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Life, Death & Gold in the Whipstick 2015 © by Ian Belmont These few stories and obituaries show how our early pioneers lived - muddled and stumbled, sustained families and overcame the hurdles that life threw at them. This 117 page booklet is a companion item to the digital disk of headstone photos and burial list for the Raywood Cemetery. Book Price A$35 (plus P + H of $9) more information about the CD . . . and more information about Life Death & Gold - the 1st 15 pages. . . . A book review by Jim Evans written in November 2016 read it here Jim Evans is the President of the Bendigo Historical Society (BHS) Inc. A link to the BHS Home page is here and a link to the BHS Publications page is here |
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WHITE HILLS CEMETERY - BENDIGO
a Reflection 2018 © by Fiona E Stanton A history of the White Hills Cemetery, the second largest in the goldfield town of Sandhurst, later called Bendigo, and the story of the dedicated early Sextons of this Cemetery. As the region of Bendigo became rich from the mining of gold and its township grew, so did the White Hills Cemetery. Mining accidents, miners complaint and infancy death all played a part in the life and death of this hamlet community and its Cemetery. William Millar was the 2nd sexton and served for 34 years from 1877 to 1911. Book Price A$20 (plus P + H of $10) A link to the BHS Home page is here and a link to the BHS Publications page is here and read more information about the book here - the 1st 10 pages . . . A book review by James A Lerk written in September 2018 read it here James Lerk was born in Friesland and came to Australia in 1952. He has been active in helping to save key Bendigo historic icons and has self-published a number of books, written many articles on local history, had been the recipient of an Award Of Merit from the Royal Historical Society, and invested with an OAM for his contribution to history and its retention. |
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MARONG from Shire to Rural City 1864 - 1994 by Bev Hanson and Leigh McKinnon 2014 © Introduction The story of the formation of the Marong Shire has been touched on in previous publications and so the authors in this instance chose to focus on the people - the men and women who were employed by the organization or who served as councillors throughout the municipalities 130 year history. They have also included a history of the development of the region prior to local government, which allows you the reader, to more fully understand how the area which made up the shire evolved. The rich agricultural lands were the enticement for the earliest European settlement, with squatters 'taking up' huge runs previously the undisputed home of the Jaara people. The discovery of gold resulted in the ruination of these vast holding as the shepherds, coopers, blacksmiths and other employees, necessary to run these stations, deserted in droves to follow the lure of gold from one rush to the next. The water was befouled by mining pursuits and became unpalatable for the stock, and so as the aboriginal people had been forced off, so too were the Squatters driven from the land. Once the rich goldfields were played out agriculture again returned to much of the shire with only Kangaroo Flat a truly urban area. The Shire had been created on December 23, 1864, and the Borough of Raywood was incorporated into the shire on October 1, 1915 after being considered to be no longer financially viable. The shire became a Rural City on October 1, 1990 under the local government act of 1989 and the final council meeting was held on April 6, 1994 with the City of Greater Bendigo being created the following day. This history of the shire is a history of its inhabitants and certainly a history of it employees so many of whom remained with the shire and then the rural city for decades. They demonstrated an amazing commitment to both the council and the ratepayers it served. Councillors too devoted year after year of their time and energy to build the best municipality they could, a municipality they had pride in. We hope you will enjoy your trip back through the story of the Marong Shire and Rural City which is contained in this publication. The authors and committee of the Shire of Marong 150th celebrations gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of Greater Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat Community Enterprise and GrainCorp who have assisted with funding to make this publication possible and the celebration which were hosted on November 22, 2014 to recognise the 150th anniversary of the creation of the shire. Book Price A$20 Contact the author Bev Hanson via email bevhanson6@bigpond.com or use this email link Bev Hanson  |
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St Just's Point by Ian Glanville © A taste Cornish humour. Attempting to show the value of the Cornish folk's contribution to Bendigo in a very Australian way, that of using humour. This is Ian Glanville's 3rd book in a successful series of cartoon books. Ian Granville, now aged 85, is famous for The Bendigo Advertiser cartoons he has produced over many years. This book is sold for and of behalf of Ian until sold out. Price A$5 (plus P + H of $7) |
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Runnymede Remembered by Colleen Clancy 2009 © A small A5 book about Runnymede - written in 1979 by Colleen from stories and memories told to her by her mother and aunt. Price A$5 (plus P + H of $2) |
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Bendigo Bridge Street Burial Ground by Rita Hull & John Kelly 2010 © Commissioner Hill or Camp Hill (now called Rosalind Park) was the headquarters for Government officials and Police in early 1852 as the Bendigo goldfields were opened up by the miners. A burial ground came into being for this self sufficient community of about 500 officials and many thousands of miners. From the first rush in November 1851, diggers had died from various causes, and their friends would be looking for a secure site to bury them where they hoped they could rest in peace. Fate was to prove otherwise in just three short years. Price A$12 (plus P + H of $3) |
 Title: Where they Lie — 1852-1870 ISBN No. 0 9595380 3 8 Publisher: Annette O'Donohue Cover: Pioneer Grave, Maiden Gully Photo Taken 1993 — A.M. O'Donohue link Maps — Bev Hanson Gods Acres .......... 8 A Pioneer Grave ..... 9 The Lonely Grave ............. 10 First Doctor and Coroner on Bendigo Goldfields .......... 12 Deputy Registrars: ............. 14 John T Sanders..... 20 William A Roche... 24 William McEwan.. 28 Andrew Inglis....... 29 John Hutchinson... 30 Adolphus Barnett.. 31 Thomas F Jordan.. 33 Henry Sorley......... 34 Goldfields Early Deaths Recorded by Father Backhaus.................. 36 Old Sandhurst Burial Ground..................... 41 First and Last Two Burials......................... 50 Hospital Deaths.......................................... 53 Old Cemetery - Kangaroo Gully................ 55 White Hills/Junction Cemetery (Sexton — Garrett Brennan)..................... 56 Kangaroo Flat Cemetery........................... 76 (Sexton — Melville Marrack)................... 78 (William Pittaway).................................... 77 Robert Benson........................................... 79 Kangaroo Flat Burials............................... 80 Chinese Burials.................................. 69, 89, 91 Burial Grounds Marong/Bullock Ck. 92 Lockwood........... 95 Golden Square......... 99 Golden Gully....... 99 Milkmaids Flat......... 99 Spring Gully....... 99 Dead Dog Gully..... 100 Picaninny Gully..100 Epsom.................... 100 Back Creek........ 100 Eaglehawk............. 101 Long Gully........ 101 Peg Leg Gully........ 101 Sydney Flat........ 101 Whipstick.............. 101 Raywood........... 102 Myers Flat............. 102 First Burials — Back Creek and Eaglehawk Cemeteries.......... 103 Stray Burials........... 105 Station Burials....... 107 Registered Deaths — (no place of burial)...... 109 Map of Burial Sites.......................... 123 Huntly Cemetery.............................. 124 Axedale Cemetery............................ 127 Emu Creek Cemetery....................... 127 Skeletons.......................................... 128 Doctors............................................. 130 Undertakers...................................... 131 Lone Grave Near Lake Eppalock..... 136 A Grave in the Bush......................... 137 John McMahon — Big Hill.............. 138 Discovery of a Corpse at Big Hill.... 139 Possible Reinterments...................... 140 Acknowledgements.......................... 146 Index................................................. 148 |
WHERE THEY LIE Early Burials on the Bendigo Goldfields 1852-1870 by Annette O'Donohule and Bev Hanson 1993 © Introduction As genealogists how often during the course of your research have you contacted an authority in the hope of discovering valuable details on an ancestor of forebear only to receive the response that the official records have been lost or destroyed? One common reply in Bendigo is: "were all thrown down a mine shaft after the war. We are sure that you have all suffered this frustration. Our own local area, Bendigo, has a huge black hole of missing information, cemetery records, church papers, rate books and the like all of which seemed to be irreplaceable. We were thrilled when given the opportunity to copy original records at the Registry Of Births, Deaths & Marriages (Victoria) for inclusion in our forthcoming publication 'Register of Eaglehawk Pioneers (1850-1880)'. It was during this research that we realised that there before us were so many of Bendigo's missing details. As well as our earliest burial grounds we were able to compile a list of stray burials and the many deaths where the Deputy Registrar failed to record a place of burial. We have taken the presumption of recording White Hills registrations as burials at the Junction Cemetery. The Golden Gully/Square registrations cover a larger area, and although most later certificates list the Kangaroo Flat cemetery as place of burial, there were still a sufficient number being interred in other grounds to warrant leaving these registrations as a separate entity. Although every care has been taken in transcribing these deaths, our interpretation of some details may be incorrect, because of the age and condition of the volumes and the handwriting of the Deputy Registrars. Every Registrar handled his duties differently, they were busy men as most were practising professionals; Doctors, Clerks, Teachers etc which coupled with the fact that a large percentage of the informants were illiterate or couldn't speak English, explains why the information gleaned from these certificates is often incorrect or sketchy. The Chinese deaths presented an even greater challenge, they have been spelt phonetically but once again the condition of the original records coupled with the accent and illiteracy of the informant has no doubt changed the original name often beyond recognition. It is 140 years since compulsory registration began, the 1st death for Victoria being registered in Melboume on the 4th April 1853. Our first local death was not registered until 15th July of that year, although there had been many deaths in Bendigo from December 1851 when it was reported that there were 1000 diggers on the Bendigo Creek. Despite the fact that it was illegal not to register a birth, death or marriage, this still occurred, and in one situation the informant could not claim ignorance as it was when the registrars own son drowned, that he failed to record his death (see J.T. SANDERS). We have copied the information as we found it, geographical and spelling mistakes included, and although our current calendar had been in use since 1752, we have recorded at least one burial for the 31st of June. Our thanks must go to John Scarce, the Genealogical Research Officer for the Registry of BDM's. John was most interested in our project and we are greatly indebted to him and offer our most sincere thanks. After reading this volume and hopefully locating a missing ancestor or forebear, the appropriate certificate can be obtained at PO Box 4332 Melbourne, 3001. Always include the official number when ever possible; these can be obtained at most local libraries which hold copies of Registry records on micro fiche. We hope you will find the time to stroll through our local cemeteries where some wonderful memorials to our long gone pioneers can be found. We are both very interested in the recognition of these early settlers and have spent many hours mapping out the exact places of interment and transcribing the headstones at the Eaglehawk cemetery. Two local groups which also encourage this are. 'THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF GENEALOGICAL STUDIES (AIGS) Bendigo Branch, of which Annette is a member, and The Friends of The Cemeteries, the latter group being interested in repairing and cleaning tombstones, and encouraging Guided Tours during the Heritage Week activities. They also have 'Self Guided Tour Maps' available at various Tourist Information Centres around Bendigo, which enables one to locate some of the 'notable graves' for oneself. The AIGS (Bendigo Group) are only a small number in Bendigo, but our members are very hardworking, and have transcribed all the cemetery headstones in the Bendigo district and outlying areas. All our records are available to the Public to use every Wednesday from 1 - 4 pm when there is always a of the AIGS on duty, ready and willing to asist with your Genealogical enquiry. Also a brief mention regarding our "Eaglehawk Register 1850-80", we are hopeful of producing Vol l, A-C in the near future, we have names of many thousands of early Pioneers who residents of the 'Borough' or 'Whipstick' during those early years, and we are trying to sort out the deluge of information that has come in. Certificates certainly help us to identify the more common names such as: Brown, Smith, Jones etc so if you have any relating to the area we would love a copy. If you are interested in a Copy of the book, could you please send in your order with a SAE (but no money at this stage) as well as your information if you have not already done so. Finally we hope you enjoy reading 'Where They Lie' and that it will become a useful addition to your bookshelf. Annette O'Donohue & Bev Hanson Book Price A$20 Contact the author Bev Hanson via email bevhanson6@bigpond.com or use this email link Bev Hanson or use postal address: Mrs B Hanson C/- PO Box 95 Marong Vic 3515 |
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