The Holtermann Collection

English novelist Anthony Trollope visited the Gulgong goldfield in October 1871 and described its miners; "Of the men around me some were miners working for wages and some were shareholders, each probably with a large stake in the concern. I could not in the least tell which was which. They were all dressed alike and there was nothing of the master and the man in the tone of their conversation. Among those present at the washing up, there were two Italians, an American, a German and a Scotchsman, who I learned were partners in the property… miners working for wages at Gullgong were earning from £2 10s. to £3 [$5 to $6] a week."

Digital order no: a2824746

A group of miners pose atop their mine head equipped with primitive wheel-powered ventilation in the Gulgong area. Much of the land around the richest veins on the Gulgong field was Crown land, meaning a miner had only to pay 10/- [$1] for a miner's right to own any gold from his claim. A rush was inevitable. William Collins described the field in the Maitland Mercury 16 May 1872 "When I arrived upon the diggings, and beheld the beautiful grazing country torn up with diggers, and hillocks of dug up earth the size of houses, I must confess that the strange sight made me feel quite wretched and miserable, as I had been used to seeing such country covered with sheep, cattle and horses."

Digital order no: a2822340

The incongruous sight of toy dogs among the rough-and-ready types that inhabited a frontier gold town has been captured in this view of Herbert Street, Gulgong. According to the Empire 28 May 1872 "The streets - so to call the dusty avenues between the rows of shops and Inns - are thronged in the daytime, by much about the same number, though not, apparently by the same sort of persons, as the streets in Sydney. There is not the same bustling activity about them… There are also fewer women amongst them, and fewer well dressed men. The yellow, clay-stained fustian trousers which have never made and never will make acquaintance with the wash-tub, invest the lower extremities of every two men out of three…"

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This is part of Queen Street Gulgong, showing Plunkett & Co. auctioneers, William Selff's Sportsman's Arms Hotel and S.H. Barnes' Mudgee Drug Store in 1872. It was at Selff's hotel that English novelist Anthony Trollope stayed in October 1871. "Gullgong was certainly a rough place when I visited it, but not quite as rough as I had expected. There was a hotel there, at which I got a bedroom to myself, though but a small one, and made only of slabs. But a gorgeously grand edifice was being built over our heads at the time, the old inn being still kept on while the new inn was being built on the same site."

Digital order no: a2822074

Gulgong underwent rapid change in early 1871 and the Gulgong Guardian 25 February 1871, noted the improvements. "Moses Brothers, owners of the famed 'Greatest Wonder of the world clothing establishments, which can be found on the leading goldfields of new Zealand, New South Wales and Queensland, have a branch next to the Golden Age Hotel in which they will exhibit their usual stock of clothing etc." Proprietor Simeon Moses stands in the centre, with his brother Menser from the adjacent American Tobacco Warehouse, to the right. Simeon left Gulgong in 1873 to run the Royal Hotel in Mudgee."

Digital order no: a2822094

The Medical Hall of Charles Bird Jnr was situated at the corner of Belmore and Herbert Streets, Gulgong. Charles Bird Snr. conducted another shop at the corner of Mayne and Herbert Streets, until the Medical Hall was sold and converted into a hotel in 1879. The Gulgong Guardian 20 November 1872 noted that Charles Bird had received a new disinfectant "which will be invaluable during the summer months to all who are unfortunate enough to live in those parts of town where stenches are pungent and plentiful."

Digital order no: a2822112

Dr Charles Zimmler's Gulgong Dispensary was situated in Mayne Street next to the Warburton Hotel. The dispensary appeared as one element of a montage on Australia's paper $10 note in 1966, but this is not Dr Zimmler. Standing out front is Henry Kirke White, who prior to the photo being taken was managing Barnes' chemist shop. At the time of this photograph, Zimmler was serving six months in Bathurst gaol for manslaughter of an infant to whom he had prescribed ammonia. After serving his time, Zimmler returned to Gulgong and over a period of years was elected mayor of the town on four occasions.

Digital order no: a2822223

This is an unusual image in the Holtermann Collection, because the individuals have changed into their best clothes for a second exposure by the photographer. Here, bootmaker Daniel Doherty in waistcoat and white shirt, with his daughter, son and employees have dressed up for the American & Australasian Photographic Company's operator. Even the dog is posing. An earlier photograph of the same scene in Herbert Street Gulgong, with the same individuals and dog, shows the participants looking more casual in their work clothes. The man on the far right is the manager of Doherty's branch store at Home Rule.

