Interesting Facts on Lambing Flat!

A dubious business is born!
In the third week of September 1860 a butcher named Fog opened the first butchers shop on the diggings at Spring Creek. His 'silent' partner was Frank Gardiner, the bushranger. They had made a deal for Gardiner to 'duff' cattle, re-brand them and then deliver them to Fogg. Fogg would then slaughter the cattle and sell the meat to the diggers. The profits would be shared equally by Gardiner and Fog.

The first miners on the scene...
Amongst the earliest gold-seekers to make their way to the new gold discovery at Lambing Flat were five diggers who were on the Kiandra Goldfield in the Snowy Mountains, when news of the gold discovery reached them.  They were William Spicer, Charles Stuart, Donald Cameron, Hughie McBride and Douglas MacLean;  the first three were to play a major role in the riots.  They arrived at Lambing Flat in mid-September and soon found a rich patch of gold in Spring Creek, where they pegged a five-man claim. By the end of the first week they had won 620g of gold.

Lambing Flat - the new El-Dorado! 
The deposits of alluvial gold on the Young gold field were extremely rich but with so many claims staked on each new deposit discovered, it was inevitable that the alluvial deposits would son be worked out. By mid 1865 many of the diggers began to leave for other goldfields and by the end of the year only a scattering remained but they continued to win alluvial gold for over a decade. Within a few weeks of the discovery numerous bark and slab huts shanties tents and were being erected along the banks of the creek. This settlement son became a town known as Lambing Flat and was eventually renamed Young.

Why 20,000 people raced here to get in on some of the action... 
The total gold estimated to have been found from the field was over 14,600kg and the majority of this was alluvial gold. A rich deposit of alluvial gold was found in Burrangong Creek at Lambing Flat towards the end of June, 1860. Lambing Flat itself was a level sheltered valley which formed a small section of the Burrangong Station, owned by James White. This area earned its name from the fact the ewes were brought to the valley during lambing season.

Tensions between the retailers of Lambing Flat...
In August 1860 Charles Allen was the first storekeeper to open a general store on the banks of Burrangong Creek. Prior to this event, Allen had found gold and pegged a claim in chance gully. He was a successful gold prospector that had mined gold and owned stores on the Turon River and Ballarat goldfields. While Allen worked his claim his wife and two sons worked the store. Allen had a fervent hatred of the Chinese and also despised the owners of sly grog shanties, boxing booths and houses of prostitution.

And if you fancy trying yourself...
Blackguard Gully is a historical site containing a dam built in 1861, a reconstructed pug-mill, water racers and the remains of the original diggings. The dam, pug mill and water races were owned and built by the Chinese and the diggings were also worked by them. The pug mill is a horse-operated device that was used for puddling wash which was then fed over a long tom where the gold was collected in the riffles. The site is at the top end of Whiteman Avenue in the eastern suburbs of Young.

Blackguard Gully covers an area of 3 hectares and part of it is a Department of Mineral Resources official fossicking area for the Young District. Several of these gullies are on private property so please approach the property owners for their permission before entering. As always, leave the gates as you find them and don't forget to clean up before leaving. This way every one can continue to enjoy this historic field.