Читать книгу Grand Deceptions - G. S. Willmott - Страница 13

Port Melbourne November 1, 1856

All passengers were on deck; even those relegated to steerage. The SS Great Britain was approaching the port of Melbourne, their final destination. There was an air of excitement among the passengers and crew. The voyage had taken sixty days, and they had not placed their feet on terra firma for the entire journey.

Port Melbourne 1856

Mathew, George, and John thanked the Captain and the ship’s officers before disembarking down the gangplank where they waited for their luggage to be stacked on the dock.

Once all three had retrieved their sea trunks and assorted bags, they shared a horse-drawn taxi into Melbourne seeking suitable accommodation.

They chose Mac’s Hotel, based on the recommendation of the driver of the taxi. It was regarded as the finest coaching hotel in Melbourne, and it also housed the gold run crews. These crews transported the gold from Ballarat and surrounding districts.

The three men decided to stay in Melbourne for the first month and then take a coach to Ballarat where they intended to settle initially.

Melbourne 1856

The discovery of gold led to a huge influx of people to Victoria, most of them arriving by sea at Port Melbourne. The town's population doubled within a year. In 1852, 75,000 people arrived in the colony and this, combined with a very high birth rate, led to rapid population growth. The concurrent dispossession of the Aboriginal tribes in country Victoria was equally rapid.

In 1853, work began on the Yan Yean Reservoir to provide water for Melbourne. Piped water started to flow in 1857. Victoria's population reached 400,000 in 1857 and 500,000 in 1860. As the alluvial gold became scarce, many of the miners moved to Melbourne or became unemployed in cities such as Ballarat and Bendigo. Significant pressure was placed on the government to make available lands in rural Victoria for small plot farming. In 1857 a Land Convention was held in Melbourne.

The accelerated population growth and the enormous wealth of the goldfields fuelled a high growth economy lasting forty years, which ushered in the era known as Marvellous Melbourne. The city spread eastwards and northwards over the surrounding flat grasslands, and southwards down the eastern shore of Port Phillip. Wealthy new suburbs were established. These included South Yarra, Toorak, and Kew while the working classes settled in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy.

The influx of educated gold seekers from England led to rapid growth of schools, churches, learned societies, libraries and art galleries. The first telegraph line in Australia was erected between Melbourne and Williamstown in 1853. The first railway in Australia was built in Melbourne in 1854. Also, in 1854, the government offered four religious groups land on which to build schools. These included the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Anglican Church and resulted in Wesley College and Melbourne Grammar School being built in St Kilda Road a few years later. The University of Melbourne was founded in 1855 and the State Library of Victoria in 1856. The foundation stone of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was laid in 1858 and that of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in 1880. The Philosophical Institute of Victoria received a Royal Charter in 1859 and became the Royal Society of Victoria. In 1860 this Society assembled Victoria’s only organised attempt at inland exploration, the Bourke and Wills expedition.

In December 1854, discontent with the licensing system on the goldfields led to the rising at the Eureka Stockade; one of only two armed rebellions in Australian history (the other being the Castle Hill convict Rebellion of 1804).

Eureka Stockade

In November 1856, Victoria developed a constitution in 1857 a parliament was formed.

Parliament House was known for its magnificent architecture.

The boom fuelled by gold and wool lasted through the 1860s and '70s. Victoria suffered from an acute labour shortage despite its steady influx of migrants, and this pushed up wages until they were the highest in the world. Victoria was known as the working man's paradise in these years.

Melbourne November 2, 1856

The three Englishmen settled into their rooms at Macs. They ate their first meal in Melbourne at the hotel’s café, where they all chose lamb cutlets with potato and vegetables.

The next day the three friends went their separate ways, agreeing to meet up again at 5 pm.

Mathew made his way to the top end of Bourke Street where he intended to investigate what hotels were available for sale in Ballarat. The offices he sought were Morgan & Davey Real Estate Agents.

He discovered their offices at 134 Bourke on the second floor. He entered the foyer where a young woman was busy filling out an official looking form. She ceased her writing and asked Mathew how she could help.

‘I believe Mr Morgan is expecting me; my name is Mathew Abernethy.’

‘Oh, I see. Please take a seat, Mr Abernethy. I’ll inform Mr Morgan of your presence.’

Mathew only had to wait five minutes before a short, stocky man in his fifties appeared.

‘Mr Abernethy, I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Horace Morgan. Please come into my office.’

The two Englishmen entered the small but tastefully decorated office and Mathew was offered a chair in front of the rosewood desk.

‘Now Mr Abernethy, I believe you are interested in purchasing a hotel in Ballarat. Is that correct?’

‘Please call me Mathew, and yes, I consider it would be a good investment.’

