The historic town of Beechworth, with its
wonderful gold rush history and heritage architecture, is located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia.
Beechworth, named after the town of the same name in Leicestershire, England, was located to take advantage of trade along the Murray River and the
passing traffic between Melbourne and Sydney.
The
Dhudhoroa Aboriginal People
Dhudhoroa Aboriginal people inhabited the lands around Beechworth, Victoria, before the arrival of Europeans. Important Aboriginal cultural sites are located nearby at Mt Pilot, in the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, which is about 20 minutes drive from Beechworth.
The Dhudhoroa people would have first come into contact with the British when the Hume and Hovell expedition passed through in 1824, on their way from Lake George in New South Wales, to Port Phillip.
In 1835, squatters moved into the Beechworth region. However, on April 11, 1838, at the Broken River, near today's Benalla,
an event which is known as the "Faithfull Massacre" occurred, when a band of Aborigines killed eight white shepherds. Retaliation followed, with the resulting death of indigenous people.
Reasons vary for the attack by the Aboriginals. However, it was mostly likely due to the settlers
camping on a ground that was reserved for hunting or ceremonies.
Squatters in the area had to pay a £10 licence fee and were directed to allow the free access of Aboriginals to hunting lands. However, this did not often occur, which also sparked Aboriginal retaliation.
An Aboriginal protectorate was formed by 1839 and George Augustus Robinson was appointed Chief Protector.
There are many people today who can
trace their ancestry to the Dhudhuroa people.
The Dhudhuroa language is being revived. Information about the language can be found in the collected writings of by R. H. Mathews, an Australian surveyor and self-taught anthropologist, Neddy Wheeler, a native of Mitta Mitta River and George Augustus Robinson, who was
Chief Protector of Aborigines in Port Phillip District. About two hundred and seventeen words and grammar usages were collected from Neddy Wheeler.
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| Aboriginal family group at a river campsite at Lake Moodemere, near Wahgunyah and Corowa. A researcher has identified the man on the far left as Neddy Wheeler (died April 1908), Dhudhuroa man and language informant to R. H. Matthews. SLSA |
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"Gum Tree in Police Paddock, Wodonga, showing portion of bark removed by "Neddy Wheeler" (the last of the Upper Murray tribe of blacks) to make a canoe for himself. Neddy died many years ago and the tree remains as
an interesting relic." Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 15 September 1928 |
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| Yeddonba Aboriginal Site, Mt Pilot, VIC |
The Europeans
Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824, during an expedition of discovery,
passed within 13km of what is now Beechworth, naming the Ovens River in honour of Major John Ovens, the Secretary to Thomas Brisbane, the Colonial Governor of New South Wales.
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| Hamilton Hume and William Hovell, Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 18 November 1944 |
In 1851 Victoria became a separate colony and Beechworth would soon become "the chief town and centre of the Ovens goldfield".
The area which would become Beechworth was known as Mayday Hills until 1853. This area was used by the squatter David Reid as grazing land.
Reid also operated operated a flour-mill beside the Yackandandah Creek, when a workman named Beaton noticed that some earth appeared to have gold in it. Reid replied "There is no gold in the Colony or this part of the world. This is only mica,
if you want gold you will have to go the Ural Mountains in Russia".
Early in 1852, a shepherd and his two companions discovered gold at Reid’s Creek, which they tried to hide, so as not to attract other prospectors.
First court took place in Beechworth in 1854.
The many people who rushed to the goldfields in the early days lived in tents and some built slab-huts. During the early days of the rush, Beechworth was described as a "scene of chaos".
The first school at Beechworth opened in the Wesleyan chapel in January 1855. In the following year, a Church of England school opened, which later become Beechworth Grammar School.
Chevalier’s Mill built in 1855, operated as a saw mill, then later as a flour mill.
Beechworth was proclaimed a Municipality in 1856.
Soon, these gold finds became publicly known and
thousands of people rushed into the area, which transformed from a single bark hut, into a bustling centre in no time. By 1857, the population of Beechworth was close to 20,000 people, with houses, shops, churches and other infrastructure being built at a furious pace.
By 1857 about a half tonne of gold was being extracted each fortnight from the goldfields and sent off to Melbourne. At this time, about 3000 people were living at Beechworth.
With the Chinese outnumbering the Europeans in the area, there were many tensions. On 4 July 1857, race riots took place nearby at the Buckland Valley.
The Chinese were often relegated to the outskirts of town, probably because of the fear incited by their different appearance and
ways of working together. The Chinese often worked in teams, were accused of wasting water and were superstitious of the mountain gods when mining. Although they seldom drank alcohol, many were addicted to opium. Most Chinese also had no intention of staying in Australia or mining with other groups. The intention was to get rich and return home.
