Category: Homebush

Harold William Davies MM

Harold William Davis (Davies) was born in Homebush in 1893. He was the son of Daniel Brother Davis and Ellen Howqua. He was the grandson of Ah Kin Howqua, a Chinese interpreter of Percydale.

As a child he shifted with his family to Sebastopol near Ballarat. Attending school there he became a ‘pupil teacher’, following which he spent two years at Teacher Training College in Melbourne.

On 24 July 1915 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Daylesford. At the time of his enlistment he was 22 years 3 months old, unmarried, and employed as the head teacher at Yandoit Hills State School, between Castlemaine and Daylesford.

Studio portrait of 3537 Corporal Harold William Davies MM, 58th Battalion of Yandoit Hills near Castlemaine, Victoria.
Australian War Memorial collection image P05248.037

Harold (Davis) Davies sailed with the 11th reinforcements, 8th Infantry Battalion, on HMAT Nestor A71 to Egypt. He was transferred briefly to the 60th Battalion and in March 1916 was transferred to the 58th Infantry Battalion.

The 58th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 17 February 1916 as part of the expansion of the AIF. Roughly half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 6th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 6th, the 58th was predominantly composed of men from Victoria.

The 58th Battalion sailed to France in June 1916 and fought in the battle of Fromelles on July 19–20, 1916. As part of the 15th Brigade, 5th Australian Division, the Battalion served as a reserve and carrying force, losing over 300 men—nearly a third of its strength—when ordered into the attack.

On the night of 23/24 November 1916 Harold showed great bravery under fire his heroic rescue of two men despite artillery and machine-gun fire in the area of Guedecourt, France. Previously, he had exhibited bravery by bringing in men from “No Man’s Land” after the action at Fromelles, France in July 1916. He received two recommendations for bravery awards, one for the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and the other for the Italian Bronze Medal for Valour. 

This soldier distinguished himself during and subsequently to the action at FROMELLES on 19th July 1916. He worked his gun coolly and efficiently during the action, and, when the attack was over, was instrumental in rescuing under fire many of his wounded comrades.

On the night of November 22nd/23rd 1916 the 58th Battalion was relieving the unit holding SHRINE trench east of GUEUDECOURT. The night was dark and wet; the route lay among a wilderness of shell holes; the ground was almost impassable with mud water. Pte. Harald Davies was marching near the rear of his company, and, when within 200 yards the trench, he saw some of his comrades fall. The fire from Machine Guns was heavy at the time and shells were bursting in the vicinity. Pte. Davies picked up one of the wounded men and carried him to the shelter of the trench. He then returned and brought in the second man. A third time he returned and searched the vicinity for traces of other casualties, and finding no more, reported the fact to the officer in the trench and then set off to join his gun crew some 300 yards distant. All this was done under continuous and heavy fire. He bears moreover an excellent record for devotion to duty and reliability at all times.
Cobbers is a prominent 1998 sculpture by Peter Corlett of Sergeant Simon Fraser[note 1] rescuing a wounded compatriot from No Man's Land after the battle. of Fromelles
Cobbers is a 1998 sculpture by Peter Corlett of Sergeant Simon Fraser rescuing a wounded compatriot from No Man’s Land after the battle of Fromelles. The statue is at the Australian Memorial Park, a World War I memorial, located near Fromelles
From Wikimedia Commons. Photograph by user Stephencdickson, CC BY 4.0

The paperwork for the DCM citation shows that while it was granted, the “DCM” was crossed out and changed to “MM”, the Military Medal, which is one grade lower. The Military Medal had at that time been only recently instituted as an award for acts of bravery of a level which earlier in the War had been deemed worthy of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. It was hoped in this way to maintain the prestige of the DCM, which was an award second only to the Victoria Cross. Perhaps the case of Davies shows that there was still some confusion as to proper award for different displays of courage. Both recommendations for awards were made by General H. E. “Pompey” Elliott. The Bronze Medal does not seem to have been awarded.

On 10 April 1917 he was promoted to Corporal in the 58th Battalion.

He was wounded in action on 11 May 1917 (during the second Battle of Bullecourt). He was hospitalised in England and rejoined his unit in November 1917.

On 5 April 1918 he was wounded a second time during the first battle of Villers-Brettoneux, part of the German Spring Offensive. He died of his wounds that day.

