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

1870:
a depth of 1,873 feet, the mine yielding 38,035 oz. of gold from 74,745 tons. This returned dividends
of £37,035 - calls £35,792. 1
Prevention of accidents - Any miner working in alluvial ground a claim within twenty (20) feet of
any public road or ordinary crossing-place, shall enclose any shaft or excavation which he shall make
upon such claim by an embankment, or other fence at least four (4) feet in height, so as to afford
thereby a reasonable security against accidents to passengers; and no person shall, without previously
filling up such shaft or excavation, destroy or remove any such fence or embankment or portion
thereof. 2
c.1870s: The Harkness Foundry [Golden Square - commenced operations in 1858] in its later years erected
many of the largest mining plants on the Bendigo field and supplied the first crushing plants for the
Port Darwin rush and the Palmer River Diggings in 1871. It manufactured the widely-used Irvine
Patent Inlet Valve, the work of its chief pattern-make, Isaac Irvine, and had production rights to
another local invention, the Mitchell Rock-boring Machine that became standard equipment in most
mines. For the quartz-king, George Lansell, it produced the largest air-compressing plant in
Australia. 3
1870-72: Although the 1870-72 boom was triggered by the strike on the Hustler’s Line, its origins were far
more diverse. Basically, it resulted from the occurrence of fresh sources of capital, with the
Sandhurst mines seeming to offer the most promising field for their investment. How much of it was
overseas capital is difficult to determine, but Macartney, who was a local sharebroker as well as a
mining journalist, speaks of ‘an immense influx of foreign capital into the Bendigo mines during
1870-71’. The export of Australian gold to Great Britain during the early decades had given great
impetus to the British economy and had contributed to the creation of a capital surplus for overseas
investment. .. Nearer home, the year 1871 saw Australian exports exceeding imports for the first
time, so creating a pool of local capital for investment. As well, residential investment, which had
been extensive during the sixties, suffered a temporary setback during 1870-71, so freeing capital for
diversion to other areas. Elsewhere, with some notable exceptions, mining ventures were scarcely
holding their own. Walhalla’s mining boom of the late sixties ...had spent itself. On the other hand,
the Sandhurst mines were yielding richly and consistently. In 1870 they paid investors £237,757 and
during 1871 were paying an average of £6,580 a week in dividends. An especially attractive feature
of investment in the Sandhurst mines was ‘the low starting price of Bendigo stock’ on which calls
seldom exceeded a penny, and which contrasted sharply with that of Ballarat and Walhalla. 4
1870-72: Spree: With some 1,200 companies registered on the field, the mines were the chief employers of
labour ... The seventies were the prosperous decade. In 1871 the town had a population of 18,778
which continued to rise during the decade with the influx of people from other fields. By 1881 it had
risen to 28,662 {the figures do not include Eaglehawk which in 1871 had a population of 7,362]
Writing in the early eighties, Macartney felt it necessary to distinguish between ‘old Bendigonians’
and the ‘post-1870 residents’ so considerable had the influx been. 5
Mar 1870: Sandhurst Division (Raywood Division no longer exists) - There has been considerable excitement in
this division during the past quarter in consequence of the remarkably rich stone exhibited by
Rourke, Henderson, and Company from their claim on the Belle Vue Reef, the excellent yields from
Bell and Watson’s claim on Garden Gully Reef, and the discovery of an entirely new reef in the
Great Extended Hustler’s Reef Company’s mine on Hustler’s Reef. An idea of the value of these
reefs may be obtained by a reference to the returns from these companies... The reefs I have
mentioned may be the most particular at the present time, but generally the yields from quartz have
been better, as may be seen from the average of the total returns received from the public crushing
machines, even omitting that which includes the Extended Hustler’s Reef Company’s. The new reef
in the last-named company’s mine was discovered at a depth of 500 feet. Since the first of January
this year it has enabled the company to pay off a debt of over 2,000, and pay dividends to the amount
of 16s per 28,000th share, and they now have every prospect of a long continuance of like success.
1 Perry, 1975 pp214-227
2 McIvor Times, 18 February 1870
3 Cusack, 1973, p176
4 Cusack, 1973, p153-53
5 Cusack, 1973, p158