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| Chinese camp Beechworth ; Beechworth.Author / Creator, Hannay, Thomas, photographer. Date (1859?), SLVIC |
Part of the Beechworth Cemetery was allocated to the Chinese and about 2000 individuals are buried here. The burning towers were added in 1857 so that those
mourning the dead, could burn offerings, like paper and presents for the afterlife.
Four breweries were operating at Beechworth by 1858.
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| Anglo-Australian Brewery, Beechworth, VIC, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), Wednesday 25 February 1903 |
Multicultural Dreams of Gold: 1850s
Gold was discovered at Spring Creek in February 1852 and then at Reid's Creek (the present site of Beechworth) nine months later. Gold was found in 1853 at Woolshed, named after the woolshed owned by settler David Reid, 8 km north-west of Beechworth. By 1854 gold had been found near Omeo.
The Ovens and Murray Advertiser newspaper began in 1854.
Interestingly, the famous explorer, Robert O'Hara Burke of the doomed Burke and Wills expedition, held the post of police superintendent at Beechworth from 1854 to 1858. The Beechworth Museum owns the gun given to Burke when he was a police superintendent in Beechworth and later Castlemaine.
By 1855 steam-driven pumps were used and by 1857, around 8000 people were living at Woolshed. There were also, 29
storekeepers, several breweries, seven butchers, 14 hotels, eight restaurants and six bookmakers.
The Bank of NSW on the corner of Ford and Camp Streets was built in 1857.
In the 1857 census, 5569 persons were recorded living at the three localities, of which 77% were male and 23% female.
Getting There
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Friday 3 September 1858 |
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Friday 3 September 1858 |
Business and Politics
In November 1855, Daniel Cameron rode a horse shod with golden horseshoes through the main streets of Beechworth, after he was elected as Member of the Legislative Council representing the Ovens electorate. It is believed that the horseshoes came from "Big" Johnston, who owned the Woolshed's richest gold claim. Leading up to this election there had been a lot of dispute between the reef-mining Punchers and the alluvial-mining Monkeys.
Vineyards were being planted at Beechworth as early as 1856, in Havelock Road, by Mr J.A Rochlitz.
By 1857, the major rush at Woolshed had passed, but more than 20,000 people were living in Beechworth, not far away.
A tannery was established in 1858 by Matthew Dodd. The business was later purchased by William Zwar in 1888.
Beechworth's
post office was been built in 1858 and a clock tower was added in 1865.
Hydraulic sluicing was the main gold extraction method used in the early days. This method required large quantities of water in the transport and washing of ore and for powering the water wheels and steam engines to drive the machinery.
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| Spring Creek diggings, Beechworth, VIC, circa 1855. In February 1852 gold was discovered at Spring Creek, Beechworth |
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| Woolshed Creek diggings, Beechworth, VIC, circa 1855. Named Woolshed after a nearby woolshed owned by early settler David Reid, who had a lease on the land |
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| Five unidentified men working a gold mine near Beechworth, Victoria, 1856, National Library of Australia |
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| Mill and machinery for crushing quartz to retrieve gold, Beechworth, Victoria, 1856 National Library of Australia |
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| Chinese camp, Beechworth, VIC, State Library of VIC. Poster can be seen on the front of the building under construction, advertising the Wizard of Australia. Professor Rignold who performed under this title toured Beechworth in June 1858. |
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| Carts in front of the Star Hotel, Ford Street, Beechworth, Victoria, 1856, National Library of Australia |
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| Beechworth, Victoria, circa 1850s |
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| Beechworth, Victoria, circa 1855 |
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Friday 8 April 1859 |
1860s
The boom-times in Beechworth attracted people from all over the world, who were eager to make their fortune.
A national school opened in Loch Street in November 1858, which became the Common School No.36 after 1862. The school was taken over by the Education Department in 1873.
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| A group of men in front of the Commercial Hotel in Beechworth, circa 1865, Museum Victoria |
Beechworth Gaol
Using granite quarried on the site by prisoners, the Beechworth Gaol was built in several stages, opening in 1860, while still incomplete. Ned Kelly was imprisoned there for a total of about two years between 1870 and 1880.
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| Ned Kelly in the dock at Beechworth, a sketch from life [picture] Illustrated Sydney news, 1880 |
The wonderful buildings of Beechworth were mostly built in the town's early years, including the
courthouse where Ned Kelly and his mother were tried
and the gaol where Ned Kelly served a six months sentence at the age of 16, convicted of using obscene language. Kelly also passed
through the town on the way to his hanging in Melbourne.
By the 1860s, alluvial gold had been worked out.
A public meeting was held at Beechworth in 1861 to discuss building a district Benevolent Asylum.
