The Avoca and District Historical Society is dedicated to preserving, collecting and researching the history of Avoca, Victoria, and the surrounding district
In 1860 Lamplough was more than a gold rush: it was a town that appeared almost overnight. In December 1859 thousands of people arrived within weeks, bringing with them not only picks and cradles but also theatres, churches, sporting traditions, newspapers, libraries, and all the social institutions of everyday life.
One of the few personal recollections comes from former carrier John Chandler, who visited the rush in its early days and wrote about it more than thirty years later. What remained in his memory were three things: the dust, the grog, and the wickedness. The dust, he claimed, reached halfway up the axle of his dray; a glass of sour beer cost a shilling; and every man was “a law unto himself”. Other contemporary observers similarly complained of drunkenness, fighting, and the extraordinary number of grog shanties that lined the settlement. Lamplough briefly was known as the “Shanty Rush”.
The community quickly became more settled. Commercial Street was gravelled to reduce the dust, banks and businesses opened their doors, surveyed streets appeared, and the town acquired its own newspaper, the Lamplough Advertiser. By the beginning of 1860 it had a police camp, a Warden’s office, and a post office handling thousands of letters and newspapers.
English, R., August 1860. Lamplough Diggings. Map showing township and lead courses, with sections through test shafts, parish of Glenmona. Plan No 1677/M/3. Geological Survey of Victoria.
The Christmas sports held behind the Clare Castle Hotel in January 1860 attracted thousands of people. There was wrestling, racing, shooting competitions, dancing, and the traditional contests of the Cornish miners who had made their way to the district from the copper mines of South Australia.
This morning the ground presents indescribable disorder among the miners; some unprincipled men, fancying that on account of some of the claims not having been worked during the Christmas holidays such claims are jumpable, have gone to work in earnest, and the greatest disturbance that one could well fancy exists, the original claimholders insisting on their just rights, and the jumpers obstinately adhering to their prize. The miners are exuberant spirits, and, judging from the jollity of their manners during the holidays, they must have unbounded faith in their prospects here. Yesterday was a great day for sports.
On a lively wood-covered spot, at the back of Clare Castle, Christmas sports were carried on with great spirit.
The United States, the Argyle Rooms, the Imperial, and Prince of Wales hotels, had their stands there, and reaped a fine harvest. There were platforms erected for the dancers of various classes; six detachments of musicians; and everything calculated to make the assembled miners feel "glorious o'er all the ills of life victorious." The pig was there, as usual, and our cousins from Cornwall tumbled one another much to our amusement. There were at least four thousand miners on the ground, and the sports were to be continued this day and to-morrow.
Entertainment flourished. Two substantial theatres—the Theatre Royal and the Garrick—competed for audiences, while dancing rooms, musicians, and sporting events provided diversion from the uncertainties of mining life.
Royal Garrick Theatre (Lamplough, Vic.). (1879). This evening, Saturday, January 7 … the performance will commence with the beautiful and thrilling drama of intense interest, entitled The poachers, or, Love and revenge! .. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52723279
Most residents lived in tents or rough slab huts. Fire remained a constant danger in the crowded streets. Families shared the hardships of life on the diggings alongside single miners, and when new discoveries drew people elsewhere, entire households moved together. In December 1860 one observer described carts loaded with “tents, stores, wives, and children” leaving Lamplough for the new rush at Mountain Creek.
Life was not entirely devoted to gold or grog. The town supported circulating libraries, while several hotels stocked books and magazines for their patrons. The diary of R. E. Johns, Assistant Clerk of the Lamplough Petty Sessions, records quieter pursuits: long walks to Avoca, carving and whittling, hunting possums, target shooting, and endless games of chess, whist, piquet, and écarté with friends.
“Sunday camp meeting 1852” by S. T. Gill A clergyman delivering an open air sermon to a group of onlookers in the midst of the diggings. A drunken man is offering him a pipe. On the edge of the group a man seems to be demonstrating a card trick. State Library of Victoria Accession No : H5380/1
Religion also found a place amid the noise and bustle. Itinerant preachers addressed large crowds, though not always with lasting success—one unfortunate speaker lost much of his audience when a nearby foot race began. Catholic, Wesleyan, and Anglican congregations all established a presence, with iron chapels and Sunday schools appearing almost as quickly as stores and hotels.
Lamplough’s growth proved short-lived, but for a brief period in 1860 it developed beyond a temporary mining camp.
On 3 December 1859 Hugh Ross Barclay, the Inspector of Police at Avoca, estimated the population of Lamplough to be 10-12,000. In mid-December, the District Surveyor, Richard English, thought it was about 12,000, not more than 5,000 of these were bona fide miners.
By December 1860, a year after it had begun, the Lamplough rush was over, and attention had shifted to a new rush at Mountain Creek (later called Moonambel).
By the time of the census on 7 April 1861 there were 469 people on the Lamplough diggings.
The Avoca Cemetery Register provides a measure of the rise and decline of the population of Lamplough. In 1859 only three Lamplough burials were recorded. In 1860 the number had increased to 152—75 per cent of all 200 burials at Avoca that year. By 1861, only four Lamplough residents were interred, and over the next decade the average fell to fewer than one per year. Most people died not from mining accidents but from disease. Dysentery and diarrhoea killed 39 people, consumption and other diseases of the lungs 18, and teething and convulsions 13.
Many of the miners who rushed to Lamplough brought their wives and children. The 1860 Lamplough burial records show a community of families not merely a camp of transient diggers. Of the 149 individuals whose ages can be determined, 100 (67 per cent) were children under five years of age. Forty-two were infants under twelve months, a further fifty-eight were aged between one and four years, and only five children were between five and seventeen years old. Adults aged eighteen and over accounted for just forty-four deaths.
Adult deaths were overwhelmingly male, and most adult men were recorded as miners. Adult women appear only rarely in the register. Several female deaths were directly connected with childbirth, including Eliza Cahill and Mary Flanagan.
Lamplough deaths by age group and sex, 1859–1860 Burials of Lamplough residents at Avoca Cemetery during the gold rush. Male and female children died in equal number. Adult deaths were predominantly men.
Infants and toddlers died from poor sanitation, contaminated water supplies, and crowded living conditions that accompanied the rush. Dysentery, diarrhoea, teething, convulsions, whooping cough, diphtheria, and fevers were major causes of death of young children.
Inquests
While the cemetery register reveals the ordinary burden of disease and infant mortality, the inquest records document sudden and tragic events. Between January and November 1860, fourteen inquests connected with Lamplough investigated deaths arising from mining accidents, drowning, illness, alcohol, violence, and the discovery of an unidentified stillborn infant. Together, they provide vivid glimpses of daily life on the diggings and the risks faced by miners and their families.
Lamplough was primarily an alluvial goldfield, but although shafts, drives, and windlasses were dangerous, only four deaths resulted directly from mining accidents. Drownings claimed the lives of adults and children alike, but illness remained by far the more common cause of death.
Mining accidents
Stephen Phillips was the subject of an inquest on 21 January 1860 held at Lamplough. The principal deponents were William Kirkwood, a mining mate of the deceased; George Black, a fellow miner; and Dr Alvara Slater, medical practitioner. Phillips was found to have “accidentally suffocated through a large quantity of earth falling on him whilst at work”.
SMOTHERED IN A DRIVE. An inquest was held by F. M. Laidman, Esq., District Coroner, at Lamplough on Saturday, on view of the body of Stephen Phillips. Wm. Kirkewood, mate of deceased, deposed that on the previous day he was at work in a drive with deceased. He was knocking down the stuff and deceased was at the mouth of the shaft shovelling the dirt that he (witness) knocked down, when suddenly the earth from the drive fell down on deceased, completely covering him, but not enclosing witness. He immediately called for assistance, and deceased was dug out after twenty minutes labor. When got out he was quite dead. The drive was not propped. Deceased was 27 years of age and a native of South Wales. The jury returned a verdict that deceased was accidently suffocated through a large quantity of earth falling on him whilst at work
Edward Huss was the subject of an inquest on 20 April 1860 held at Lamplough. The principal witnesses were Edward Pratt, his mining mate, who was lowering Huss down the shaft when the windlass came out of its socket; Francis O’Reilly, who was working nearby; and Dr Alvara Slater. Pratt noted Huss was 27 and from Leicester. Huss was found to have been “accidentally killed when a windlass fell on him.”
