Gulgong - Main Street, Canadian Lead 1872

Photo: Holtermann collection

 Only eight kilometres from Gulgong, the Canadian Lead was an alluvial field of deep washdirt and easy digging. The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 April 1872, recorded the rush: '… the Canadian lead where a month ago some four hundred people were, can now boast of a couple of thousands. The Gulgong diggings may be fairly said to be spread over eight square miles.

Ref:  State Library’s Holtermann archive - http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2013/holtermann/collectionviewer/index.html

John McKenna was a chemist in 1883 at Canadian Lead district of Gulgong.

Ref: Jan Mitchel

Gulgong Wooden Catholic Church (1871-1885)

Photo: Holtermann collection

Despite the wealth generated by alluvial gold mining, few buildings in Gulgong were substantial. According to the Australian Town and Country Journal, 27 January 1872: 'The buildings are all composed of wood, calico, or bark, presenting strange contrasts by the variety of colours and designs. The finest building is certainly the new Roman Catholic Church just completed, and reflecting great credit on that congregation. 'The building cost £700, which was raised by the Reverend JO Donovan and ‘his energetic parishioners’ in a few weeks.

Ref:  State Library’s Holtermann archive - http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2013/holtermann/collectionviewer/index.html

Painting of Capertee Valley from Crown Ridge, 1868

Capertee Valley taken from Crown Ridge, Sydney Road  
1868 watercolour by Eliza Thurston
Mitchell Library collection

While not a highly realistic rendering of the scene, Thurston's Mitchell Library work has great charm and shows that the panorama seen from the Crown was as popular then as it is today.

Eliza came from an established family of artists from Bath in western England. Eliza became an art teacher after she came to Australia in 1853. She lived for a few years during the mid to late 1860s with her (Mudgee based) photographer son Horatio Thurston (1838-1881). While resident there she produced her Capertee Valley works. She died in Sydney a few years later. Her daughter, Eliza West Thurston, was an amateur artist who painted mostly floral subjects. She worked as a teacher in Rylstone and spent her later years living in Mudgee.

For more information about Eliza Thurston please refer to her biographical entry in the Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) website: http://www.daao.org.au/bio/eliza-thurston/biography/

Ref: Capertee Heritage

Crown Ridge near Capertee

Crown Ridge looking East, watercolour by Conrad Martens
View of Pantoney's Crown as seen from Pearsons Lookout c.1874
Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

Martens was not the first artist to paint the Capertee Valley from the Crown.

Ref: Capertee Heritage

Crown Ridge near Capertee

One of a series of three large watercolour views  of Crown Ridge by Conrad Martens (Private Collection)

The London-born artist Conrad Martens (1801-1878) first came to Australia in 1835. Like fellow painter Augustus Earle, Martens had been employed by the pioneer naturalist, Charles Darwin  as ship artist on the voyage of the HMS Beagle.

The Crown Ridge peak is now officially known as Blackman’s Crown after an early explorer of the region, John Blackman (c.1792-1868).

Ref: Capertee Heritage