Towns of Minerals and Metals Brochure

Bridge over Hoods Lagoon, Clermont ca. 1877

Introduction

Exhibition runs

Towns of

MINERALS & METALS

06-03-19 to 20-12-19

Accidental Discoveries Clermont Map Ca.1870

Clermont Ca. 1873

It was soon after in the late months of 1861, that Jack Mollard discovered a ‘mountain of pure copper’ whilst searching for gold. It is recorded that he kept its location a secret until he met John Manton who was prospecting at Centre Creek.

Blair Athol Ca. 1910

Mollard allegedly disclosed the location to Manton for ‘many promises and a bottle of rum’, a decision that he would later come to regret.

The Peak Downs area was discovered by Ludwig Leichhardt in 1845, but wasn’t settled until Jeremiah Rolfe, the Archer Brothers and Hoods & Manning migrated there in the late 1850s.

John Manton, a Sydney entrepreneur later formed the Peak Downs Copper Mining Company in 1862 with business partners Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and Thomas Smart.

The PDCMC set about sinking bores to acquire the coal for use in the copper smelters.

Hoods & Manning settled near Theresa Creek, calling their parcel of land Drummond Station.

In 1861, two shepherds by the names of Nelson and Harry MacDonald were tasked to build a hut on the banks of a long lagoon situated on Hood’s run.

A year ago what were the Peak Downs?

Where was Clermont?

A bush inn, and a bush store, by the side of a lonely lagoon, represented the sole accommodation for a couple of hundred miles and the hills from which some of our chief streets now take their names were barely as much noted on the map.

A few diggers, precariously struggling on with short rations and ‘pigweed’, strove for a living among the adjacent gullies … a year later, and the wand of magic has apparently been at work.

New inns and stores, diggers passing and repassing by the hundreds and Wolfang and Drummond Streets ringing with traffic …

So much for the age and our humble share in its advance.

- Maryborough Chronicle, June 9 1864, page 4

Records show that during their travels to find timber for the construction, they found gold in a gully that joined with Sandy Creek.

They told only two others, Jack Mollard and Cameron, They quickly secured supplies from Rockhampton in order to work the site, in pursuit of the precious metal.

News of the discovery spread quickly, the gully was soon known as ‘Nelson’s Gully, and the lagoon as ‘Diggings Lagoon’.

By 1862, the area had boomed with over 1,000 prospectors working the region, many of whom migrated from the Canoona Rush. This saw the development of a stretch of diggings spanning from 20 miles north of Clermont to 6 miles south with a width of 4 miles.

These were known as Miclere, Black Ridge, The Springs, Venus, Dead Horse, McDonald’s Flat and Wild Cat Leads.

It is noted that this range of diggings offered employment for 3,000 to 4,000 men, yielding 69,099 ounces of gold between the period of 1884 to 1899.

In 1874, the Peak Downs Copper Mining Company (PDCMC) acquired a lease of 100 acres near the site of the well.

The company however went into liquidation in 1879.

Copperfield Ca.1876

Over the next 15 years, the company would see triumphant highs and plummeting lows, and several changes of ownership.

The initial growth of the mine was quick and frenzied, Manton and his party of 30 men erected shelters, dug shafts and found water. Transporting the copper proved to be a massive problem, as the road to Rockhampton was almost non-existent.

In 1872, the area was inundated with Cornish miners, ‘Cousin Jacks’ and ‘Cousin Jennies’, who migrated from the South Australian mines, and boosted the population tremendously. This marked the pinnacle of growth for the bustling town of Copperfield and by 1874 the town boasted of 370 dwellings, 31 miles of roads and streets and a population of 1,480 people.

Coal was first discovered on the Peak Downs in 1864, by Robert McMaster who struck the seam while attempting to sink a well on the homestead block of Blair Athol Station. Records show that there had been no evidence to suggest the presence of minerals and McMaster was shocked to find coal at a depth of 21 metres. There was, however, no local market for coal at the time in the area, so the discovery went practically unnoticed.

The actual mining of the mineral did not occur until the year of 1889, when Ben Derrett and Howard Smith sunk a small shaft a mere 630 metres from the original discovery site.

Coal samples were sent to the rail-head at Clermont for examination, and the coal was found to have low ash content and good steaming qualities.

Clermont Historical Centre Gregory Highway

The only consumer for coal at this time was the Central Railway, who became the Blair Athol Colliery’s first major customer.

WED TO SAT 9AM - 3PM

The coal was carted by horse teams to Clermont until 1910 when the railway was extended to Blair Athol.

By 1911 the township of Blair Athol boasted two hotels, a billiard room, a store, a post office and a ‘few weatherboard and slab buildings’.

REFERENCES Killin, K. (1984). Drovers, diggers and draglines. Published by Pacific Coal Pty. Ltd. for the Blair Athol Coal Joint Venturers, p.15. Peak Downs Telegram, (1897), September 14, page 2. O’Donnell, D. (1989). A History of Clermont and District.

Albion Press, p.21. The Capricornian, (1899). Clermont and District. [online] p.22. Available at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68194821/6789495 [Accessed 1 Nov. 2016]. Brisbane Courier, (1875), March 13, page 7. Killin, K. (1984). Drovers, diggers and draglines. Published by Pacific Coal Pty. Ltd. for the Blair Athol Coal Joint Venturers, p.15. O’Donnell, D. (1989). A History of Clermont and District. Albion Press, p 58. Whitmore, R.L. Coal in Queensland: The Late Nineteenth Century 1875 to 1900 (1985). Killin, K. (1984). Drovers, diggers and draglines. Published by Pacific Coal Pty. Ltd. for the Blair Athol Coal Joint Venturers, p.36. Dunne, E.F. Brief History of the Coal Mining Industry, (1950) .

O’Donnell, D. (1989). A History of Clermont and District. Albion Press, p.80. Peak Downs Telegram, (1911) May 20, page 2

$6 adults $4 pensioners $3 children under 12 years $15 per family with two or more children FOR MORE INFORMATION: ISAAC.QLD.GOV.AU | 1300 ISAACS (1300 47 22 27) isaacregionalcouncil

isaacregionalcouncil

isaacrcouncil