The Cricket Club
Continued)
Six weeks after the funeral of his father, Billy's Mother took Them to Melbourne to finalize HIS Father's affairs.His Mother was surprised to learn from her solicitor that Billy's dad had provided for them very well. Several shipments by coach from the diggings had included those of his fathers and they were very secure at least for the near future.
They arrived in Sydney by ship some time later and his mother a Dressmaker by trade, opened a small Boutique on lower George St. Billy was enrolled at Fort ST. Public School soon after and that's where he met Daniel.
They kind of hit it off almost at once as they found they had similar interests and both shared a passion for cricket. Daniel's father had also passed away when he was younger...lost at sea off the coast of Victoria which saw all hands lost, so they understood each other's pain.I can assure the reader, that when you are a small lad and you lose a parent, its really good to have a brother at your side and Billy and Daniel became brothers very early on. As time went by these two youngsters endeared themselves to their local community in a miriad of ways. Always involved with the welfare of those less fortunate then themselves via various fund raising events via the Cricket Club and both boys got involved in the Newspaper boy caper. Billy's stand was up by The Railway near the old Australia Hotel and Daniel's down by the Quay so they always seemed to have a pocket full o' brass and they were generous to the needy kids among the back streets of the Rocks and everybody looked up to them and respected them for the respect they showed for each other seemed to rub off on all who knew them.
Finally they graduated from Fort Street Senior Colledge and Sydney, especially the areas around and adjacent to the Harbour, was their oyster. 3 years later both graduated with honours from University and all the years of the talk of gold and the life of a freeman with the knowledge and means to.. 'make a go of it' came to pass.
And they arrived at the 'Hunters River Inn" Tambarroora in the middle of September with all the well wishing and calls for ;three cheers" still ringing in their ears.
Fort Street School circa 1860.
Arriving at the Hunters River Inn.They were 2-3 weeks securing all they would need for the 'diggin'. Timber props had to be cut and sized, shovels ,picks, all manner of things from a place to stay and securing a claim, a miners right each pots pans, everything and by the time they actually began driving a shaft on the most likely of their claims Tambaroora adored the both of them and a cricket club was formed to play on Sundays.
On the good advice of the locals who know theses things they began on the claim closest to a mob of blokes operating a high-power water sluicing operation. That claim was the last of the untouched gravels of the original finds and of two strong burly gents the likes of Billy and Daniel, the general conscences of 'the locals' was that they would 'do alright'...if they perservered..and perservere they did. The gravels here they found was reasonably compacted but the rock pick made short work of it and they'd drive 4ft and pan etc,etc so as by the time October gave wasy to November and with spring in the air courtesy of the Wattles they were in 20ft and chasing a run of good stuff that had brought them near encroaching on the mob next door!
It was obvious to the 'locals' that they were..' doin alright' as they would say, for they had sent several dispatches coachbound to Sydney via the Commissioners office and often ?"
Even the Chinese got on with them like house on fire and the boys made a point of buying fresh fruit and vegies from them and it was often .." Mornig Billy sa, velly good come no rain for diggy gol day.sa"..and ...velly good Hang Su, you make velly soon plenty big tomatoes for us eh.?
Oh! this was the life they were making a few quid, a lot of friends and Tambaroora was a roaring place to be on Friday and Saturday night and best of all there was Cricket on Sundays:...below Street View South:Tambaroora.
Chinese Quarter.
By this stage it was mid December and the pay streak was diving down and further and closer to the mob next door. It was just another normal day at the facing as Billy resumed emtying the water buckets placed strategically here and there along the length of the drive. There were 10 or twelve of them now and the floor of the drive was wet under foot right out to the adit. Billy emptied the one nearest the audit over his head and wiped his brow with his kerchief,"christ its hot !" he said out loud and returned to the face where Daniel sat swirling a bit of pay in the old steel pan. It was as plain as day even in the dim light of the kerosene lamp that something was up."Hullo, what you got there old mate." he offered, and Daniel said nothing and just only managed to offer the pan to Daniel.
Oh the joy of it! It was there for all to see, taking up its place in the pan.. that beautiful glint in all its glory! No need to wash this stuff to much,one only needed a flamin' spoon to scoop the gold out of the mix. The locals had told them of the riches of the old diggings and there was a chance that they hadn't got all of it and the proof of that was staring fair in his face. He too settled back in his haunches and soon after was chortling and gafawing in an uncontrollable and throaty skirmish that rattled around there for a bit and suddenly bust forth in a fit of equally uncontrollable half-giggle half- wailing. Daniel by now had caught the contagion and was trying to do a bent-over rendition of the Irish jig that his mum had taught him.
They embraced in the way that brothers do and they marveled at the look in each others eyes. They had hit a pocket , the likes of which they could not of imagined in their wildest fantasies. Daniel stood up and bumped his head on the roof of the drive. That's when the whole section of the drive collapsed on top of them. They were almost certainly dead within a minute or so and it was 4 days later that their cold bodies were freed from the clutched of the clay.They had been driving to close to the power sluicing next door and the weeks of overspray from the operations had insidiously softened the whole drive despite the props they had employed.
They were toasted with a bottle of the best whisky in town and were were long remembered by the members of The Cricket Club.
Footnote: photos courtesy of the Hillend and environs historical records.