LAMPLOUGH. (From our own Correspondent.) A fatal accident happened yesterday (Thursday) morning on the Deep Lead to a man named Hurst [sic. Should be Huss]. It appears that he was in the act of being lowered down a shaft by his mates, who were turning the windlass, and had reached about 20 feet from the surface, when the stands of the machine gave way, causing the roller to jump out of the sockets and to fall direct down the shaft, the men on top being precipitated away from the handles by the sudden jerk the occurrence occasion. Hurst reached the bottom before being struck by the roller, which went whirring down with such precision as to scarcely touch the sides of the shaft. As it reached the bottom it struck the unfortunate man on the hip, and then turned over and smashed every rib on one side of his body. He was speedily brought to the surface, and Dr. Slater sent for, but ere he arrived--about half-an-hour subsequent to the accident--death had claimed another victim.
On 21 April 1860 Edward Huss was buried at Avoca Cemetery, Victoria
John and Daniel Owens, the men who had first found gold at Lamplough, were partners with their brother Owen Owens and with George Juby and James Partington.
The worst mining accident at Lamplough killed Owen Owens and George Juby. On 2 August 1860, fifteen tons of earth collapsed onto the two men when they were working in a drive. Juby died instantly, while Owens lingered for several hours.
LAMPLOUGH. (From our own Correspondent) 3rd August. It is with painful feelings that I correspond with your readers to-day because I am within a very short distance of the remains of two men that met with a premature end yesterday. The prospectors who caused the rush at this place are Welshmen, bearing the name of Owens In a few days subsequent to finding paying ground, two brothers sent to Pleasant Creek for a brother that was there at the time, doing but very little good to himself. He came down to Lamplough, and a share in the prospecting claim was given him. Another person named George Juby was taken into the company as a half-shareman, and ever since up to yesterday everything went on very pleasingly. Well, yesterday Juby and the brother of the prospectors, Owens, went as usual into one of the drives, and about half-past nine some fifteen tons of earth fell upon the poor fellows. Juby was covered with so much soil that half an hour elapsed before his body was unhearsed, and when found he was dead, and crushed most pitifully. Owen Owens, the other unfortunate, was taken from under the soil alive, and the first words he made use of were " I am done for this world, and may the Lord have mercy upon my soul and my wife." He was taken to the company's tent, and Dr Slater was in a few minutes in attendance. Whatever a medical gentleman could do was done for suffering Owens, but medical skill was of no avail. Owens had four ribs broken, a dislocation of the spine, and other death-serving injuries. Soon after being told of the accident, I went to the spot where it happened, and some scores of yards off him I heard the painful cries of dying Owens. Upon entering the tent I found two of his brothers and three strangers seated around his stretcher, and doing what they could to ease his dying sufferings. I enquired if any extra medical assistance would be of any service, and if it possibly could be, that I would get all the medical men of Lamplough to attend in a short space of time, and was told that Dr Slater had said that the injuries were incurable. The poor fellow died at eleven o'clock last evening, and a magisterial inquiry was held at the Camp today before Mr Barnett, J.P., and Mr Inspector Barclay. The two deceased are to be conveyed to their long resting-place tomorrow at Avoca ; and a most respectable burial I am informed will be given them. I have done all I could to find out the birthplace and family of Juby, but have completely failed. Owens is a native of Holyhead, and left a young wife there to wait his return. He was about leaving here for Wales with a very handsome sum of earnings, bent upon spending the rest of his life in the society of his wife and in his native district.
The inquest files also show evidence of systems of mutual support. Workmates, family members, neighbours, and sometimes even strangers came to one another’s aid in difficult times, while medical practitioners—Dr Alvara Slater and Dr Richard Rose, for example—strove to provide medical care (limited, of course, by the lack of appropriate resources available on the diggings).
There were mining accidents, but these affected relatively few of those who had rushed to the diggings. A far greater danger lay in the circumstances of daily life: contaminated water, infectious disease, childhood illness, floods, and the hazards faced by families living among tents, shafts, and abandoned workings.
Lamplough was a rapidly-formed settlement of thousands rushing in to find prosperity. Some got rich; many of them were forced to cope with hardship, uncertainty, and loss.
George and Caroline Young, the great great grandparents of my husband Greg, who had joined the rush to Lamplough, were neighbours there of Denis Strangman’s great grandfather, William Downing Strangman, born 1831 in County Cork. Unlike many who moved on when the excitement faded, both the Young and Strangman families remained in the district.
Denis Strangman’s article describes the gold rush to Lamplough near Avoca between late 1859 and 1860. The discovery of gold by two local fossickers, the Owens brothers, in November 1859 brought about a large and rapid rush attracting thousands. Within weeks it grew from a few hundred diggers to around 16,000. The settlement developed quickly, with businesses, banks, entertainment, and the beginnings of government institutions. Those who were there remembered the dust, heat, crime, and disorder.
Before the discovery of gold, Lamplough consisted of little more than the “Clare Castle” hotel run by George Cartwright and a scattering of miners’ tents along nearby Rutherford’s Creek, a tributary of the Avoca River. The creek took its name from Andrew Rutherford, who occupied the Lamplough run between 1851 and 1853.
The pastoral property itself had much earlier origins. Established in 1840–41, it was among the stations taken up in the years following Major Thomas Mitchell’s exploration of western Victoria in 1836. By the time the gold rush began in late 1859, the nominal owner was John Matheson, although he was in England during 1860 and the station was managed on his behalf by William Macoboy Wise.
November 1859
The rush to Lamplough began on the weekend of 26-27 November 1859 when two Welsh brothers, John and Daniel Owens, who had been prospecting “for some time past,” reported finding payable gold to Richard English, the mining surveyor at Avoca.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINING SURVEYORS' REPORTS. (PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF SCIENCE.) (Continued from The Argus of December 26. ) Board of Science, Melbourne, Dec. 19. The following extracts from the Mining Surveyors' Reports for the month of November are published for general information. It is to be understood that the Board is not responsible for the facts or opinions they contain. … MARYBOROUGH MINING DISTRICT. AVOCA DIVISION. (R. English, Mining Surveyor.) The population is as follows:- Europeans. Quartz-mining .. .. .. 281 Alluvial-mining .. .. 7,960 Puddling .. .. .. .. .. .. 140 Sluicing .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 20 .. .. .. .. .. … .. .. .. .. 8,401
The above tables are the result of my own observation, and comprise only those actually engaged in mining. I estimate the total population of the division at 16,000.
A large rush has taken place in a portion of my district four miles in a south-east direction from the south-east boundary of the Avoca township. The diggings are called the Lamplough, in consequence of being near what was formerly termed the Lamplough Home Station, and are situate on the Middle Creek, which is a continuation of Rutherford's Creek, a tributary of the Avoca River.
The rush was occasioned by a party of prospectors, who struck payable gold in 12 feet sinking.
That party for some time past have been prospecting in various parts of the same flat, leading from Avoca township. I beg to transmit a plan of the situation of these workings, with vertical sections of the sinking, together with a plan of the streets, which, under the Warden's instructions, and in accordance with mining regulations, Class H, I have surveyed and laid out for business purposes only. [Here follows a description of the survey. The vertical sections show the character of the sinking, which differs materially in a short distance the bed-rock being principally mica schist, with occasional sandstone bars. The lead commences at nearly surfacing on the north-east side of the flat, and crosses the Lexton road and watercourse in a south-westerly direction to the other side. The gold appears to cling mostly to the opposite low ranges from wherever it commences, and the miners seem to have lost the payable ground as the sinking got deeper, but at that point the flat widens very considerably, and my opinion is that the lead will be found trending more to the south-west than they are at present working, or rather "shepherding."
Payable ground, from six to eight chains wide and three quarters of a mile in length, has been found, and I am convinced, by persevering, that a lead of gold, leading from this to the Avoca, will eventually be found.
Section 3 is the prospectors' claim. Several other contiguous claims with this have yielded from a few pennyweights to 5oz, to the tub. Section 4. The ground is very good, although patchy, yielding, I am informed, in many instances from 5oz. to 8oz. to the tub. Sections 2 and 1.-The ground has been very payable, but at present there appears to be doubts as to the permanency of this gold-field.
The total population at this rush I estimate at 12,000, but there are not more than 5,000 bona fide miners. The sections are as follow :-
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINING SURVEYORS' REPORTS. (PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF SCIENCE.) (Continued from The Argus of December 26. ) Board of Science, Melbourne, Dec. 19. The following extracts from the Mining Surveyors' Reports for the month of November … … The new Avoca Rush, called Lamplough, having during this month created much sensation, and at the commencement offered great inducement, those diggers who have not been steadily employed have been thinned ; but the reduction would seem to be of short duration, for daily parties may be seen returning to their old quarters.
BACK CREEK. (From our own Correspondent.) 2nd December. There is now no doubt that a large and shallow rush is at length found in the Clare Castle Diggings. Yesterday the number there must have been nearly 12,000, and although many of these are storekeepers and business men, yet the majority are bona fide miners. The ground is marked out for an immense distance, and as the sinking on one side has shallowed to 7 feet, and no hole has yet gone more than 30 feet, but little shepherding is going on. I was informed by one party that he took seven ounces off the bottom of a 7 feet hole, and many of the claims which bottomed shicers have, on being driven, turned out not only paying, but remunerative. I shall again visit the rush on Saturday or Sunday, and shall then be able to give you full and reliable information. One thing at present is certain, that every one agrees the rush is established; that good gold is being got; and that although as yet there is no defined lead, that gold lies all over the Flat. Mr Bunn, one of the late lessees of the Theatre Royal here, is about to erect a theatre on the Rush. In the meantime speculation is very rife as to its effect on Back Creek. That it clear away what the wind and insolvency has left of Oxford street, is being hourly proved, but our principal merchants and storekeepers are so pecuniarily interested in our deep leads, that not even this great excitement will induce them to do more than put up small branch stores, and our wholesale merchants will necessarily have another large market for their goods. Coaches and vehicles of every description are reaping a rich harvest.
The mining population is as follows:- Alluvial miners: 15,750 Europeans; 1500 Chinese Quartz miners: 190 Europeans; -- Chinese Totals: 15,940 Europeans; 1500 Chinese
The machinery is as follows:- Alluvial mining--Horse puddling-machines, 71; whims, 2. Quartz-mining-Steam engines, 4-34-horse power. The approximate value of all the mining plant in the division is £15,800.
In consequence of another rich and payable lead having been discovered at the Lamplough Diggings, the neighbouring gold-workings, with the exception of St. Arnaud and Four-mile Flat, in my division, are almost abandoned by the mining population, those only who apparently are making more than a good living being stationary.
Lamplough at present is the grand attraction; hundreds of miners are arriving daily from the more remote gold-fields. The yield of gold, together with the large extent of the already proved auriferous ground, indicates that the Lamplough presents every appearance of being the largest rush we have yet had in Victoria.
An area of several miles of virgin ground lies between this, on the south-west, and the Amphitheatre, in a north-westerly direction, and to where the workings are at present trending there is a continuation of the same wide flat country, extending in length several miles, and in width from the Avoca River to the base of the Pyrenees; and now that a large population is in the district, should these diggings be systematically worked, several other contiguous small leads, as well as the Avoca Deep Lead, must, at a point not far from the Avoca township, effect a confluence.
The original prospectors at the Lamplough still continue to find rich ground. The last washing that I ascertained from their ground was 9lb. of gold from five loads of dirt. Further down the same work-ing, another claim yielded from some loads only a few dwts.; whilst other loads from the same gave as many ounces, thereby proving the patchy character of the ground.
The second lead, or workings, which has been the principal cause of the present favourable reaction at the Lamplough, is situate upon a tributary of Rutherford's Creek, having its rise in a belt of ranges, called the Green-hills. For a considerable distance the lead is found to pay 30 claims wide. I have visited some of the underground workings, and find that the miners are only driving around their boundary lines, or what is generally called fencing in their ground. Few are doing anything yet upon this lead, but putting in main drives.
The miners inform me that in driving they occasionally meet with a coarse piece of gold. Collectively they appear to have confidence in its being a permanent and payable gold field.
[Mr. English has furnished a plan of the "Business Township," and the leads above referred to, with vertical sections, on the scale of eight feet to one inch, of the strata sunk through.]
English, R., 13 December 1859. Lamplough diggings. Map showing township and alluvial lead course, with sections through test shafts. Parish of Glenmona. Plan No 1677/M/1. Geological Survey of Victoria.
MINING INTELLIGENCE. LAMPLOUGH. (From the Correspondent of the Back Creek Advertiser.) The failure of the first rush to a new gold-field and the success of the second, are patent to every miner. Through one of these convulsions, Lamplough is now passing. Again, we have sent forth the cry, and hundreds are responding to it, Each day since the word "rush" was pronounced, has witnessed the advent of people, which far surpasses even the extraordinary arrivals the first sound of the tocsin summoned, and that this second rush will prove a grand success, is the opinion entertained by the most intelligent portion of the mining community. On Saturday week a party bottommed a shaft at 33 feet, about three-quarters of a mile from the old ground and in the direction of the Amphitheatre diggings. Immediately following the trial of a prospect, which resulted in 3 dwts from a small tin bucket, an application was made to the Warden for an extended claim, which having been granted and the intelligence got into circulation, a large rush took place, and the ground was speedily marked out for a considerable distance. Before a week had elapsed, the new lead was found to be 10 claims in width, with every probability of still further extension. About this lime a shaft was bottomed in the centre of what may be called an island in the creek, and the result proved emi-nently satisfactory. From the bottom, the party netted 3 ozs partly in nuggets and partly fine gold. In the meanwhile another shaft, had bottomed on the flat, at a considerable distance from the prospectors claim, and half a bag washed from it gave 4½ dwts. Since then several shafts have bottomed with varying success, and the consequence is that the greatest possible excitement, prevails. Hundreds of shafts are in course of sinking, and it may be affirmed that a more prosperous looking locality for gold was never opened in the country This rush has almost denuded the original ground of those thousands that a fortnight since swarmed over it. Scarcely a shepherd is to be seen upon the ground, and those parties even who have golden claims have sent forth what mates they can spare, to seek for better claims at the new rush. The excitement is astonishing, no word is mentioned of the old ground, for the attention of every one is directed into another channel. A street has been already laid out, and claims pegged off within a short distance of the end of Amphitheatre-street.
In only a couple of weeks a business township was laid out. By Christmas 1859 Lamplough had attracted not only miners, but merchants, entertainers, and speculators.
In December 1875 the Avoca Mail published the results of the annual competitive examinations for the state schools of the South Riding School District. These examinations, conducted by Inspector Bolam, tested pupils in dictation, arithmetic, grammar and geography, with prizes and certificates awarded to the highest performers in each age group.
The results provide a comparison of educational achievement across the district. Although Avoca State School entered by far the largest number of pupils, the smaller rural schools performed remarkably well. Bung Bong equalled Avoca’s total of nine prizes despite entering only nine competitors, while the special prizes in every class were won by pupils from outside Avoca. The newspaper regarded this as a disappointing outcome for the town’s principal school and did not hesitate to criticise the performance of its senior classes.
The article below has been transcribed in full because it records not only the prize winners but also the marks they obtained, the number of competitors from each school, and the newspaper’s candid commentary on the results. The children were from Avoca, Avoca Lead, Amphitheatre, Bung Bong, Homebush, Lamplough, Lillicur, Mountain Hut and Percydale.
The results of the above examinations arrived from Mr Inspector Bolam yesterday morning, and we have been furnished with the Inspector's official list through the courtesy of the Board of Advice for the South Riding School District. From the statement of prize-winners which appears below it will be seen that notwithstanding the fact that Avoca has carried off nine out of the 36 prizes offered (counting certificates of merit in the prize-list), the local school comes out of the contest with very barren honors. Avoca competed in each of the four classes, and in each case sent about as many competitors as all the other schools put together. Notwithstanding this, however, the Bung Bong school, which only sent two competitors to three of the classes and three to the other one, carried off nine prizes also (two only being certificates) each child winning a prize. In the competition of the 6th class Avoca, with eight representatives out of a total of seventeen competing, was altogether left out in the cold. In the 5th class, with seventeen scholars against fourteen sent by all the other schools, Avoca managed to carry off a certificate only, but the winner of this may boast that he can show more marks than the winner of the 1st girl's prize in the same class. The members of the 4th class seem to have had better training than their schoolmates of the 5th and 6th, or else they made better effort for the honor of the town. They succeeded in pulling off five out of the ten prizes offered, eleven from Avoca meeting twelve from other schools. In the 3rd class eighteen of Avoca met seventeen from the suburbs, but only succeeded in taking three out of eight prizes, missing also the special and both of the first prizes. The special prizes have all gone to the outside schools, Master William McMahon having won it in the 6th class for Percydale: Master Thomas Sutters, in the 5th class, for Mountain Hut; Master Thomas Abbott, in the 4th class, for Bung Bong, with a special note of praise for "excellent work." having also reached within ten of the full number of marks obtainable; and Master William Rutter, in the 3rd class, for Homebush, with only five short of the total number of marks obtainable. It will also be observed that the boys have carried off the special prizes on this occasion and thus, although accomplished by other schools, retrieved the defeat of last year. We furnish below a table which we have compiled with the view of showing at a glance the number of prizes obtained by each school, with the number of scholars competing:一
School
Competitors
Prizes
Certificates
Total Prizes
Avoca
54
7
2
9
Percydale
7
3
0
3
Amphitheatre
3
1
2
3
Lillicur
9
2
2
4
Bung Bong
9
7
2
9
Mountain Hut
6
4
0
4
Homebush
3
2
0
2
Avoca Lead
10
1
0
1
Lamplough
5
1
0
1
Total
106
28
8
36
Amphitheatre competed only in the 6th class: Lillicur, Mountain Hut, and Lamplough, in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th; Homebush in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th; while Avoca, Percydale, Bung Bong, and the Avoca Lead competed in all four classes.
We give below the complete list of prize-takers in the order of prizes and classes, with the name of the school which each prize-taker attends, and the total number of marks obtained at the examination. The subjects in which the children were examined were the same in all four classes, viz:-Dictation, Arithmetic, Grammar, and Geography. Only in one case, that of Master Christopher Abbott, of Bung Bong, does it appear that any marks have been given for writing, and in this instance the Inspector makes a note "five marks specially allowed for penmanship." The total number of marks obtainable in the 6th, 5th, and 4th classes was 350, the limit being extended to 400 in the 3rd class.
CLASS VI.— Under 15 years.— Special prize, William McMahon, Percydale, 240. Boys— 1st prize, William John Williamson, Avoca Lead, 237 ; 2nd prize, Thomas Quayle, Amphitheatre, 203 ; 3rd prize, William Loo Ching, Percydale, 181. Girls— 1st prize, Martha Rutter, Homebush, 196 ; 2nd prize, Emily Birkenshaw, Bung Bong, 176 ; 3rd prize, Lillie Sutherland, Bung Bong, 169. Certificates— Edward Bird, Amphitheatre, 170; Albert Scott, Amphitheatre, 165.
CLASS V.— Under 13 years. — Special prize. Thomas Sutters, Mountain Hut, 300. Boys— 1st prize, James Hughes, Mountain Hut, 261 ; 2nd prize. Thomas Geo. Butt, Lillicur, 254 ; 3rd prize, John Schmidt, Mountain Hut, 235. Girls— 1st prize, Hannah Chapman, Bung Bong, 194; 2nd prize, Mary Eliza Clark, Lillicur, 179; 3rd prize, Priscilla Cartwright, Lamplough, 167. Certificates— Joseph Nicholson, Bung Bong, 233; Philip Whalley, Avoca, 216.
CLASS IV. — Under 11½ years.— Special prize, Thomas Abbott, Bung Bong, 340. Boys— 1st prize, William Mathers, Avoca, 187; 2nd prize, Frederick Frey, Avoca, 180: 3rd prize, Edwin Miles, Avoca, 173. Girls— 1st prize, Emma Miller, Bung Bong, 244; 2nd prize, Margaret McMahon, Percydale, 222; 3rd prize, Anastasia Brennan, Avoca, 162. Certificates— William Henderson, Bung Bong, 156 ;Caroline Beata Butt, Lillicur, 150; Albert Wiltshire, Avoca, 139.
CLASS III.— Under 10½ years.— Special prize, William Rutter, Homebush, 395. Boys— 1st prize, Christopher G. Abbott, Bung Bong, 290; 2nd prize, Alfred Kelley, Avoca, 285; 3rd prize, George Macadam, Avoca, 225. Girls— 1st prize, Lucy Paddon, Mountain Hut, 333; 2nd prize, Flora Frey, Avoca, 215; 3rd prize, Maria Roberts, Bung Bong, 195. Certificate— Oliver Stevenson, Lillicur, 195.
The statement from which the above is taken, and which shows also the number of marks obtained by the winners in each separate subject, will remain at this office during the next few days for the inspection of parents, teachers, and scholars, or anyone else who may feel interested in the subject. Much surprise, we might even say indignation, has been expressed at the ignominious defeat suffered by the senior classes of the Avoca School, and the results show that not one day too soon has the competitive examination been instituted. It is certain that if our boys are not making the progress they should do it is better to know the worst at once, in order that efforts may be made for improvement. That an improvement may be speedily accomplished at this school is "a consummation devoutly to be wished."
Conclusion
The achievements of more than one hundred children are recorded and the schools they attended identified.
Although Avoca entered 54 pupils—more than half of all competitors—it won no more prizes than Bung Bong, which entered only nine pupils. This disparity explains the Avoca Mail‘s unusually critical assessment of the town’s school.
Looking back from the twenty-first century, these examination results reveal much more than academic success. They demonstrate that small rural schools with only a handful of pupils could compete successfully against the much larger Avoca School. Schools such as Bung Bong, Mountain Hut, Homebush and Percydale produced outstanding scholars despite their limited enrolments, testifying to the dedication of their teachers and pupils.
On Friday 8 June 1917, the pupils of Lamplough State School marked Arbor Day by creating a lasting memorial to former pupils and teachers serving in the First World War. As the Avoca Mail reported:
A row of alternate sugar-gums and Cootamundra wattles was planted along the front of the school-ground in honor of ex-scholars who have volunteered to serve king and country. Two grevilleas or silky oaks were also planted in honor of two ex-teachers, Messrs Wrigley and Looney, who are taking their part in the great war. In every case Australian trees were planted, as these seem the most fitting memorial for Australian soldiers.
More than a century later, the sugar gums planted by the schoolchildren still stand along the former school frontage. They are among the few surviving living memorials to the district’s First World War servicemen and provide a direct link with the Arbor Day ceremony held in 1917.
The soldiers associated with Lamplough at the time of their enlistment included:
Walter Fish (1878-1915), formerly of Lamplough, was killed in action in the Dardanelles
Charles Alexander Gibson (1892–1934), who was still associated with Lamplough when he enlisted.
Today the surviving sugar gums remain a reminder of the schoolchildren’s efforts to honour their former classmates and teachers. Planted during the third year of the war, they continue to commemorate the service and sacrifice of those connected with the small Lamplough community.
Lamplough avenue of honour planted June 1917 photographed June 2026 Wattles are short-lived, and those planted with the avenue of sugar gums are no longer there. It would seem the grevilleas also did not survive.
The teacher at the time was Maurice Barton Isaac (1879-1949) who taught at Lamplough from 1916 to 1918.
Mary Anne Burgdorf (1858-1945) transferred to Lamplough State School No. 1239 from Serpentine State School No. 1233, where she had previously taught. She was appointed head teacher at Lamplough on 30 April 1891, remaining there until her transfer to Snake Valley State School No. 574 on 7 July 1902. Her teacher’s record provides an unusually detailed picture of her professional career during more than eleven years at Lamplough.
Her appointment began under difficult circumstances. Soon after taking charge at Lamplough Mary Anne Burgdorf received an official caution from the Education Department for administering corporal punishment to female pupils by pulling their ears. The Department warned that any repetition would be regarded as a serious breach of the regulations. In 1893 she was again censured for inflicting corporal punishment on a girl and received a second formal caution.
Despite these disciplinary matters, her earliest inspection reports were generally favourable. Inspector Rennick recorded in June 1891 that she had “gone vigorously to work” with the school, while later inspections noted that she had introduced good teaching methods. In June 1893 he described her as having “a good teaching style”, although he considered that she allowed rather too much freedom in pupil behaviour. Throughout 1894 her work continued to be assessed as fair.
The tone of the reports changed after Inspector Hamilton assumed responsibility for the district. From 1895 onwards his assessments became increasingly critical, focusing on school organisation, classroom management and her reluctance to adopt the newer educational methods being promoted by the Education Department. He considered that she gave insufficient attention to school management, possessed little skill in organisation and methods of instruction, and in August 1895 recommended that a special report be obtained at the next inspection, warning that unless there was radical improvement “it may be necessary to resort to severe measures.”
Hamilton acknowledged some improvement during 1896 and noted that examination results had improved, but his overall assessment remained guarded. By 1897 he considered her only moderately satisfactory, describing her as having fair capacity but lacking the system and organisation required for successful teaching.
His reports became progressively more severe in 1898 and 1899. He repeatedly described Mrs Burgdorf as “non-progressive”, criticised her for failing to keep pace with contemporary educational developments, and wrote that she was deficient in zeal and failed to make use of the abilities she possessed. In one of his strongest reports he concluded that she “does not devote herself to her pupils”, “lags behind present day improvements”, and that this was “not educationally beneficial to the children under her charge.”
By June 1899 Hamilton recommended that she “should be removed to another locality, and should be placed as an assistant.” Although she remained at Lamplough for a further three years, his subsequent reports continued to emphasise her lack of progress while acknowledging that she possessed fair ability and achieved fair results. Her final assessment before leaving Lamplough in 1902 concluded that her work was very good in some subjects, poor in others, and that overall she should be classed as “fair.”
Viewed in context, these reports reflect more than one inspector’s opinion of an individual teacher. During the 1890s the Victorian Education Department was introducing significant educational reforms, encouraging teachers to adopt more modern, child-centred methods in place of older, mechanical approaches. Hamilton’s repeated criticism that Mrs Burgdorf was “non-progressive” appears to reflect her reluctance or inability to adapt to these changing expectations while simultaneously carrying the considerable administrative responsibilities of a one-teacher rural school.
Following her transfer to Snake Valley State School No. 574 in July 1902, Mrs Burgdorf’s career took a markedly different course. Although initially appointed as Acting Head Teacher, the inspection reports soon show her working as an assistant teacher responsible for particular classes rather than the management of the whole school. The change appears to have suited her abilities. While inspectors continued to describe her teaching methods as “old-fashioned” or “mechanical”, they increasingly praised her diligence, sympathy with young children, and conscientious classroom teaching. Reports from 1909 onwards describe her as “resourceful”, “earnest”, “painstaking”, and a “good teacher”, noting her firm but sympathetic manner with children and the satisfactory standard achieved by her pupils. Although inspectors continued to encourage her to adopt more modern infant teaching methods, her later reports consistently rated her work as “Good”, representing a substantial improvement on the assessments received during her final years at Lamplough.
Mrs Burgdorf retired from the Education Department on 1 July 1915 after 42 years of service. She retired at the age of 56, having earned an average salary of £110 per annum, and received an annual pension of £77 6s. 8d. Her long career demonstrates both the challenges faced by teachers expected to manage isolated rural schools single-handedly and the changing educational expectations imposed by the Victorian Education Department during the late nineteenth century. While her years at Lamplough were marked by criticism of her management and teaching methods, her later service at Snake Valley suggests that she found her greatest success as a classroom teacher rather than as the sole teacher in charge of a small country school.
Lamplough School with shingle roof
This photograph of Lamplough State School No. 1239 has previously been undated and the teacher unidentified. The evidence now suggests that it was most likely taken about 1900, during the tenure of Mary Anne Burgdorf, who served as head teacher from April 1891 until her transfer to Snake Valley in July 1902.
The woman standing with the pupils is almost certainly Mary Anne Burgdorf (1858–1945), who was head teacher at Lamplough from 1891 until her transfer to Snake Valley in July 1902. A contemporary photograph of Mrs Burgdorf identified at Snake Valley State School about 1903 closely matches the teacher shown here. Together with the chronology of appointments and the apparent date of the photograph, this provides strong evidence that the Lamplough teacher is Mary Anne. The photograph was probably taken between 1898 and 1902, most likely about 1900.
The date is suggested by several factors, including the style of the children’s clothing, the condition of the school building, and Mary Anne Burgdorf’s period of service at Lamplough. While the photograph cannot yet be dated with certainty, the available evidence indicates that it was probably taken between 1898 and 1902, with about 1900 being the most likely date.
Research assistance: ChatGPT (OpenAI GPT-5.5) assisted with the transcription of handwritten teacher records, comparison of historical photographs, and preparation of draft summaries. All historical research, source selection and final interpretations are my own.
AVOCA TEACHER TRANSFERRED Mr. F. Wrigley, head teacher of the Lamplough State school, has received notice that he will be transferred to St. Kilda at an early date. During his residence here, Mr Wrigley, who hails from Smythesdale, has won the esteem of a large circle of friends. who will regret his departure from the district. As a townsman, he took a keen interest in all movements calculated to benefit the community. He was associated with every department of sport, and will be missed by all local clubs. Mr Wrigley is a talented musician and vocalist, and he always assisted cheerfully at entertainments on behalf of charity. For some time past he has capably officiated as conductor of the choir at the Methodist Church, Avoca.
A very successful concert was held at Lamplough in connection with the State school piano fund. There was a large attendance, and an excellent programme was provided. A good profit will be realised from the function
AVOCA. HEAD TEACHER'S ENLISTMENT Private O. Looney who occupied the position of head teacher at the Lamplough State School prior to his enlistment, was presented with a silver-mounted wallet by the children as a mark of esteem.
Arbor Day was celebrated at the Lamplough State School on Friday last. A row of alternate sugar-gums and Cootamundra wattles was planted along the front of the school-ground in honor of ex-scholars who have volunteered to serve king and country. Two grevilleas or silky oaks were also planted in honor of two ex-teachers, Messrs Wrigley and Looney, who are taking their part in the great war. In every case Australian trees were planted, as these seem the most fitting memorial for Australian soldiers.
(From our Correspondent) A pleasant evening was spent at Lamplough school last Friday. During the afternoon there were many visitors including Mr Jude, Labor, candidate for the Maryborough seat. The visitors greatly admired the display of flowers both in the school and outside in the garden. Roses made an excellent display. There was a particularly fine exhibit of Shirley poppies, For a little place like Lamplough the display showed that many of the residents are skilful and discerning gardeners. The evening show was well patronised and the total takings were close on £15,a result with which the workers have reason to be well pleased. The refreshment stall, in charge of Misses Gibson and Howell, was well patronized. Miss A. Allen's occasion. The flower stall, in charge of Mrs Isaac, did better trade than last year, the demand for pot plants.in bloom being greater than the supply. The Limerick competition was won by Mr H. F. Classon, Avoca, whose verse read:-
Old mother Hubbard sat on her cupboard Eating her curds and whey. She stuck in her thumb and pulled out a crumb While she wiled the time away.
Other good lines were- ‘To save for her meal next day’ and ‘For her poor dog Tray’ The bag of flour was won by Miss A. Brady.
AVOCA STATE SCHOOL ESSAYISTS. Two pupils of the Lamplough State school (Alf. Harbour and Chas. Curtis) have received hon. mention for an essay on "The Starling-Is he friend or Foe?" The competition was conducted under the auspices of the Gould League of Bird Lovers of Victoria.
CORPORAL FRED. WRIGLEY. News has been received by cable that Cpl. Fred Wrigley, son of Mrs Wrigley, sen., of Heatherbrae, Scarsdale was killed in action in France on 24th April. Cpl. Wrigley was on board the Ballarat when the vessel was torpedoed, and he wrote an interesting account of his experience. Prior to enlisting he was on the teaching staff of the Education Department, having at different periods been stationed at Pleasant street, Ballarat, Sebastopol, Scarsdale, Lamplough and St. Kilda. He was also well-known in Masonic circles, being a Past Master of one of the Ballarat Lodges. The late Cpl. Wrigley was also intimately associated with the Methodist Church, having occupied the position of organist at Scarsdale for a number of years, and afterwards at Avoca. Before leaving Australia he married Miss Nell Lusby, of Avoca. Another son of Mrs Wrigley, Capt. Hugh Wrigley, who was severely wounded at Pozieres, is still on active service, and is now stationed with Outram's Rifles, Calcutta. Cpl Wrigley's demise will be mourned by a large circle of friends, and it can truly be said of his life, "He liveth long who liveth well." The deepest sympathy is expressed on all sides with the relations in their sad bereavement.
The sad news was received on Saturday that Corporal Fred Wrigley had been killed in action in France. Corporal Wrigley, who was for some years in charge of the State school at Lamplough, was held in very high esteem throughout this district. He was an excellent vocalist and musician, and gave his services freely for church, patriotic, and charitable work. A gentleman of sterling character, Corporal Wrigley's death is deplored on all sides. Deep and sincere sympathy is felt for the young widow in her very sad bereavement.
Pre-enlistment studio portrait of 3168 Fred Rankin Wrigley, later Lance Corporal (L Cpl) 60th Battalion of Scarsdale, Victoria. A school teacher prior to enlisting, as Private Wrigley, 37th Battalion, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ballarat (A70) on 19 February 1917. On 27 April 1918, he was killed in action near Villers-Bretonneux, France, aged 33. L Cpl Wrigley has no known grave and is remembered with honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. Just prior to his death, he was mentioned in despatches by Brigadier-General Elliott for his courage and devotion to duty during the advance on Villers-Bretonneux. In the collection of the Australian War Memorial
LAMPLOUGH. The Lamplough State school presented a very animated appearance last Friday, when a large crowd assembled. at the sale of gifts, in aid of the Repatriation Fund. The folks spent their money liberally, and a substantial profit was raised for the benefit of our. brave soldiers. In the evening a well-attended dance was held. Music was played by Mr GF Boughton and Mr P Turpin, whilst Mr J Curtis officiated as master of ceremonies. Mr A Ahpee contributed a song during the evening. The ladies provided an excellent supper. A tea cosy, donated by Miss A Allen, was won by Mr F. Richards.
SCHOOL EGG DAY. "Egg Day" at the Lamplough State School was a great success. Mr Chadwick (the teacher in charge) and the scholars collected 21 dozen eggs for the Amhurst Hospital.
COUNTRY NEWS. AVOCA. MERIT CERTIFICATES. The scholars at the Lamplough State school have done splendidly at the examinations. Five presented themselves, and they all passed as follows:- Merit certificates. Lorris Harvey and Lawrence Lindsay; qualifying certificates. Kathleen Lindsay, Isabel Morris, and James Elliott. The result reflects much credit on the teacher (Mr Chadwick), who takes a keen interest in the children
On 5th of February 1873, an application for a school at Lamplough was received from twelve parents with 35 children. Patrick Fogarty was the Correspondent. School began on 23rd of June 1873 in an old weatherboard store with iron roof and measuring 23ftx21ft. At first lent by (later leased from) Cartwright, it stood on the corner of Ballaarat and Amphitheatre Sts. The HT was William Bredel Matthews. DI [District Inspector of Schools] Bolam, 25th of June 1873, recommended leasing the building for £10 p.a., and advised that a site be obtained. One of 2 acres 11 chains 68 links from S angle of Allotment 4, Section 1, was gazetted on 12th of December 1873. On this, a wooden building 30ftx18ft with three skillion rooms attached was built by W. Ashley for £374 18s. Rent for the residence was £12 p.a. (reduced to £9 in 1878). The new school was first used on 1st of July 1875. NE [net enrolment] declined to 15 in 1902, and SS1239 was closed in July 1902, reopening part-time with SS1579 Homebush on 24th of January 1905: Lamplough resumed full-time on 8th of October 1908. NE in 1909 was 33 and in 1911, 35. Mrs J. Gibson was Correspondent of the first 1911 Committee. Reports in 1914 describe the building as being in very good condition. In February 1916 HT M.B. Isaac, occupied the residence which, prior to this, had been used as a shelter shed and play-house. Painting and repairs to the school and residence were carried out in 1925. In 1933, the residence, now unoccupied, was being used by passing tramps and left in a dirty condition. No. 1239 was closed on 20th of September 1949.
Lamplough School with shingle roof
Lamplough School with corrugated iron roof, ventilation and water tanks.
Avoca Shire Heritage Study 1864-1994 Volume 3
FILE No.: AD10 Lamplough State School 1239
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Lamplough state school No. 1239 is a timber structure built in 1875. It has significance for its characteristic qualities, its associations and importance as a landmark. The school is characteristic of the small timber schools built as a combined school and teacher's residence by the Education Department from 1873 until 1890. It is one of the only buildings to survive in Lamplough, and it is viewed as a local landmark to which the identity of Lamplough is now attached.
HISTORY During the Lamplough goldrushes in late 1859, the population of the area was estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000. However by the 1870s Lamplough was a far smaller and more settled community of farmers and miners. The first school at Lamplough was established in response to an application from twelve Lamplough parents on behalf of thirty-five children early in 1873. The application was written by Patrick Fogarty who stated:
A school will be of the greatest benefit here, as there are many children receiving no instruction at all and are growing up in the greatest ignorance. The nearest schools to Lamplough are those at Avoca, Spring Flat and Lillicur, and these places are each four miles distant from us.
Classes were initially held in an old weatherboard store with an iron roof which stood on the corner of Ballarat and Amphitheatre Streets and which the Education Department leased from Mr Cartwright.
On 25 June 1873 the District Inspector, Mr Bolan, recommended that a site for a new school be obtained and the present site was gazetted on 12 December 1873. The new school was built by W Ashley for a cost of £374.18.0. It combined a residence and school room in a timber building, 30 feet x 18 feet, with three skillion rooms attached. The first classes in the new building were held on 1 July 1875.
As the population of the Lamplough area declined with the exhaustion of gold, the enrolment at the school also fell until by 1902 it stood at only fifteen. The school was closed in this year but opened part-time with the Homebush State school No. 1579 in January 1905. Lamplough resumed full-time on 8 October 1908, and in the following year boasted an enrolment of thirty-three.
In 1910 residents complained that the school roof was leaking and the windows and sashes were rotting and falling out. The repairs were done and reports in 1914 describe the school as being in very good condition. The attached residence was being used as a shelter shed and play-house until February 1916 when the head teacher, M B Isaac occupied the house. Painting and repairs were carried out to the school and residence in 1925 but by 1933 it was reported that the residence was again empty and was being used by passing tramps and left in a dirty condition. Miss Jess the last teacher at Lamplough, did not reside at the school but rode her bike to and from Avoca each day.
The Lamplough State school closed on 20 September 1949.
DESCRIPTION
The Lamplough school is a standard timber 60-type single room school with attached residence. From 1873 until 1890, 240 of this style in either the 40-type or 60-type with or without attached residents were built by the Education Department. In 1875 all were roofed in timber shingles.
The schoolroom is the standard gable roofed rectangular, weatherboard clad building with a small gable roofed porch facing the road and the gable roofed residence intersecting at right angles. The major items of decoration are the finials, barge boards and central timber wall vent. The two brick chimneys survive. The building appears to have been altered by the addition of an enlarged front window, probably replacing the original double hung window and the roofing of corrugated iron replacing or covering the original shingles. The existing paint scheme would appear to be that of the 1925 repainting.
The building is a substantially unaltered and the retention of the early colour scheme enhances its appearance. It is a good example of a characteristic building type.
In 2018 we celebrated the centenary of the armistice that ended the horror that masqueraded as The Great War. Conservative estimates suggest that there were more than forty million military and civilian casualties during the course of the conflict, twenty million deaths and another twenty one million wounded.
In October 2018 it will also be 101 years since Frank Lindsay was decorated for his heroism during the Great War following which he suffered intolerably as a result of his brave actions, his life considerably and unjustly shortened because of the shocking effects of the gas inflicted upon him and thousands of other diggers on the fields of France.
As a young lad it was my privilege to visit Lamplough and stay with Uncle Frank and Aunty Jo. Actually, Josephine Howell who was George Cartwright’s grand-daughter, via her mother Priscilla who had married Frederick Howell, was my mother’s cousin which makes her my second cousin, once removed. So, Frank was related by marriage. I only knew him towards the end of his life when the toll of the wartime gassing had taken a great toll on his lungs and eyesight which significantly incapacitated him. Nevertheless, he was always warm and welcoming despite his obvious difficulties about which he never complained. With my parents, I visited him in hospital shortly before he died, a sad sight that has never left me.
Frank was born in Broken Hill on 22nd September, 1894. Sometime after Frank’s birth the family moved to Talbot Creek in Victoria where, judging by the births of Frank’s next four brothers and sisters they lived until 1905. The 1906 electoral roll shows no Lindsays resident in Lamplough but the Howells (Josephine’s parents) are well established. Lawrence was born in Broken Hill in 1907 but by 1909 however, they were back in the Talbot district, probably at Lamplough, where Kathleen and May Veronica were born. The next available electoral roll on which the Lindsays appear is for 1919 when the family is shown living at Lillicur, Amherst in the electoral sub-division of Talbot. I suspect that the births registered as having occurred at Talbot Creek acknowledge the birth district rather than the actual home location. In the 1919 roll, John Joseph’s occupation is shown as farmer as is son John. Daughter Leila also appears on this roll, living at Rocky Valley and engaged in home duties.
Frank may have done some schooling in Broken Hill but he was also likely to have been schooled in the old Lamplough schoolhouse at some stage as well. It is difficult to know just where the Lindsays settled in these early years but we do know that it was not in the house that Frank and Josephine occupied in Lamplough for much of their lives because Josephine was already living there with her parents William Frederick Howell and Priscilla Cartwright as shown in the photo below:
Frank must have returned to Broken Hill as it was there that he enlisted for War Service in the AIF on 8th January 1915. At the time of his enlistment his papers record that his parents, living at Lamplough, were nominated as his next of kin. In the documents Frank is described as 5’ 7” tall, weighing 143 pounds with light brown eyes, red hair and a fair complexion. He was assigned to D-Company of the 22nd Battalion and shipped to Broadmeadows in Victoria for basic training.
The 22nd Battalion of the AIF was formed on 26th March, 1915 at the Broadmeadows Camp. The Battalion eventually became part of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Division. Most of the battalion embarked for Egypt on 8 May 1915 and Frank’s war record confirms that he was one of the hundreds of soldiers who sailed out of Port Melbourne aboard the HMAT Ulysses on that day.
Launched in 1913, the Ulysses at 14,499 tonnes was the largest ship to serve as a troop carrier, and was leased by the Commonwealth until 15th August 1917. On 8th May 1915 she set sail from Melbourne with the first contingents of the 21st and 22nd Battalions and 6th Brigade Headquarters. On a subsequent voyage on 27th October 1915 she transported the 6th reinforcements 22nd Battalion to Egypt.
The Ulysses also sailed between Australia and England during the Second World War, again ferrying Australian troops and airmen to the front. The Ulysses was torpedoed by an unknown German submarine in 1942 and sunk off Florida after apparently disobeying an order that would have led her through safer waters.
The battalion deployed to Gallipoli in the first week of September 1915 allowing elements of the 2nd Brigade to be rested from their positions in the front line at ANZAC. The battalion served on the peninsula until the final evacuation in December 1915, and were then withdrawn to Egypt and brought back to strength with reinforcements. While most of the battalion was serving on Gallipoli the transport drivers, along with the other drivers from the 6th Brigade, were sent to the Salonika front to support the Serbs. They did not rejoin the battalion until after the evacuation of ANZAC.
In March 1916, the battalion embarked for France and experienced their first service on the Western Front in reserve breastwork trenches near Fleurbaix at the end of the first week of April 1916. The battalion’s first major action was at Pozieres, part of the massive British offensive on the Somme. In September/October they were moved to the Ypres sector then back to the Somme for the winter. The battalion spent most of 1917 bogged in bloody trench warfare from Bullecourt to Broodseinde in Flanders. In 1918 the battalion returned to the Somme valley. After helping to stop the German spring offensive in March and April, the 6th Brigade participated in the period of peaceful penetration of the enemy lines. It was in mid-May that Sergeant William ‘Rusty’ Ruthven earned the 22nd Battalion’s only Victoria Cross. In the last days of August and September the battalion helped capture Mont St Quentin. The 22nd Battalion took part in the last action fought by the AIF on the Western Front, the battle of Montbrehain, in October 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent. The November Armistice was followed by the Peace Treaty of Versailles signed on 28 June 1919. The last elements of the battalion began their journey home from the Western Front in May 1919 to return to Australia for demobilisation and discharge.
In November 1915, Frank came down with influenza and also developed an ulcerated arm which turned septic, the cause of which is not noted on his record. As a result he was evacuated to the hospital located in the Ras el Tin barracks at Alexandria where he remained for some four weeks. In February 1916 he came down with mumps and spent a couple of weeks in the Army hospital at Abyssinia. In February 1917, Frank was back in hospital for a few days with a problem shown only as “cardiac” and then in June 1917 he spent a further 44 days in the Giza Field Hospital suffering from a virus.
On returning to duty at the end of June 1917, Frank re-joined his unit now stationed in France where the Allies were engaging the Germans in some very heavy offensives in the determined push from Ypres towards Passchendale. Somewhere in the middle is Broodseinde Ridge where Frank’s valiant endeavours earned him the award of the Military Medal.
Ras el Tin Army Hospital, Alexandria 1915
The following press report from a first-hand witness that appeared in the Daily Mail dated 17th October, 1917 [syndicated article appeared in the Birmingham Gazette of 15 October 1917] gives some indication of the shocking conditions faced by the Australian and Allied troops:
SWAMP OF DEATH AND PAIN
Every inch we gained in Friday’s battle is worth a mile as common distance is reckoned. Some troops went forward 1,700 yards or even more, fighting all the way; and when their relic came back some part of that heroic journey no enemy dared follow them, so foul and cruel was their track.
They left behind them a Golgotha, a no man’s land, a dead man’s land. Five or six miles separate our troops from any place where you can step firm, where you can find any place in the swamp. It is a nightmare journey to traverse it , in spite of the ceaseless labour of pioneers.
The swampy terrain of Broodseinde Ridge , 12 October, 1917 Australian War Memorial image E01200
Our soldiers coming out of this swamp of death and pain maintain incredible serenity. If we could advance so far in such conditions we could go anywhere in fine weather. We were nowhere beaten by the enemy, though more defensive wire was left round shell-holes and pill boxes and fewer machine gunners knocked out than in any recent attack. We were beaten by the rain that began to fall in torrents at midnight before the attack, so they all say and feel, and so it was.
One of them, still full of humour, said he considered Friday an unlucky day for him. “you see,” he argued, “I was first hit in the shoulder by a machine gun bullet, and as I stumbled was hit in the foot, and as I lay another hit me in the foot and another hit me in the side. Decidedly, Friday is an unlucky day.” It was a terrible day for wounded men, and alternate advance and retreat now always leave a wide, indeterminable no man’s land from which escape to the mercy of either side is hard. But the best is being done, and the immortal eroism of the stretcher bearers was backed by both the daring and skilful work of doctors at advance dressing stations and ambulance drivers a little further back..
The trouble was how to find people or places. Wounded men, runners, contact officers, and even whole platoons had amazing journeys among shells and bullets searching for dressing station headquarters, objective or what not, and, as we know, even Germans on the pure defensive had similar trouble and their units were inextricably confused. It was all due, as one of them said, to the sump, or morass. The swampy terrain of Broodseinde Ridge 12 October, 1917
All that can be said of the battle is that we are a little higher up the slope than we were and a little further along the crest road to Passchendale. How we succeeded in capturing 700 prisoners is one of the marvels of the day. A marvel too, is the pile of German machine guns. They are some small concrete proof of the superhuman efforts of our infantry. If the world has supermen they were the men who waded forward up to their hips astride the Ravelbeck and stormed concrete and iron with flesh and blood. They were at least the peers of the men who fought “upon their stumps” at Chevy Chase. Today the artillery fire has died down, the sun bright, though the cold west wind threatens showers.
The Battle of Broodseinde Ridge now commenced a few kilometres south of Passchendaele. The Australian 4th and 5th Divisions were replaced by the Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions which were also joined by the Australian 3rd Division as well as a New Zealand division. It was the first time that 4 Anzac divisions had fought together. Twelve divisions would attack on a 12 kilometre front, the 4 Anzac Divisions Australian 1st, 2nd and 3rd facing Broodseinde ridge and the New Zealand division facing Abraham heights.
The attack commenced at 6am October 4, 1917 after rain commenced falling the day before. Coincidentally, the Germans planned an attack for exactly the same time. At 5.20am the German artillery opened up and then at 6am the Australian artillery started, both in preparation for impending attacks. After both troops emerged from their trenches to commence attacking to their surprise they found the enemy doing exactly the same. The Australians managed to recover from the shock quicker than their opponents as the Australian machine gunners opened up and cut the German lines to pieces. The Germans broke and the Australians managed to capture the ridge. The New Zealanders also secured Abraham Heights.
Dead and wounded Australians and Germans in the railway cutting in the Ypres sector, in Belgium, on October 12, 1917. Australian War Memorial image E03864
The triumph at Broodseinde presented the Allied High Command with an opportunity, perhaps in the upcoming spring, of breaking the German hold. The German tactic of immediate counter attacks had proved ineffective since the British never pushed beyond the range of their guns. In all the fighting in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, in and around Passchendaele the 3 Australian divisions lost 6,500 men which represented 20% of its operational strength. It is believed that the Germans lost 25,000 men and 5,000 prisoners. The German High Command officially recorded October 4, 1917 as a “Black Day”. Fresh German troops were put in the line opposite the Anzac troops on October 5 despite Haig’s attempts to break the German lines. Wanting to push his advantage Field Marshall Haig committed the Australian 2nd Division to an attack on Keiburg Spur on October 9, 1917 over wet ground. The Australian 2nd Division formed the flank for an attack by the British 66th Division. The Australian 2nd Division controlled a front of about 800 metres. To the north, the French and British 5th armies couldn’t hold gained ground. The Australian 2nd Division ( of I Anzac Corps ) drove to Keiburg but being unsupported was driven back. On the strength of reports from the 9th of October the High Command believed that enough ground had to be gained to justify the next attempt to seize and pass Passchendaele on October 12, 1917.
The attack at dawn on October 12, 1917 towards Passchendaele was made by the Australian 3rd and New Zealand Divisions. The 4th Australian division of I Anzac supported the advance on the right while British Divisions supported it on the left. Heavy rain was continuing to fall and the New Zealand Division was halted by Germans firing from pillboxes who, without British artillery, were firing with impunity. The Australian 3rd Division became bogged down in the mud of Ravebeek valley below Passchendaele, however a fragment of the division, 20 men mostly of the 38th Battalion, did reach the Passchendaele church at the edge of the town while some of the Australian 4th Division reached Keilberg. Both were forced to fall back being unsupported.
Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium. 5 October 1917. The Headquarters of the 24th Battalion, established in a dugout on Broodseinde Ridge, the day following the capture of the Ridge. Australian War Memorial image E04513
The Australian 3rd Division suffered 3,199 casualties in the 24 hours of the battle, while the Australian 4th Division suffered 1,000. The New Zealand also suffered around 3,000 casualties in an action that achieved no valuable gains and only served to lift enemy spirits as they saw their attackers struggle.
The Canadians were brought in on October 18, 1917 to do in three stages what had been attempted by II Anzac in one. Between October 26 and November 10, 1917 the Canadians finally captured Passchendaele Heights. By November, 1917 the last Australian division had been withdrawn from Ypres. The third battle of Ypres had comprised eleven great attacks, five of which I or II Anzac had formed the spearhead, as did the Canadians for the final four.
The 5 Australians Infantry Divisions had fought in the line for eight weeks and suffered a total of 38,093 casualties. As a result of his heroic role during the Broodseinde Ridge offensive, Frank was mentioned in despatches and in recognition was awarded the Military Medal. A copy of the actual citation that came from the front, signed by his commanding officer, Brigadier General, J Paton is shown below. The handwritten piece at the beginning reads “In recent attack on Broodseinde Ridge, 4 October, 1917…”
An example of the Military Medal similar to that awarded to Frank LindsayA map of the Ypres district as it was in October 1917. Broodseinde shown with orange arrow
The Military Medal was established by King George V on 25 March 1916 and was awarded to other ranks including non-commissioned officers and warrant officers. It ranked below the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), which was also awarded to other ranks including non-commissioned officers and warrant officers.
When the medal was first introduced, it was unpopular among regular soldiers many of whom held the view that it had been introduced to save awarding too many DCMs. The old regular soldiers thought very little of the new decoration. Both the DCM and the MM attracted a gratuity and the decoration allowance of an extra sixpence a day to veterans with a disability pension. However, decoration allowance was only awarded once even if the recipient was awarded more than one gallantry award. The ratio in the First World War was approximately five MMs awarded for every DCM.
Following the rout of the Germans at Ypres Frank fell ill in November 1917 firstly with scabies, then tonsillitis and finally trench fever which was serious enough for him to be evacuated to England for treatment and recovery. Perhaps fortune favoured him by way of his afflictions as he would take no further part in the conflict. Initially, he was treated as an in-patient at the Royal Surrey County Hospital at Guildford. In April 1918 he was transferred to the Fargo Military Hospital at Larkhill on the Salisbury Plain. In May 1918, Frank was again on the move this time to the Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield House in London where he was now being treated for chronic pleurisy no doubt as a result of the frequent German gas attacks inflicted on the Allied troops.
Frank continued as unfit to return to active service and was transferred to other military hospitals at Parkhouse, Tidworth and Weymouth before his eventual departure for Australia on 18th October, 1918. His war record notes that when discharged he was still under care for pleurisy with effusion.
Just a word about trench fever, a highly infectious disease characterized by sudden onset with fever, headache, sore muscles, bones, and joints, and outbreaks of skin lesions on the chest and back. It is transmitted from one person to another by a body louse. There may be one period of fever, or the fever may recur several times at intervals of four to five days. Most persons recover within about two months but relapses are common. However, the disease can become chronic in about 5 percent of the cases. Treatment with chlortetracycline brings permanent relief of the symptoms, but the patient continues to carry the rickets bacteria and remains infectious for lice. First recognized in 1915, trench fever was a major medical problem during World War I. It reappeared in epidemic form among German troops on the Eastern front during World War II. The control of body lice is the chief means of prevention.
On his return to Australia it seems that Frank settled with his parents in Lillicur from where he set out to win the heart of Josephine Howell.
The remnant of the Avoca tribe of aborigines is becoming gradually less in number. An inquest was held at Lamplough on Sunday last, on the body of one of these unfortunates, named Jemima. The deceased woman, with three or four members of her tribe, had been wandering about Avoca and the neighboring townships for several months. Intemperate habits, want of food and warm clothing, will soon, it is to be feared, sweep away the last vestige of this once numerous tribe.
Chemimé (Jemima) was an Avoca Aboriginal woman who died on 11 May 1867 at Lamplough. She was about twenty-four years old. An inquest was held on 12 May. Four witnesses gave evidence. It was found that she had died of disease of the liver. Chemimé had been ill for some time, but had not been seeing a doctor. She was buried in Avoca cemetery on 13 May. There is no entry for her in the burial register. Her death certificate records that she was married. No further information was given.
Death Registration:Victoria Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriage Registration number: 4337 / 1867 Jemima ABORIGINAL; Age: 24; Year: 1867.
I live at Lamplough. The deceased Chemimi was my wife. She had been ill a long time and died about three or four o’clock on Saturday morning the eleventh of this month. She did not have any doctor. She did not have any physic but had some oatmeal (gruel). Nothing was put in it but sugar. I gave it her two nights and then she died. Soon after she had died I went and told Mr Cartwright of it at the Clare Castle Public House Lamplough.
VPRS 24/P0000, 1867/137 Female Female Chemimi: Inquest Family name : Chemimi; Cause of death : Disease of the liver; Location of hearing : Lamplough Avoca page 5: deposition of Moses
George Cartwright., Lamplough’s publican deposed that:
I am a Publican living at Lamplough. On Saturday morning last the 11th inst. The last witness Moses came and told me his lubra was dead. He used these words “my old woman is dead”. I said “who do you mean” - he said “the lubra”. I asked him "when did she die”? He said “early in the morning about daylight” - I told him “I will send to the Police Camp the first opportunity,” as he stated he was not able to walk there himself from weakness - I accordingly requested Mr Swift & Mr Fish who were going to Avoca to give information of the death of deceased at the Police Camp there. This was about one o’clock in the day.
Antony Strahan, a mounted constable of police, deposed:
I am a mounted constable of police stationed at Avoca. On the evening of the eleventh instant about 5 o’clock I received information that there was a black woman dead at Lamplough and that the cause was not known. I proceeded to Lamplough and found the body the subject of the present inquest in the bush where the first witness Moses was living. He told me she was his wife and died in Friday night last. I had the body removed to where it now lies.
John McMahon, the Avoca doctor, deposed:
I am a legally qualified medical practitioner serving at Avoca. I have made a post mortem examination of the body of deceased. The body was very much emaciated but there were no external marks of violence upon it. On opening the body I found the lungs and heart healthy. I found the liver to be very much enlarged and twice the primary size for one of the deceased’s age and adhering on all sides to the abdominal parietes. Attached to the liver were two large cysts - one as large as an infant’s head - on opening them I found they contained a great number of smaller cysts. Also a quantity of matter in them of a white fluid. The cause of death was disease of the liver. The deceased I should say was about 25 years of age.
The inquest recorded that Chemimé was a young woman, twenty-four years old, who had been ill for a long time, with no medical care, little nourishment, living in the bush. By the time her husband sought help it was already too late.
