Thursday, February 2, 2012

THE BRINDABELLA GOLD FIELDS

If anyone is looking for a place to do a little gold prospecting might I suggest the mighty Goodradigbee in the Brindabella Valley. I'll put a Google map at the end of these articles for anyone wondering where that is. A bit of a trawl through trove brought up a series of references to the wealth of the Brindabella gold fields...

Cautious I would describe the first report in 1864...

Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser - Thursday 13 October 1864



Followed by an update a few days later...

Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser - Thursday 20 October 1864



12 years later the mood dipped a bit...

Queanbeyan Age - Wednesday 10 May 1876



However 6 years later the area is officially declared a gold field...

Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1867 - 1904), Tuesday 3 October 1882



An article from the Age entitled Mr. Garvan's visit to Queanbeyan, Mac's Reef and Brindabella. I've cut the Brindabella reference out but the entire article is a good read. Of particular interest is the emergence of a Mr. William Reid in 1888...

Queanbeyan Age - Thursday 29 March 1888




15 years later and 12 years court proceedings later...

Queanbeyan Age - Saturday 21 March 1903




Queanbeyan Age and Queanbeyan Observer - Tuesday 16 August 1921



Ten years later some casual prospecting produces an ounce out of the river...

The Mercury - Wednesday 8 April 1931



At least the Canberra Times reported it properly...

The Canberra Times - Wednesday 8 April 1931


National Library of Australia

And if you can't poke around the Goodradigbee there's always Paddy's Creek. 83 years after the first article...

The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1954), Thursday 18 September 1947




National Library of Australia

Probably only advisable in an AWD or 4WD vehicle the Brindabella Valley and Goodradigbee River are accessible by Brindabella Road via Piccadilly Circus. (winding, steep, narrow, not often graded, dirt roads). The views are impressive...


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1 comment:

  1. UnknownAugust 11, 2019 at 10:21 PM

    Hi Mate, wondering if you're still around ACT? Would like to head out sometime and have a crack.

    ReplyDelete

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