Lefroy: The six pub town
I have always found it rather interesting that the population and wealth of Australian historic mining areas seem to be always measured by the number of pubs (hotels) it had.
Lefroy sits around 15 km south-east of the cottage and 58 km north-east of Launceston. Originally known as Nine Mile Springs it was changed to Lefroy in 1881 after the visit by the Acting Governor, Sir Henry Lefroy.
It was a bustling town, which is said to have contained 5,000 people in its peak boom period of 1890-95. It was the fourth largest town in Tasmania,.
Gold was known to exist in the hills around Lefroy in the 1840s, but exploration was discouraged because of a fear that the convicts would find out and rebel.
Though now only a sleepy rural town with no retail activity at all, Lefroy had a race track, rifle club, cricket club and
brass band. There were six hotels, three churches, a state and
private grammar school, a masonic lodge and mechanics institute. The
town had several shops, two butchers and a cordial factory. In 1907
the headquarters of the George Town Municipality was located there,
remaining there until the 1930s.
Gold Mining At Lefroy
In the upper levels the gold was quite rich, but it was quickly exhausted and as shafts were dug deeper, the amount of gold diminished. Extraction was expensive because of water seepage, which required pumps, and the quartz rock had to be crushed in batteries of stamping machines, and then washed in sluices to extract the gold from the crushed rock.
In all, the Lefroy mines
yielded £750,000 in gold, making the gold field the second richest
in Tasmania, after Beaconsfield.
Gold Fossicking at Lefroy
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| A tailings dump we have been picking through |
Once commercial mining ceased, Lefroy slowly declined, its school and last church closing in 1954. Many of the houses were removed to George Town and Beaconsfield. Even so, prospectors continue to mine and fossick for gold in and around the old mine shafts, often finding enough to make it a profitable hobby.
My sons grew up in the Lefroy area and spent many hours picking through the tailings dumps and mine sites with limited, though exciting results including a number of smallish nuggets.
So What Did We Find?
From a material point of view, the total find during our four hour search consisted of an extremely small sliver of gold in a fissure in a chunk of bassalt. Cash value - zero.
The real payout, however, comes with the health giving beauty of the silent embrace of the surrounding forest. Real Value - priceless.
Be assured that the gold is there and taking the time to have a look is well worth many hours of your time.
The Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mining Lands
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| The capping on one of over fifty shafts in the region |
The Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mining Lands Trust Fund commenced a
remediation program in the 2005/2006 budget period to address public safety risks posed by abandoned mine workings on Crown Land at Lefroy, northeast Tasmania.
remediation program in the 2005/2006 budget period to address public safety risks posed by abandoned mine workings on Crown Land at Lefroy, northeast Tasmania.
Over fifty open shafts and two adits were either capped or fenced during
this time for an approximate cost of $140,000.
The Chinese In Lefroy
Chinese miners first
arrived at Lefroy in 1870, originally brought in to work
the mines at Back Creek.
At Lefroy they panned for alluvial gold, and
later picked over the tailings from the crushing batteries. They also
made money from the other diggers through their market gardens and
gambling dens, where fan tan was the main game.
They were slower but
steadier workers and were tolerated by the other diggers. In 1877
they opened a Joss House in Little China Town, which was in Powell
Street. It remained there until 1904, when it was dismantled and
removed to an unknown location.
You may also be interested in two items I have published in my site, Dear Grandpa Pencil, including:
You may also be interested in two items I have published in my site, Dear Grandpa Pencil, including:
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