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The deposits of alluvial gold on the Young gold field
were extremely rich but with so many claims staked on each new deposit
discovered, it was inevitable that the alluvial deposits would son be worked
out. By mid 1865 many of the diggers began to leave for other goldfields and by
the end of the year only a scattering remained but they continued to win
alluvial gold for over a decade. Within a few weeks of the discovery numerous
bark and slab huts shanties tents and were
being erected along the banks of the creek ,. This settlement son became a
town known as lambing flats. and was
eventually renamed Young. By the middle of 1861 the population had risen to
20000 and of this total almost 1000 were Chinese. The majority of the non
Chinese were native born Australians, The rest were from Europe and North
America. The Oriental bank was the first bank to open on the goldfield in
January 1861. and immediately offered diggers $7.40 an ounce for their gold. Up
until this time the diggers had been selling their gold to unscrupulous
storekeepers and sly grog owners at prices that were far below current market
prices.
In August 1860 Charles Allen was the first storekeeper to
open a general store on the banks of Burrangong Creek. Prior to this event,
Allen had found gold and pegged a claim in chance gully. He was a successful
gold prospector that had mined gold and owned stores on the Turon River and
Ballarat goldfields. While Allen worked his claim his wife and two sons worked
the store. Allen had a fervent hatred of the Chinese and also despised the
owners of sly grog shanties, boxing booths and houses of prostitution.
Amongst the earliest gold-seekers to make their way to
the new gold discovery at Lambing Flat were five diggers who were on the
Kiandra Goldfield in the Snowy Mountains, when news of the gold discovery
reached them. They were William Spicer,
Charles Stuart, Donald Cameron, Hughie McBride and Douglas MacLean; the first three were to play a major role in
the riots. They arrived at Lambing Flat
in mid-September and soon found a rich patch of gold in Spring Creek, where
they pegged a five-man claim.By the end
of the first week they had won 620g of gold.
Spicer was a native-born Australian who had joined the
earlier gold-rush to the Californian goldfields, where he was thought to have
struck it fairly rich.This would have
accounted for the fact that he never worked or pegged a claim in all the time
he spent at Kiandra.He hoped to one day
change the Australian colony to a republic following the example set by America
decades earlier.
The remaining four were Scotsmen who had been partners in
a very successful claim at Kiandra.
Stuart and Cameron were even more anti-colonial than S[picer. They were also biased against all races who
were not white.
In the third week of September 1860 a butcher named Fog
opened the first butchers shop on the diggings at Spring Creek.His 'silent' partner was Frank Gardiner, the
bushranger.They had made a deal for
Gardiner to 'duff' cattle, re-brand them and then deliver them to Fogg.
Fogg would then slaughter the cattle and sell
the meat to the diggers.The profits
would be shared equally by Gardiner and Fog.
Fogg decided that he could also earn a great deal more
money if he dealt in sly-grog;which he
did.This ultimately proved to be his
downfall.
Towards the end of September 1860, a European by the name
of McCulloch Henley, arrived at the Chinese diggings on Spring Creek and
announced his intention of opening a store to deal with the Chinamen. Having spent 11 years in China he spoke
fluent Cantonese and subsequently became a spokesman, protector and interpreter
for the Chinamen.Henley was to save a
good many Chinese lives during the many riots that occurred on the goldfield.
Four major riots and a number of minor riots occurred
between the Chinese and the white diggers on the Lambing Flat Goldfields within
the first 12 months of the gold rush. The first riot occurred in the first week of October, 1861. As a result of this riot the Government
finally sent a Sub-Commissioner, David Dickson, and three troopers to 'bring'
peace to the goldfield.
Despite the presence of Dickson and his troopers, a
second riot occurred on 9 December, 1860 then a third on 27 January, 1861;then finally the fourth and most vicious of
all, on 30 June, 1861. Officially the number of Chinese dead was given as two, plus several dozen injured. Unofficially eye witnesses estimated the total number of Chinese deaths at between 30 and 40, with several hundred
injured. The number of white diggers
killed was one, and he was accidentally shot by the police!
Blackguard Gully is a historical site containing a dam
built in 1861, a reconstructed pug-mill, water racers and the remains of the
original diggings. The dam, pug mill and
water races were owned and built by the Chinese and the diggings were also
worked by them. The pug mill is a
horse-operated device that was used for puddling wash which was then fed over a
long tom where the gold was collected in the riffles. The site is at the top end of Whiteman Avenue
in the eastern suburbs of Young.
Blackguard Gully covers an area of 3 hectares and part of it is a Department of Mineral Resources official fossicking area for the Young District.
Several of these gullies are on private property so please approach the property owners for their permission before entering. As always, leave the gates as you find them and don't forget to clean up before leaving. This way every one can continue to enjoy this historic field.
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