‘Call me Horace,’ responded his host. ‘Yes, it certainly would be as long as you chose the right one.’

‘Do you have any on your books at the moment, Horace?’

‘I do, of varying sizes, but it does depend on how much you wish to invest.’

‘I haven’t a set figure in my mind. I’d rather examine what listings you have and then make a decision.’

The realtor reached for a large leather-bound book, opened it and began to show the young investor the hotels he had listed. Some were in the main street; others not. There were five in all.

One particular hotel took Mathew’s attention.

The Golden Nugget Hotel

‘This looks like a splendid establishment Horace why is it for sale?’

Horace responded, ‘The publican has a desire to return to England as apparently his father is in poor health.’

‘May I examine the books?’

‘Yes, certainly I have a copy of them here.’

Mathew scanned the financials. All looked in order and the profit figures were more than acceptable.

‘May I enquire the purchase price?’

‘He is asking £10,000.’

‘Will he consider an offer?’

‘Possibly; what figure did you have in mind?’

‘I have £8,500.’

‘I think it would be worth me submitting your offer, Mathew. There’s no guarantee he will accept it, but we can only try.’

The two men shook hands with Horace assuring Mathew he would contact him at Mac’s Hotel when he received an answer from the current owner of the hotel on offer.

Mathew returned to his lodgings where he lay on his bed and imagined himself as the proud owner of the Golden Nugget Hotel. He decided not to mention his impending purchase to his two friends until contracts were exchanged.

George also headed for central Melbourne where he hoped to purchase the equipment needed to work a gold stake close to Ballarat.

He entered Wilson & Son, a large general store in Elizabeth Street. It stocked everything he thought he would need to become a successful gold miner.

He noticed a familiar face in the store but couldn’t place where he had seen this man. It could have been aboard the Great Britain, but somehow, he didn’t think so. The young man noticed George looking at him and approached the novice miner.

‘Hello, George! Fancy seeing you here of all places.’

‘Hello. I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name.’

‘It’s Henry Baynes; we went to school together in Somerset.’

‘Henry Baynes, my goodness of course! How are you?’

‘I’m well George, but may I ask what you are doing here in Melbourne half a world away?’

‘With luck, I’m here to make my fortune in the goldfields. What are you doing here?’

‘The same as you, old friend.’

‘I’m staying at Mac’s Hotel so why don’t we meet there at say 5 pm and have a drink and catch up on each other’s news?’

‘That sounds like a splendid idea. I’m staying quite close to you at The Royal.’

John wished to make a purchase also but not for gold mining equipment. He headed for the finest men’s outfitters in Melbourne; A. G. Hodgson in Little Lonsdale Street. He desired to buy a fine English suit, which he would wear to the poker games where he sought to increase his wealth. Mr Hodgson measured John and assisted the young man in selecting the right English cloth. John was informed that the first fitting appointment would be in three days. All going well, the suit would be completed in seven.

The theology major had decided he could make more money at the high stakes poker table than breaking his back on the goldfields.

George was sitting in the saloon lounge at Mac’s waiting on his old school friend Henry. At 5 pm, Henry entered the bar and approached George who was in a booth at the far end of the saloon.

‘Good afternoon George, can I buy you a drink?’

‘Thank you, Henry I’ll have a stout please.’

‘I think I’ll join you.’

Henry approached the barmaid and ordered two stouts, returned to the booth with the drinks and took his seat.

‘To your health George.’

‘To your wealth Henry.’

‘I’ll drink to that.’

‘So, Henry you’re intending to become a miner. What makes you think you can find gold while so many others have failed?’

‘I suppose there are no guarantees, but having a degree from Cambridge in geology will improve my odds somewhat.’

‘I didn’t realise you studied geology.’

‘Yes, my initial ambition was to travel to South Africa working for a diamond company but decided gold and Australia was a better option.’

‘From what I hear you’ve made the right choice.’

‘I sincerely hope so. What about you? Why did you make the decision to immigrate here?’

‘Without going into too much detail, Henry, let’s just say I didn’t have too many options.’

‘I see. I’ve been thinking… why don’t we become partners? I believe the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.’

‘I must admit I have been thinking along the same lines.’

‘We can pool our resources to purchase the right equipment, and we split the profit down the middle.’

The two old school chums shook hands and that gesture became their bond.

November 4, 1856

Mathew was in his room at Mac’s when an envelope was slid under his door. He opened it and read the letter from Horace Morgan.

Dear Mathew,

My client has rejected your offer of £8,500; however, he is prepared to accept a counter offer of £9,000.

I believe this is a reasonable amount for such an excellent hotel. If you wish to submit a revised offer, I will arrange to see him immediately.

