the bed of the creek itself. 4
1858-1860s: The air of ‘progressiveness’ that so excited Stamer was directly related to Sandhurst’s
emergence, as the colony’s most important quartz mining centre. Confidence in mining
investments had been restored and the Bank Act of 1858, enabling mining companies to give
a lien and mortgage, gave impetus to company formation. By the end of the sixties, three
million shares held in local companies exceeded the combined share-holding of the Ballarat
and Beechworth mines by more than half-a-million, whilst the Sandhurst mining claims were
worth almost £2,000,000 more than any other fields. 5
1858: Messrs Cornish, Bruce and Company, the biggest contracting firm in the colony
who were then engaged in building the Houses of Parliament, put their signatures to the
contract for the construction of a double-track line to Sandhurst at a price of £3,356,937.
Work commenced on the line near Footscray on 7 June 1858 ... For its contractors,
Sandhurst’s dream of a rail-link with Melbourne soon became a nightmare. Apart from
industrial and constructional problems, bad weather during 1859-60 seriously hampered
progress, particularly through the Black Forest quagmire to Woodend ... By October (1861)
the line was nearly completed. Castlemaine celebrated on 15 October 1862 and a week later,
His Excellency, Sir Henry Barkly, accompanied by Lady Barkly, arrived to add lustre to
Sandhurst’s great day. 6
1 Cusack, 1973, p118
2 Perry, 1975, pp176-185
3 Flett, 1979, p 252
4 Cusack, 1973, p119
5 Cusack, 1973, p137
6 Cusack, 1973, p142-46