Corporal Harold William Davies MM of the 58th Battalion was buried at La Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie, Somme. The inscription on his gravestone read:

HE HAS FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S BEST

Harold’s father completed the Roll of Honour circular.

Roll of Honour circular
Roll of Honour circular for Harold William Davies held by the Australian War Memorial

Margaret Calaby (1835–1893) of Homebush

Margaret Johnston was born about 1835 in Airdrie, Scotland, the daughter of Thomas Johnston.

The ship Medina 956 tons, Captain J. Sandford, departed Liverpool 26th June 1852, arriving Port Adelaide, South Australia on 9th October 1852. She carried 410 Government emigrants, among them Margaret Johnstone, 18, a farm servant of Fermanagh.

On 26 January 1854 Margaret Johnston married Henry Calaby  in Adelaide, South Australia. 

They moved to Homebush, near Avoca, shortly after their marriage. Henry Calaby was a herdsman. They had twelve children between 1855 and 1879.

On 21 January 1884 Margaret Calaby was admitted to Maryborough Hospital. On the admission record it was stated that she was 48 years old and lived at Homebush. She had arrived in Australia on the Medina from Birkenhead. A native of Airdrie, Scotland, she had been in the colony thirty-one years.

On 13 January 1893 Margaret Calaby age 58 of Homebush was again admitted to Maryborough Hospital, where she died five days later. On her admission she was recorded as being forty-one years in the colony, a native of Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Avoca Mail, Friday 20 January 1893, page 2

Mrs Calaby, of Homebush, died in the Maryborough Hospital on Wednesday, and her remains were brought to her late home by train yesterday. The funeral, which took place at two o'clock to-day, was well attended by friends and acquaintances.

Margaret Calaby was buried at Avoca Cemetery. The burial register records that she died of bronchitis and asthma.

In Loving Memory
Of Henry Calaby 
Born Norkfolk England
Who Died At Homebush On The 19th March 1892
Aged 63 Years
Also Of His Wife Margaret Calaby
Nee Johnstone Born At Airdrie Scotland
Who Died At Maryborough on the 17th January 1893
Aged 58 Years
Also Of Their Children
William James And Sarah
Thy Will Be Done

Where was Margaret nee Johnston from: Airdrie, Scotland, or Fermanagh, Ireland?

In 1893 when Margaret Calaby was admitted to Maryborough Hospital she was recorded as being a native of Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Nine years earlier, on her admission to hospital then, it was stated that she was a native of Airdrie, Scotland, and had arrived on the Medina. On her gravestone she is said to have been born at Airdrie. On the Medina’s passenger list she was from Fermanagh.

Wikitree: Margaret (Johnston) Calaby (1835-1893)

Charlotte Wilkins nee Young, 1861–1925

The great-great-great grandfather of my husband Greg was a gold-rush digger named George Young. He and his wife Caroline had thirteen children, including twins, Charlotte and Harriet, who were born on 13 July 1861 in Lamplough, a mining settlement about four miles south of Avoca, Victoria.

On 2 October 1882 Charlotte married George Edward Wilkins at St John’s, the Avoca Anglican church. Charlotte was 21, a domestic servant. George was 25, a miner from Percydale, five miles west.

Charlotte and George had three children: Ethel, born in 1883 in Avoca, and George and Eva, born in 1884 and 1886 at Tattaila. Tattaila (sometimes spelt Tataila or Tattalia) was a large grazing run near Moama in New South Wales, across the Murray river from Echuca.

In October 1884 George Wilkins, now a school teacher, was appointed to the school at Tattaila, with his position formally recorded as Classification 3B on the New South Wales Civil Service list in 1885.

Sadly, George and Charlotte’s daughter Eva, born on 21 January 1886, died three days later, according to her death certificate from “premature birth and inanation” [exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment]. She was buried on 25 January in the grounds of the Tattaila Public School.

Why in the school-grounds? There seems to have been nowhere else, no suitable burial place nearby.

