Frederic Charles Hall Miners at Oaks Goldfield, Queensland [NQ ID 1199]. [Image] (Unpublished)
- Item Type
- Image
- Collection
- Reverend Frederic Charles Hall Photographic Collection
- Subjects
- alluvial gold mining; alluvial mining; attire; Australian outback; batteries; brush shelters; buildings; canvas dwellings; canvas tents; Charley's Creek; Charlie's Creek; children; clothing; Copperfield River; Crimean shirts; diggers; diggings; dress; dresses; dry blowers; dry blowing; dry processing; dryblowers; dry-blowers; dryblowing; dry-blowing; early 1900s; Etheridge; family life; felt hats; fossicking; gold fields; gold milling; gold mills; gold mining history; gold panning; goldfields; group photo; group photography; group photos; Gulf Country; hand crushing; hats; Kidston; leather boots; leisure; miners; mining camps; mining claims; mining equipment; mining tools; moleskin trousers; North Queensland history; North Queensland mining towns history; Oaks goldfields; ore milling; ore mills; ore mining; photo; photographs; photos; prospecting; reef mining; shelters
Summary
This photograph depicts a group of miners (nine men, one woman and two children) posing around a shallow mine shaft under a canvas canopy. The miners appeared to be dressed in Crimean shirts, moleskin trousers, leather boots and felt hats. The woman standing near the double handled windlass is wearing a lightweight skirt and blouse with what appears to be a small lace shawl. This photograph was taken at one of the reef mining claims on Wise's Knob, Oaks Goldfield, Queensland. While the ore extracted underground would have been sent to a local battery for crushing and condensing, the hill of dirt the miners are sitting on was probably also worked through dry blowers, or perhaps cradled or sluiced depending on water availability, to collect as much of the alluvial gold as possible. The canopy standing over the mine shaft would have been built from locally sourced timber and has a canvas roof.
The Oaks Goldfield encompassed roughly 1500 km2 and was located about 48 kms south of Einasleigh, Queensland along the Copperfield River. It was completely surrounded by the Etheridge Goldfield and was only designated as a separate goldfield for administrative purposes. While the Oaks diggings, known as "The Knobs," was only 5 km2, the mining population peaked at 1,500 individuals, which is roughly three times the number it could support. The reported output of alluvial gold from December 1907 to December 1909 is 19,000 oz.
The photographs in this collection were taken by the Reverend Frederic Charles Hall (1878-1926) during the period 1902-1909 when he was the Anglican Curate appointed to Georgetown in North Queensland. Hall's foremost hobby was photography. He used both a half-plate camera with tripod made by J. Lancaster & Son, Birmingham and a quarter-plate Austral No. 3 made by the Australian company, Baker & Rouse. Glass negatives from Ilford and Austral were used; developing was done by the photographer himself and printing by exposure to sunlight.
Additional Information
Special Collection items may be used on the Library premises by visiting the appropriate Reading Rooms during opening hours. Digital copies of selected items from the special collections will be made available through the repository as copyright or other restrictions allow.
Email specialcollections@jcu.edu.au for more information.
James Cook University gratefully acknowledges Kenwyn Arthur Hall (grandson of the photographer) for his support of the NQHeritage Pilot Project.
This image was also published in:
Bell, Peter (1982) Essay on North Queensland mining settlement. In K.H. Kennedy (ed.), Readings in North Queensland Mining History: Vol 2. Townsville, Qld.: James Cook University. pp. 1-48. p. 8.
Copyright Information
© Kenwyn Arthur Hall. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits the redistribution of the work in its current form for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
References
Bell, Peter (1982) Essay on North Queensland mining settlement. In K.H. Kennedy (ed.), Readings in North Queensland Mining History: Vol 2. Townsville, Qld.: James Cook University. pp. 1-48.
Lawrence, Dianne (2012) Genteel Women: empire and domestic material culture, 1840-1910. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Macdonald, A.R. (1909) The Queensland Mining Industry: review of the year 1908. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 10(107): 159-172.
Marks, E.O. (1911) Geological survey report: the Oaks and eastern portion of Etheridge Goldfields. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 12(128): 9-18.
Stone, Derrick & Mackinnon, Sue (1976) Life on the Australian Goldfields. Sydney: Methuen of Australia.
Unknown (1908) The Oaks Goldfield. Queensland Government Mining Journal, 9(102): 560-564.
Wegner, Jan (1980) Gold mining on the Etheridge. In K.H. Kennedy (ed.), Readings in North Queensland Mining History: Vol 1. Townsville, Qld.: James Cook University. pp. 87-111.
Wegner, Jan (1990) The Etheridge. Townsville, Qld.: James Cook University.
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