Gold discovery sparked rush that never ended

It’s a well told story around the mid west, the tale of a young First Nations boy who found gold and in doing so spawned the discovery of a goldfield and birth of a town, and it’s been told now for 150 years.

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IT’S a well told story around the mid west, the tale of a young First Nations boy who found gold and in doing so spawned the discovery of a goldfield and birth of a town, and it’s been told now for 150 years.

That boy was a young Jupiter Mosman, thought to be between seven and 11 years old at the time, who it is said found gold while out prospecting with Hugh Mosman and his party in 1871.

Lore has it that it was Christmas Eve, following a storm in which the horses ran away, that Jupiter went in search of the animals and found a gold-bearing brownstone quartz rock near the Gap.

Upon that site Hugh Mosman and his fellow prospectors Adam Mosman, George Clark and James Fraser registered a claim with the gold commissioner in Ravenswood and established the North Australian mine early in 1872.

“I had been out and found a nice piece of stone and went back to inform Hugh Mosman and he brought a pick and we dug it out, and I can assure you that is what started the mine called the North Australian,” Jupiter told the Townsville Bulletin in 1939.

Re-enactment of the discovery of gold in 1871 by Jupiter Mosman in Charters Towers on Towers Hill circa 1997.

The find caused a rush, the likes of which had not been experienced quite like it in the North.

One newspaper report in the Ravenswood Miner said the goldfield was one of “the most remarkable and promising goldfield ever opened in Queensland”.

Small mining leases popped up all over the district as far south from the original find to Lionstown and Mount Leyshon 40km southwest of Charters Towers.

Within a year there were around 3000 people living on the goldfield, all out to make their fortune finding gold in the deep quartz veins underground.

Millchester was initially the biggest settlement, despite gold being discovered around Towers Hill, around 5km away and the infrastructure was constructed quickly.

The Venus Battery and Mill was built in July 1872 on the banks of Gladstone Creek to service the surrounding mines.

Merchants, banks, hotels, hospitals and newspapers sprung up across the region, with Many of those who initially established themself around Millchester, eventually moving to the growing business hub in Charters Towers along Gill and Mosman streets.

This photograph is of the early prospecting days on the Charters Towers goldfields and was taken at the upper end of Mosman Street. Although it is uncertain exactly which mines feature in this photograph it would be fair to say that the Talisman and the North Australian mines would be among them. The North Australian was owned by Hugh Mosman and his fellow gold discoverers George Clarke and Jim Fraser. It is widely acknowledged that another of Mosman’s party, Jupiter Mosman, who was at the time a boy, was the true finder of the gold that sparked the rush to Charters Towers.

By May of 1872 Gold Commissioner William Charters, after whom the field was named, declared the area around Towers Hill or Upper Camp to be the main centre of the goldfield.

In 1877 the goldfield’s merchants and miners petitioned the Governor for Charters Towers to be proclaimed a municipality and on June 21 it happened.

The first Mayor and aldermen were elected two months later.

As the town grew, so did gold production and by 1899 the district peaked to have a population of around 25,000 and it was declared a city.

Grand public buildings lined the two main streets, with many of the historic architectural premises remaining to this very day.

The discovery of gold by Jupiter Mosman resulted in the birth of the gold mining town, Charters Towers.

Gold is still mined around Charters Towers, with the biggest operation owned by Minjar Gold, 50km south of Charters Towers.

In 2022 the Charters Towers Regional Council is leading a series of sesquicentennial celebrations.

The council plans to host eight events with celebrations centred around Australia Day and Great Australian Bites (January 2022); Towers Got Talent! (March 2022); Anzac Day (April 2022); Ten Days in the Towers (April-May 2022); Queensland Day (June 2022); Spirit of the Night (August 2022); History and Heritage Fair (August 2022); and Twilight Markets and Towers Rush (October 2022).

A revival is underway for the Taste of the Towers (April 2022) and Ghosts, Gold and Great Houses (May 2022) after a hiatus due to the pandemic.

It is hoped there will also be the Goldfield Ashes (January 2022), the Charters Towers Motor Show and Swap Meet (June 2022), Towers Jockey Club Cup Day (June 2022), Charters Towers Show (July 2022), and Charters Towers Amateur Race Day (October 2022) as well as feature events by Towers Arts, the Charters Towers Patchwork and Quilters Group, Towers Players and more.

For more information on the upcoming events go to www.visitcharterstowers.com.au.

Originally published as Gold discovery sparked rush that never ended