In July 1887, a year and a half later, with George Wilkins still the Tattaila schoolteacher, Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, passed through on a tour of inspection. The Sydney Australian Town and Country Journal wrote:

'EDUCATIONAL.-Not long ago I was in the Moama State School, listening to the children practising " God Save the Queen" for the Governor's visit. On that occasion the children of Latalia [sic], under the charge of their teacher, Mr. Wilkins, amalgamated with those of the Moama School under the charge of Mr. Bruce, and the practising was done under Mr. Wilkin's tuition. The children acquitted themselves admirably, subsequently earning praise from Lord Carrington, and, what was, perhaps, much dearer to the infantile heart, a whole holiday. I was considerably impressed with the progress evidently being made by the children, and not a little astonished at the advanced curriculum of the State schools in this colony. Children in New South Wales are being educated in many things of a practical as well as a scientific nature which are neglected across the border. The inference is obvious.'

The local Riverine Herald, published in Echuca, had predicted on 16 July that:

'Mr Wilkins has taken a good deal of pains to coach the scholars up, and their singing yesterday showed that they had profited by his teaching. The children kept time very well and sang the Anthem with considerable expression, so that they should acquit themselves very favourably on Tuesday next.'

In 1889 George E Wilkins of Tattaila was promoted by examination to Classification 3A.

At the end of that year, he transferred to the Victorian education system, appointed in December 1889 head teacher at School 1798, Major’s Line, near Heathcote. ‘Major’s Line’ refers to wheel tracks left by the NSW Surveyor-General Major Mitchell in his 1836 journey of exploration.

On 1 January 1891 George was ‘certificated’—approved to teach, and appointed as a teacher—by the Victorian Department of Education. In October 1891 he transferred to School 1567 in Richmond and appointed junior assistant on probation. It was noted on his file that George gambled, but otherwise the probation inspection was satisfactory.

In 1892 George Wilkin’s appointment was confirmed, and he was also qualified to teach military drill. In 1893 he was transferred to School 2849, Rathscar North. His annual reports were positive. In 1899 he was transferred to School 1109, Mount Lonarch. In 1901 he transferred to School 3022, Warrenmang. In 1902 he was at School 2811, Glenlogie. Later that year he returned to Warrenmang. In 1907 he was transferred to Homebush School, 2258. All these schools were in in the Central Highlands administrative region. He remained at Homebush until December 1921, when ill-health forced his resignation.

Charlotte and George Wilkins, their children Ethel (1883 – 1955) and George (1884 – 1909). Photograph about 1898.

Though not formally employed by the Education Department Charlotte Wilkins helped her husband with his teaching duties. She brought up their children, and raised two of her nephews after their mother, her sister-in-law, died in childbirth. Charlotte was also busy in her local community. I have found no mention of Charlotte in Tattaila district newspapers, but in later years the Avoca papers give some more complete account of her activities there, for example as a hostess for various functions associated with the Homebush Soldiers Comforts Fund during World War I.

Lower Homebush School photographed some time between 1910 and 1920. In the back row are Laura Squires, Charlotte and George Wilkins. Laura Squires was sewing mistress from 1910 to 1920. She married George Wilkins after Charlotte’s death in 1925.

On 2 April 1925, following three years of paralysis, Charlotte died in Lower Homebush at the age of 63 and was buried in Avoca Cemetery.

Related posts

Wikitree:

Annie Caroline McKinnon 1868–1887

In 1868 a daughter was born to an Avoca storekeeper named James McKinnon and his wife Eliza nee Cock. They called her Annie Caroline.

Sadly she died of tuberculosis at a young age.

Avoca Mail, Friday 24 Jun 1887, Page 2

We announce, with regret, in our obituary column, the decease of Miss Annie С. McKinnon, at the early age of nineteen, from consumption, accelerated by congestion of the lungs. This young lady was the third daughter of Mr and Mrs J. McKinnon, of Upper Homebush. Her early death is the more to be regretted, for as well as being a dutiful and loving daughter, she was very clever at her studies, and was only prevented by her delicate health from going up to obtain the certificate of competency in the Education Department. She received the only certificate awarded to the Upper Homebush School by the Victorian Humane Society, and was also a successful exhibitor at the first Ballarat Juvenile Exhibition. The lamented young lady is to be interred in the Avoca Cemetery on Sunday next, and her mourning friends should remember that
   Though life's valley be a vale of tears,
   A brighter scene beyond that vale appears;
   Whose glory, with a light that never fades,
   Shoots between scattered rocks and opening shales."