Please inform me of your intentions as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely

Horace Morgan

Morgan & Davey Real Estate Agents

Mathew was delighted, as he was prepared to pay the full asking price of £10,000. He decided to catch a taxi from outside his hotel and visit Morgan in his office. On the way, he stopped at his bank and arranged a draft for £9,000. He arrived at Morgan & Davey at 11.30am and by 5 pm the Golden Nugget was effectively his. The settlement was arranged for December 15. The purchase included all stock and furniture, in what Morgan termed “walk in walk out.”

John soon discovered that a high stakes poker game was held in room 306 of Mac’s every Friday night; the room belonged to the owner of the hotel, Frank Gardener, and it was more an apartment than a hotel suite. It comprised of five rooms; a parlour, a dining room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. The young professional gambler enquired if he could join the group. Frank, always on the lookout for fresh blood, readily agreed.

John continued his winning ways and although he had his bad nights he ended the month £2,000 better off. His wealth was now £8,000, so he was considered a wealthy young man.

George and Henry decided their quest for gold and riches would best be achieved if they dug a shaft. Alluvial gold had started to become scarce and consequently, miners turned to digging deep holes, or shafts, in the ground. These shafts would be approximately one metre squared and could be up to 50 metres deep. The miners would prop timber along the sides of the shaft to stop it from collapsing and would use a windlass or winch to bring up buckets full of soil.

George (left) & Henry Working Their Shaft

They had purchased most of their mining equipment in Melbourne, arranging it to be transported to the goldfields outside Ballarat by horse and dray.

Henry decided to register their claim close to a major mining operation where the geology seemed right, and the two novice miners began the long and arduous task of digging the shaft. Every six feet they placed wooden boards around the walls to ensure there were no cave-ins.

After two months digging, they had reached the required depth, forty feet. They took turns on being lowered down the shaft, digging the rock, while the other winched up the bucket. When they had removed a suitable amount of rock and dirt, they would wash the soil in the cradle, extracting any gold they found.

For the first three months, they found enough gold to encourage them to keep going but not enough to make them rich.

March 1, 1857

George was on winching duty one day when Henry shouted out to winch up the bucket. George complied with the request. God knows how many he had raised that day. As he tossed the rock onto the pile to be washed later in the day, he noticed a particular rock that seemed to gleam in the sun.

That rock has got some gold in it, he thought.

He decided to wash it immediately and as he scrubbed the sizable rock, the mud and dirt disappeared, exposing a solid nugget. He estimated the weight as around a thousand ounces. They were rich, filthy rich.

He called casually, ‘Henry, I suggest you come up. I’ve got something interesting to show you.’

‘Can’t it wait, George? I think I might have found a new seam.’

George didn’t want to bring attention to himself in case the miners close by may get wind of their find, so he replied, ‘All right, whenever you’re ready.’

George wrapped the nugget in an old blanket and placed it next to an old gum tree. He found it extremely difficult not to yell EUREKA.

Eventually, Henry yelled out to George to bring him up. Once he was back up, George grabbed his arm and led him to where he had hidden the nugget.

‘Henry, I want you to promise me not to yell when I show you what’s hidden under the blanket.’

‘Why George; have you got a body under there?’

George slowly pulled the blanket back, exposing some of the nugget.

‘Bloody hell – how big is the bugger?’

‘It’s huge; maybe 1,000 ounces.’

‘George we’re rich. Bloody rich.’

‘We have to sneak this thing back to Ballarat without anybody noticing. If word gets out, we could be in real danger.’

‘You’re right; we’ll have to move it in the dead of night.’

‘I don’t think we can delay it; should be tonight… we can’t leave it here. Besides, if we did, we would have to guard it, which would only raise suspicions.’

‘So, we need to load her on our dray and take her back to Ballarat?’ said Henry.

‘Maybe we should take it directly to Melbourne. No one would suspect a 1000-ounce nugget to be loaded in a back of a cart and driven to Melbourne,’ said George.

‘You might be right. The only thing that concerns me is leaving our mine unattended for a week or so.’

‘Yes, I agree, so why don’t you take it to Melbourne? You being a geologist will convince the bank that we own the thing, and all is legitimate.’

‘Sounds like a reasonable course of action. I need to load up some provisions for the trip and hitch up the horses. I should be able to leave about midnight.’

The two gold diggers lifted the sixty-two-pound nugget onto the dray, covered it with a clean blanket and placed provisions on top to try and disguise their precious cargo.

‘Good luck Henry. Watch out for bushrangers. Send me a telegraph once you have been successful in selling it to the bank. How much do you think we’ll get for her?’

‘I would estimate £10,000 more or less.’

‘We really are rich, aren’t we?’

‘We are.’

Henry said his goodbyes and began his twenty-four-hour journey to Melbourne.