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Tuesday 6 February 1866 |
George Kerferd
Born in Liverpool, England, George Kerferd came to Australia and tried his luck as a gold miner at Beechworth where he settled. He studied law and was Minister for Mines and Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works in the government of James McCulloch 1868, and Solicitor-General 1872-1874 and Attorney-General in 1874, in the government of James Francis. Kerferd was the 10th Premier of Victoria and was involved in ensuring Beechworth had a
railway connection to Melbourne.
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| George Briscoe Kerferd (21 January 1831 – 31 December 1889), Australian colonial politician |
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Saturday 12 November 1864 |
By The Way
By 1867 Beechworth had 7000 Chinese residents.
The famous folk-song, The Wild Colonial Boy, tells the story of an Irish-born, Jack Doolan, a bushranger who terrorises the squatters and holds up the Beechworth mail coach in the 1860s.
The Beechworth Asylum which opened in 1857, was one of the three largest in Australia and was largely self-sufficient with its own piggery, orchards, kitchen gardens, fields, stables and barn. One
distinctive aspect of the building is the use of ha-ha walls, a type of sunken fence, which created a boundary. Such walls usually consist of a sunken stone wall, with its top, level with the garden, with a deep ditch on the far side, creating a barrier.
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| View of the unfinished Asylum across a foreground of tree stumps and scrub towards the two storey building with a central section with two three story towers flanked by long wings on either side. There is scaffolding across the central section and the wing on left side. Circa 1866, SLVIC |
1870s
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Thursday 15 June 1876 |
The railway arrived at Beechworth in 1873. Railway line from Wangaratta to Beechworth completed in 1876. However, by this period, Beechworth was a town in decline.
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| Panorama of Beechworth, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 1870-1875 |
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| Panorama of Beechworth showing the Exchange Hotel (centre), The Ovens and Murry House (right hand far background), Railway Station with train carriages, people and steam locomotive at water tank. 1870-1875 |
1880s-90s
Rocky Mountain Tunnel completed in 1880.
In May 1892, 32 grape growers were listed in the Beechworth district.
During the 1890s, dredging was pioneered at Woolshed Creek, which replaced hydraulic sluicing.
With six churches, nineteen hotels and other industries operating in 1892, Beechworth was a busy town.
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| The dredge at Woolshed, Vic, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 12 May 1906 |
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| W. J. Bowen, chemist in Ford street, Beechworth, chemist in Ford street, Beechworth, VIC, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 17 December 1898 |
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| Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), Wednesday 25 February 1903 |
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| Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Saturday 18 February 1893 |
A New Century
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| Ford Street, Beechworth, Vic - early 1900s |
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| Coronation Day, Beechworth, Victoria - early 1900s |
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| Ford Street, Beechworth, Vic - early 1900s. Kaye |
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| View of the main street of Beechworth, VIC, post office on right, circa 1912 |
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| King Edward VII Memorial Service in Victoria Park, Beechworth, Vic - May 20, 1910 |
Matron Maria Meade
In 1901, Margaret Winning was the matron of the Ovens District Hospital and Matron Maria Meade was in charge of the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum.
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| Matron Margaret Winning, of the Ovens District Hospital, in 1905, VIC |
WWI
Richard Wesley Wong, was the only soldier of Chinese descent to fight in World War I, although, there were many Chinese living in the area. His father was a Chinese Methodist missionary and his mother was of European background. Private Wong was killed in action on 2nd March 1917, by an enemy shell.
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| Richard Wesley Wong, 17th Australian Infantry Battalion, Place of Association Beechworth, Victoria, Australia |
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| Norman Baxter, 6th Battalion. A labourer from Beechworth, Victoria prior to enlistment. Pte Baxter embarked with the 15th Reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT Wiltshire on 7 March 1916. Later transferring to the 5th Machine Gun Battalion, he was wounded in action on two separate occasions and returned to Australia on 23 March 1919 |
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| Opening of new Beechworth Hospital, Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW : 1938 - 1946), Monday 21 April 1941 |
1920-30s
Quartz mining declined in the 1920s.
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| Australia Beechworth Town Band, VIC, 1930s |
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| Sluicing for gold at Reidy Creek near Beechworth, Victoria, 1930s, HistoryInPhotos |
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| The Open-air Picture Theatre, Beechworth, Vic (1920-1954) |
Sir Isaac Isaacs
Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs, our first Australian born Governor-General, spent some of his youth in Beechworth, where he first attended the Common school, then Beechworth Grammar School. Isaacs's was a teacher at Beechworth before he went to Melbourne to university, to study law.
Wong Hor (Blind Tommy)
The Chinese miner, Wong Hor, who was commonly known by the name Blind Tommy, arrived in Beechworth in the 1860s and lived at Chinaman's Flat, on Dingle Road at Silver Creek. His house was built by the Shennan family, with Tommy assisting. The first hut built for Wong Hor, by the Shennan family, burnt down and they built him another one. Shennan Lane is named after this
pioneer family.
It was in the 1890s that Wong Hor lost his sight and began using a stick to navigate around town. People of the town remember him collecting manure for his vegetable garden and smoking a pipe (possibly an opium pipe or a water pipe).
Sadly, by December 1840, Wong Hor could not look after himself and he was admitted to the Ovens Benevolent Assylum. He died in March 1946, at the age of 89. He is buried in the Chinese section of the Beechworth cemetery. There are approximately 2,000 Chinese graves at Beechworth Cemetery.
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| An old Chinese man known as Blind Tommy & lives about one and a half miles out from Beechworth, Vic. circa 1941 |
Paul Voglis operated the "Splendid Café" in Beechworth Victoria, during the late 1930s.
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| Today the Barrowthon at Beechworth is an annual event, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 22 June 1935 |
WWII
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| Patriotic people of Beechworth, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 10 February 1943 |
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| CWA of Beechworth engaged in camouflage net making, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 10 February 1943 |
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| Ford Street, looking north, Beechworth, VIC, (1920-1954 ) |
Beechworth, today, is one of the most well preserved and interesting historical gold rush towns in Australia.
Around Beechworth
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| The panopticon with two wings of cells of the Beechworth Gaol, a central hall and a kitchen wing were built in 1859-60, and the gaol opened in 1860, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Construction of the Ovens Benevolent Asylum began in 1862, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Ford Street, Beechworth VIC |
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| The town library or Athenaeum, was built in 1857. Beechworth, VIC |
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| Chinese Burning Towers, Beechworth Cemetery, VIC |
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| Telegraph Station, Beechworth, VIC, built 1858 |
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| Beechwood Shire Hall, Beechworth, VIC, built 1888 |
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| Tanswells Commercial Hotel in the main street of Beechworth, VIC. First built here in 1853, and was rebuilt in 1873 by Thomas Tanswell |
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| Ford Street, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Beechworth Courthouse, Beechworth, VIC, built 1856 |
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| Ovens District Hospital, Beechworth, VIC, the hospital closed in 1940 and it was dismantled except for the façade |
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| This photo of Beechworth Ghost Tours is courtesy of TripAdvisor. Main building of the Beechworth Asylum |
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| Beechworth Gallery is an historical landmark built in 1857, VIC |
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| Former church, now bed and breakfast |
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| The former Beechworth Asylum, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Ford Street Beechworth, VIC |
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| Stone building in Beechworth, VIC |
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| Former Bank of New South Wales at 87 Ford Street, Beechworth, VIC, was constructed beteeen 1856 and 1857 |
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| Beechworth historic precinct, Ford Street, Beechworth, VIC |
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| The Hotel Nicholas, originally the Alliance and formally the Railway, captures the essence of Beechworth's historic past. Built in 1857, with another floor being added in 1935, VIC |
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| Empire Hotel, Beechworth, VIC, built circa 1870s |
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| Tanswell's Commercial Hotel Current hotel built in 1873, replaced original wooden building builting built in 1853, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Original building, 27 Camp St, Beechworth, built in 1857, VIC |
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| Stone cottage in Beechworth, Victoria |
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| Photo at the beginning of the remains of the ha-ha at Beechworth Asylum, VIC, from the inside of the wall, showing the sloping trench.Asfridhr |
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| Robert O'Hara Burke gun at the Beechworth Museum, VIC |
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| Was once a brewery in Beechworth, Vic |
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| Beechworth Town Hall, Ford Street, Beechworth, VIC, local builder, built by Thomas Sandham, in 1889 at the cost of £2495. A previous council building existed on the site built in 1858, Beechworth, VIC |
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| Christ Church Anglican church, Beechworth, VIC, circa 1859 |
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| St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church Beechworth, VIC, foundation stone laid 6 May 1868 |
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| The foundation stone of the former Methodist church, Beechworth, was laid on 1 January 1857 |
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| The Beechworth Post Office was constructed in 1870, VIC |
Things To Do and Places To Go
Historic Walks
Self walking Tour Beechwood- FREE Brochure Available from the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre. Over 30 National Trust-listed buildings.
Beechworth Echoes of History walk
Books Related To Beechworth
The Beechworth Trilogy, by Joanna Baker. Three murder mysteries for young adults, set in Yackandandah, Beechworth and Bright in northeastern Victoria.
David Martin's Beechworth book: poems / with pictures by Beechworth kids.
SHENANIGANS on the Ovens goldfields: the 1859 election by Antony O'Brien.
Castieau's Castle: a short history of the Beechworth Gaol: 1853 to 1900. by Bill Wilson.
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