Annie was buried at Avoca.

gravestone
The McKinnon grave at Avoca cemetery

Wikitree: Annie Caroline McKinnon (1868-1887)

Margaret (Smyth) Plowright (1834-1897)

My husband’s great great grandmother was an Irish woman from County Cavan named Margaret Smyth, who emigrated to Victoria in 1854. On the passage from Southhampton to Melbourne, she gave birth to a boy. On her arrival she first stayed with John Hunter, one of her cousins.

In November 1855 at Magpie near Ballarat Margaret married John Plowright, a goldminer.  The  marriage certificate describes her as a 22-year-old dressmaker from County Cavan, whose parents were William Smyth, a farmer, and Mary Cox.

The Plowrights moved to Alma near Maryborough and then in 1860 to Homebush near Avoca.

Margaret and John had seven children, one of them adopted.  I have found nothing further about the boy who was born on the passage out; he probably died as an infant.

Their children were:

  1. William John born 1859 at Alma (four miles west of Maryborough)
  2. James Henry born 1860 at Homebush (about 10 miles from Alma)
  3. Ann Jane born 1862 at Four Mile Flat (Homebush)
  4. Frederick Edward born 1865 at Avoca
  5. Samuel Joseph Smyth born 1868 at Homebush
  6. John Plowright born 1872 at Homebush and died the same year
  7. Frederick Harold born 1881 was adopted; he was their grandson, the son of James Henry Plowright

Some of this information is cooroborated by a hospital record. On 5 March 1872 Margaret was admitted to the Maryborough Hospital.  According to the index of the hospital admission record, she was 37 years old, married, from Homebush, a Wesleyan, and she had arrived in the colony on the Persian seventeen years previously.

In 1878 their son Frederick was killed while cutting down a tree. He died on 24 April and an inquest was held the day after. John and his daughter Ann Jane gave statements.

Frederick death was reported locally and as far distantly as Wagga Wagga in New South Wales and Launceston in Tasmania, as well as the Argus.

Margaret Plowright was well-known and busy in Homebush. In 1864 she provided one of the tea tables at a function to raise money for the Homebush Common school. In 1880 she presided over a tea table when funds were being raised for the Union Church at Lower Homebush. In 1883 she once more presided over a table when anniversary services for the Wesleyan Church were held at Homebush.

In 1897 at the age of 63 Margaret died at Homebush near Avoca. The death certificate gives the cause of death as Brights Disease [kidney failure], dropsy [fluid retention] and exhaustion.  She was buried in Avoca cemetery.

Here is her memorial card:

Wikitree: Margaret (Smyth) Plowright (1834 – 1897)

Obituary for Mrs Eliza Squires

Avoca Free Press and Farmers’ and Miners’ Journal 4 November 1914

MRS ELIZA SQUIRES 

 Quite a gloom has been cast over the district by the lamented death of Mrs. Eliza Squires, storekeeper, and one of the oldest and most respected residents of Homebush Lower. The sad event took place on Friday evening at about 8 o’clock.

The deceased, who was 71 years of age, had been a great sufferer for the last three or four years, though she bore her sufferings, which during the last few months have been very severe, with great patience and fortitude. Everything possible was done to relieve her, but despite unremitting medical attention and the best of nursing by her daughters and a trained nurse (Nurse Amy Squires of Bendigo) and Mrs. Lardnersen, of Maryborough, she gradually became worse, and passed peacefully away as above stated after several hours unconsciousness.

The deceased was the relict of the late Mr. John T. Squires who predeceased her about 20 years ago. A family of five sons and five daughters, viz., Messrs Frank, William, Charles, Herbert (Bet Bet) Leopold, and Misses Frances, Laura, Eva, Clarice, and Mrs. R. B. Trounson, are left to mourn the loss of a good and loving Christian mother, who was beloved of all who knew her.

She was of an amiable and generous disposition; in fact nothing seemed to give her greater pleasure than the dispensing of hospitality. Mrs. Squires will be sadly missed by her friends and their numbers are legion, and her demise, although not unexpected, nevertheless created profound regret.

She was born at Mount Barker, South Australia, and came overland with her parents to Victoria at the opening of the gold fields, arriving at Avoca in 1854.

Mrs. Squires has lived in the district ever since that time. The Messrs G and C Rowland of Rathscar, Wm.  and  J. Rowland  (Homebush),  A Rowland (Bung Bong) and R Rowland (East Melbourne) are brothers of the deceased.

