Lonely Graves Victoria
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Mickybees,...you might try your local Historical Society for landholders in that area....and then possibly track their books for 'staff' as it appears she is 'The Shepherds Daughter'....
I'm sure with a little targeted research, you will find that which you seek...
:Y:
Good to see she has been respected over the years for you to have come across her....
I'm sure with a little targeted research, you will find that which you seek...
:Y:Good to see she has been respected over the years for you to have come across her....
Mickybees said:
Is this the same grave?
https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/505692cb2162ef0ea04f982f
Yes I'm pretty sure it is I thought we where in mt Doran but it could be lal lal we where just driving through the bush looking for a good spot to get the detectors out when we come across her grave..and I'm also glad her grave has been respected..cheers
For whatever reason that has made me a bit emotional Mickybees. Some flowers would be bloody grand if you do go back. And please give her a bow of the head for me...
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Mickybees said:
Well we won't be using you to call in artillery.
That wooden frame couldn't be the original one, someone must have re built it at some point.
"THE LITTLE SHEPHERDS DAUGHTERS GRAVE
This is a beautiful and peaceful site to visit and can be accessed from Chalkmine Road which is the first turn to the right as you come to the turn around area above the Bungal Dam look for sign post in ground. Travel approx 2 kms and turn right at Heatherbell Rd and travel along this road for 1 km. The Little Grave is located in the bush about 20 metres off the road on the left. It is the grave of a little 6 year old girl MARY PATTERSON - who was droving sheep with her family on this side of the Moorabool River. There was a cold and rainy period and she developed pneumonia and died. The river was in flood and the bridge to Mt Egerton was under water and a doctor could not get across to help her. She was buried in the bush as there was no access over the river to the cemetery either. There is a little vase embedded in her grave and you will always find flowers in it. It is surrounded by a wooden fence and has her name inscribed. She died in 1867 at the age of 6 years old.
There is a defined track that leads from her grave back to Heatherbell Road and it has a deep mine shaft just off the track. Be cautious in this area as there are some gold mine shafts dotted around just off the track. Do not stray from the track if you choose to walk it. "
This is a beautiful and peaceful site to visit and can be accessed from Chalkmine Road which is the first turn to the right as you come to the turn around area above the Bungal Dam look for sign post in ground. Travel approx 2 kms and turn right at Heatherbell Rd and travel along this road for 1 km. The Little Grave is located in the bush about 20 metres off the road on the left. It is the grave of a little 6 year old girl MARY PATTERSON - who was droving sheep with her family on this side of the Moorabool River. There was a cold and rainy period and she developed pneumonia and died. The river was in flood and the bridge to Mt Egerton was under water and a doctor could not get across to help her. She was buried in the bush as there was no access over the river to the cemetery either. There is a little vase embedded in her grave and you will always find flowers in it. It is surrounded by a wooden fence and has her name inscribed. She died in 1867 at the age of 6 years old.
There is a defined track that leads from her grave back to Heatherbell Road and it has a deep mine shaft just off the track. Be cautious in this area as there are some gold mine shafts dotted around just off the track. Do not stray from the track if you choose to walk it. "
Wow I thought they would be gold miners it's a really interesting and tragic story thanks for shedding some light on her history tallstock I did not see a vase there or any flowers but it's good to know she hasn't been forgotten..cheersTallstock said:
Great story here Raised by Mickybees and clarified for us all by Tallstock.GOOD JOB!!! :Y: :Y: There is a little cemetary in Castlemaine ,Victoria that overlooks pennyweight creek. I stumbled upon it when I was driving a dirt road there. They have sectioned it off and theres a gate that you enter. At first I was disappointed as I could see no Usual grave stones.. just a dozen or more piles of rock here and there. As I sat in contemplation of the view down the slope I noticed a small marker near one of these pile of stones. The 'piles of stones ' as it turns out are the grave sites of the children of the diggings.
Incredibly I had the sense of being surrounded by the happy smiling little faces ,all saying thank you for coming to see them..it was one of the most moving places in the world that I have seen.
And it moved me so much that I wrote a few verses about my experience ..that for the life of me I can't find anywhere just now but if I do I'll post it here. It's a lonely ,wind swept place and all I could do was find a couple of storks of the native flannel flower and leave it amongst them. If anyone reads this and is at some time there..then Please leave a thought from me. See yers at the 'diggins'...rossco.
Incredibly I had the sense of being surrounded by the happy smiling little faces ,all saying thank you for coming to see them..it was one of the most moving places in the world that I have seen.
And it moved me so much that I wrote a few verses about my experience ..that for the life of me I can't find anywhere just now but if I do I'll post it here. It's a lonely ,wind swept place and all I could do was find a couple of storks of the native flannel flower and leave it amongst them. If anyone reads this and is at some time there..then Please leave a thought from me. See yers at the 'diggins'...rossco.
reefer said:
Reefer many decades ago the headstones etc could be read and the age of the children were indeed very young. The cemetery is or was as we knew as kids on Nobbies farm (Noblock was the surname) at the time and he would be long past now also . If you look back towards the creek & Zeal bridge the hill to the left is Elephant Hill and as kids we raced our billy carts down it and quite often ended up in the creek as brakes were not an option usually fitted to our fruit boxes on pram wheels. Mates and I used to sit and smoke a weenie pack of Viscounts for those old enough to remember (2 bob a pack of 10) and look for the youngest person there and from memory it was three months and even younger. Children died back then from complications of a simple common cold. As said this was half a century ago and long before Castlemaine and this area in particular had become "touristy". In my last visit to my mother before she passed and you can actually see her house from the cemetery which is on Duke St next to the pub . I noted the graves had been heavily desecrated sadly. A little further down the road from the cemetery about a K actually on the left you should find the remains of an old stone building and this was the old store from the miners days ........................ this was know as Nobbies shed and the local boys would all go there and light a fire and piss on as the local country boys used to do as in Castlemaine after 6 in those days not a thing was open. It is actually across the road from what was and may still be a dingo farm This valley or Moonlight Flat was super rich with gold as was in fact the whole area. Wouldn't have minded running around with a metal detector while they were building the Jail at Wesley Hill :Y:
Anyways just a bit of history for the local area and could write a book about as it was long before it became spoiled and as kids we covered and knew every square inch of the place and it's surrounds. Shame I didn't have a Z back then
:|Bogger, Thank you for your informative insight as to the cemetry and from your younger days...hehe you will remember the add on tv..light up a viscount ,a viscount. light up a Viscount ,the best of them all...hehe I would have loved to have been one of the first to hit that place..the cemetry really hits you in the heart and is a stark reminder that among the stories of the lucky one's,, life was not so easy or wonderful for many. To visit there seems to bring you back to ground..what horrible despair the parents of those poor babies must have had to endure. I loved Castlemaine and the people I met there..nice place..if only I could of found that long lost gully that never was sighted by the diggers ..yeah and pigs might fly :lol:
..yeah and pigs might fly :lol:I hate to imagine what it was like for the parents to lose a sweet little girl at the age of 6....that breaks my heart in any time period.
We always took flowers with us everytime we went out there back 15 years now and we would camp next to her ,We have taken nice gold from the area over those years back then there was a good run right across the track from the grave and the run was from the track down the slope to the gully below, Dam on your right and the small wash gully to your left, gold was also found on the slope of the hill behind her .