Digital order no: a2822166

This timber clad facade fails to conceal the bark structure behind and the poverty of its inhabitants. This is Gulgong bootmaker William Holmes and his family outside their shop in Mayne Street west. His wife Emily, in the doorway, died a few months after the photograph was taken. The town's short-term architecture was described in The Sydney Morning Herald 30 September 1872. "Gulgong is not singular in its buildings. The followers of alluvial rushes have ere this found that business is fleeting. As leads work out so does business tide away. Hence have we buildings of a temporary nature; and, although the town of Gulgong may be reckoned three years old, yet not a single brick building stands on its site…"

Digital order no: a2822244

The offices of the Gulgong Guardian newspaper and Alexander McCulloch's book and stationary shop were housed in this corrugated iron shed, on the western side of Herbert Street, next to the Mudgee Drug Store. To the right of the newspaper office doorway stands owner Thomas Frederick DeCourcy Browne. In May 1873, he was convicted of libel against Gold Commissioner Thomas Browne and sentenced to six months gaol. After a petition from half the town, he spent only a month behind bars. This does not seem to have affected his career and he published the Home Rule Pilot on his release. In 1885 he was elected the Member for Mudgee.

Digital order no: a2822087

These are detectives Charles Powell and Robert Hannan, outside their Gulgong office. They had plenty to do. In a letter to the editor of the Maitland Mercury 16 May 1872, William Collins stated "The people (except the bankers and storekeepers), are in general a rough and ready set, occasionally a fight is to be seen, but the very diligent police speedily settle such hostile engagements, by marching the pugilists to a place called the town cage, from which place they are brought in the morning before the magistrate, who has often heard of mercy, but does not know what it means…" Powell and Hannan arrested 14 Chinese for gambling in January 1872 and the Empire 20 January 1872 noted "In all these cases the lawyers reap a rich harvest, and it was somewhat amusing to witness their actively and interest within ten minutes of the time of arrest."

Digital order no: a2822182

James Leggatt's Smithfield Butchery was located in Mayne Street between George Davis auctioneer and Booth and Co. His motto was "down with the monopoly and feed the hungry". His advertising proclaimed his beef was "from the best herds in the Western districts", his mutton was "from the choicest flocks in the colony", his pork was "warranted dairy fed" and his lamb was "raised especially to his order" He opened a branch store in Home Rule at the start of the rush in June 1872 and had delivery carts supplying meat to the goldfields. Meat was 4d a pound [just over 7 cents per kilo], roughly twice that in Sydney

Digital order no: a2822188

The establishment of William Thomas Lewis, Undertaker and Carpenter at the corner of Belmore and Herbert Streets was primitive, but his funerals were said to be carried out 'with his usual taste and completeness'. In 1871, Gulgong lacked a suitable place for burials and the Gulgong Guardian commented several times on the growing outcry for a cemetery. The locals had a valid complaint, particularly because of the considerable mortality rate among the young. In April 1871 alone, nine children died in a fortnight. Even Thomas De Courcy Brown, editor of the Guardian, lost his daughter Rose, age 7 months, in December that year. In January 1872, there were 37 deaths in Gulgong, (including 21 children under 5 years) and 17 births. The newspaper complained that the new cemetery was still unfenced.

Digital order no: a2822118

J.H. Osborne, painter & signwriter of Gulgong also supplied decorative wallpaper. It seems he painted faux marble headstones as well. Osborne's bark clad establishment was located at 2 Medley Street, at the sparsely populated northern end of town, which explains the prominent display of his sign writing skill. The Empire 28 May 1872 commented on the temporary nature of buildings in Gulgong. "The shops and public-houses are, for the most part, of a very temporary and unsubstantial character, considered as buildings. A large proportion of them are capable of being removed, piecemeal, and set up again on a new diggings in the event of Gulgong declining in prosperity, and a rush taking place to another field within a day or two's journey."

Digital order no: a2822301

Despite the rude appearance of their slab hut, this Gulgong family has dragged out its proudest possession to be included in the photograph – a Willcox & Gibbs treadle sewing machine. In 1865, the Empire reported that a Willcox & Gibbs machine had won the award for the best family sewing machine at the Pennsylvania State Fair. Advertising boasted that "two thousand stitches, or two yards of work, can be done in one minute without dropping a stitch". The Willcox & Gibbs Family Model machine could be purchased in Sydney for £10 [$20], which was about a month's wages for a Gulgong miner.

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Louisa Lawson, (mother of Henry Lawson), her son Charles William (born 25 June 1869) and her sister Phoebe Albury, (dressmaker), stand outside Mrs. Albury's dressmaking shop in the Gulgong area. Henry Lawson lived at Gulgong as a young boy and some of his stories are set in Gulgong, although the references are less than flattering. In 'Water Them Geraniums' post-goldrush Gulgong is described as 'a wretched remnant of a town on an abandoned goldfield'. In 'Brighten's Sister-in-Law' it is 'dreary and dismal enough'. On the other hand, his 1889 poem 'Roaring Days ' is a nostalgic ode to the gold rush days. The same year Louisa launched the campaign for female suffrage and announced the formation of the Dawn Club.

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