The flag at the State School was  flying half mast on Saturday and the cricket match which was  to have taken place between the Excelsior and Imperial Clubs was postponed out of respect for the deceased.

The funeral took place on Sunday, the remains being interred in the Avoca cemetery. The cortege was a very lengthy one, residents of all the surrounding districts assembling to pay their last tribute to one who was held in high esteem. The remains were borne from the hearse to the graveside by the five sons of the deceased and her son-in-law (Mr. R. B. Trounson). The service very impressively was conducted by the Rev J. R. Currie, minister of the local Methodist Church. The rev gentleman made reference to the late Mrs. Squires sterling qualities. He said that one had only to look at the face of their departed friend to note something of the purity ~her character. He had only known Mrs. Squires for six months, but he was pleased to have had that privilege. He felt sure he was expressing the feelings of all present when he said the bereaved ones had the sympathy of all, and he trusted the good influence of the deceased lady would long remain in the hearts of the sons and daughters who were left. Many floral emblems were placed on the coffin by her friends. The hymn Rock of Ages was feelingly rendered by those assembled. Mr. H.F. Classen carried out the mortuary arrangements. 

Obituary. (1914, November 4). Avoca Free Press and Farmers’ and Miners’ Journal (Vic. : 1900; 1914 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved January 17, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151625029

Squires Store Lower Homebush
Eliza Squires née Rowland
The grave for the Squires family in Avoca cemetery photographed by Neville Rowland

Wikitree: Eliza (Rowland) Squires (1843-1914)

Prospectors at Homebush

Several of the great great grandfathers of my husband Greg Young were gold diggers. One, John Plowright (1831 – 1910), followed the rushes in Victoria with only small success and settled at Homebush, a few miles from Avoca. Frederick James Cross, Greg’s great grandfather, also settled at Homebush and took up mining. Frederick married Greg’s great grandmother Ann Plowright.

Some years later James Cross, son of Frederick and Ann, and John Plowright’s grandson and Greg’s great uncle, seems to have had some luck. He and his mates found what appeared to be a promising reef and dug out a small amount of gold, not enough to make them rich but enough to keep them looking for more:

On 20 July 1908 the Melbourne Argus reported:


PROSPECTORS' DISCOVERY.
NEW REEF AT HOMEBUSH
MARYBOROUGH,Sunday - Very rich gold bearing stone has been struck at Lower Homebush The prospectors are Messrs Gus and John Nicholls, James Cross, and F. M. Nicholls. They originally commenced operations on an abandoned reef, about a hundred feet to the east of the present find, but on Thursday, while awaiting the return of one of the party, they determined to try an outcrop, which had previously been located. This outcrop had been exposed by the removal of the surface for road making purposes and it did not take long to uncover the cup of a reef, 7ft wide. Both walls were laid bare and at a depth of 10ft on breaking into the western or hanging, wall of the lode some splendid gold bearing stone was broken The party state that on Thursday afternoon specimens to the the value of £40 were obtained. Friday was devoted to properly exposing the cap, and on Saturday morning another lot of specimens were obtained probably equal in value to the first lot Although too soon to express any opinion on the find the chances are good. Up to the present the gold has all been found on the hanging-wall, associated with ironstone and a little iron pyrites. The reef runs north and south with a slight westerly underlie and has good walls. The land is on the northern slope of what is known as View Hill, Homebush, and within half a mile of the famous Homebush lead.
The claim of Messrs. Wilson and Shields [Sheill], from which rich returns have been won for some time past, is a mile further north, on the same line. The gold in the specimen is of a heavy - solid character, one piece of golden stone, barely 2in. square, weighing over 12 oz., and is estimated to contain quite 5oz. of gold,
The find has caused much excitement, and the claim had a great many visitors yesterday and today.

Greg’s great uncle James John Cross (1887 – 1963) was one of the miners. About the time of the discovery John and Gus Nicholls and Jim Cross were photographed on some gold diggings.

Image in the collection of the Avoca and District Historical Society and reproduced with permission

Less than a month later the Ballarat Star continued reporting the good news

THE HOMEBUSH RUSH.
A GOOD YIELD. MARYBOROUGH, Sunday.
At the Homebush Rush, Nicholls, Cross, and Nicholas crushed 15 tons at the Government battery, Avoca, for 30 oz. The reef is 7 feet wide. A rich specimen obtained on Thursday was not in the crushing. Webb’s Reward is down 53 feet. They will shortly open out for a continuation of the lode being worked by Nicholls and party.

