Bark house with women & children, Gulgong area

1872
Glass photonegative

Temporary bark huts were a feature of goldfields life, as they were quick and easy to build. For a traveller, the first sign of a nearby rush town was usually the large number of trees stripped of their bark. D81, 28 May 1872, observed that:

A considerable number of married persons with families appear to have taken to gold-digging as an occupation. It is certainly not a very congenial one for them as respects the comfort and the interests of the younger and weaker members of their households.