A year later the Melbourne Age indicated prospecting was still successful but the reef was still elusive and it seems Jim Cross was possibly no longer working with the Nicholls brothers.

MINING AT MARYBOROUGH
MARYBOROUGH.— Some excitement has been caused at Homebush by the discovery, by Messrs. Nicholls Bros, and Stratman of some rich specimens on the surface. They are loaming the surface, in the hope of finding a reef which is believed to be close at hand.

The Ballarat Star of Monday 6 September 1909 was optimistic about the gold discoveries at Homebush.

MARYBOROUGH.
Satisfaction has been caused locally by the news that the Working Miners' claim at Homebush has again been floated into a good solid company. It is freely admitted that the Homebush lead is one of the best in the State, and it is a matter for regret that it should have been allowed to remain idle for such a long time. The returns obtained from the Working Miners’ claim some years ago were excellent, but the mine was difficult to work in those days and was abandoned. The township of Homebush then sunk into obscurity until Messrs Wilson, and Shiells located a rich reef. Gradually, but surely, the mining industry began to stir, until other reefs were opened up. Then the attention of mining men was naturally turned to Homebush, and as a result it has been decided to resume operations in the alluvial ground. The revival has been steadily approaching, and has been predicted on several occasions by “The Star.” That our anticipations were correct is borne out by the interest that is now being centred on this field, which a few years ago was practically dormant.
Daly and party, who discovered a reef at Homebush a few days ago, are putting through a crushing at the Avoca Government battery.
Yet another reef has been located at Homebush by Messrs Squires and Trounsen. They have obtained some good prospects, and are taking out a crushing.
Developmental work is being carried out by Messrs Nicholls Bros, and Stratman, at the Dreadnought claim, Homebush.
At the Lord Nolan claim, situated at Mosquito, a quantity of stone has been taken out and will shortly be tested. The claim is surrounded with reefs, which proved very profitable some years ago. A well-defined lode exists in the Lord Nolan, and it is improving with depth.
On the whole the mining industry in the district is looking much brighter than it has for some time. When the now alluvial claims are opened up, renewed prosperity is in store for Maryborough.

Another of Greg’s great great grandfathers was George Young who was a miner at Lamplough on the other side of Avoca. The grandson of George Young, Cecil Young—Greg’s grandfather—grew up in Homebush. Greg inherited a small collection of picture postcards from Cecil, among them one of addressed to Miss Eva Hogan (1889-1913). It shows a group of miners and a dog at a puddling machine.

Addressed to Miss E Hogan Bromley near Dunolly and postmarked 6 August 1909.
Dear Eva Just a line hoping you all are doing well, & did not get washed away. Tell dad Gus wrote to Charlie to give him a show if he gets it, that is all we know at present. When are you coming to see us. Give love to all from all yours Mary.

I think the writer of the card was Eva’s sister Mary (Hogan) Nicholls (1884 – 1984) who had married Gus Nicholls (Augustus Walsh Pugh Nicholls (1885 – 1969)) in 1905. Charlie might have been Gus’s brother, Charles Edward Nicholls (1876 – 1930).

I think the card shows members of the Nicholls family but don’t know who was who. It seems likely that the dog at least is the dog in the earlier picture. Perhaps Gus Nicholls is holding the horse and Jack Nicholls is standing in the trough holding the shovel.



Puddling machines were developed on the Victorian goldfields in the early 1850s. A circular trough in the ground, lined with wood or bark, was filled with clay and water. A horse circled the trough and dragged a harrow through the clay mixture, breaking up the lumps and turning it into a runny sludge. The gold released from the clay would sink to the bottom, and the watery clay would be drained off from the top. The residue at the bottom of the trough would then be cleaned up with a pan or cradle to collect the gold.

In 1910 Jim Cross married Eva Hogan. They had two children. In 1913 Eva died of septic poisoning. Jim moved from Homebush to Wonthaggi in Gippsland where he worked at the State Coal Mine.

Jim and Eva Cross
photograph in the collection of a grandson

The Homebush mines did not yield gold in the quantities hoped for, and the miners and their families moved away. A derelict schoolhouse stands by itself in an empty paddock; nothing else remains.

Post by Anne Young

Wikitree: