Diggings/Workings not recorded in GeoVic

[Teemore]

I Know a few Victorians use geovic to research old mining areas ... have been doing the same recently and when checking against some recorded/reported historical mining areas with surface workings as well as mining dumps and trying to locate these on Geovic, Geovic shows no record at all.
Just wondering if others have found this to be the case in any of your research, one even has a named gully, need to check that out in Flett/Symes/Mining Registrar records when I get home.
Cheers Tom

 

[loamer]

Teemore - Geovic is really only an indicative data-base, but still quite good. There are numerous places the data-set missed or was overlooked because the ground was not very productive - which is modern day prospectors bread and butter.

Tracking back to original source documents is always a good idea and even tracking back from Flett's sources is good as well (be careful as Adocks 1912 book Flett used has faults which Flett actually had to correct). Some other sources are anything by Brough-Smyth (much of which is on-line for free), and the Bulletins and Memoirs series of pamphlets. I see you are at Melton - a trip to the Ballarat and Bendigo library may be worthwhile. Both have lots of original source documents to copy/read etc (most is reference material only and cannot be borrowed.) There was also the Heritage Victoria 1999 full set of diggings reports by region (100s of reports) which seem to have been taken off the net for some reason. The old Gold Commissioners maps and reports are good, most at libraries, the State Library if Vic has a lot. I have seen several very early commissioners maps with notes 'gold first found here' - so they are worth a look as well.

Use all these and other sources with geovic and modern topos (I use Memory Maps 1 25:000) and I think you get a far better picture.

 

[Teemore]

Hear what you're saying Loamer.
Have and love my Flett and Brough-Smyth references and really really appreciate the work that David Bannear (?) went to to summaries all the years of Mining Registrars Reports to produce the Heritage Vic summary ... saves having to go through the individual reports yourself.
Haven't come across the Gold Commissioners references, unless they are what appreared in the Mining Registrars Reports - the few original copies I have do contain some region maps as well as Mine Shaft working diagrams,
Thanks Tom

 

[Redmanti]

I have found the old newspaper reports on Trove more accurate but it takes a bit of detective work to fix the locations. The richest information is there.

http://trove.nla.gov.au

 

[loamer]

It was odd that all David's stuff was taken off the net - no idea why, best I have seen. The Gold Commissioners maps are very awkward - they were usually a mining surveyors report - Woolgrove, Cole etc. Very basic in detail and because some of the early claims were things like 'Davis and Co' - you need to then go back to Flett and also the Select Committee on Claims reports. Here is the map legend off one of the early maps - a work of art!!

 

[loamer]

I have found the old newspaper reports on Trove more accurate but it takes a bit of detective work to fix the locations. The richest information is there.

http://trove.nla.gov.au

Yes, its very good - especially the mining intelligence reports. A lot of the names were changed (Berlin, Sandy Creek etc) and can take some deciphering. How many 'Nuggetty Gullies' and 'Potato patches' were there!!!!

 

[Teemore]

Here's an extract of 'Barfold' from 1866 ..... just gotta love their style in preparing maps back then, love the reference to Italian Diggings, Coach road to Heathcote & the Mia Mia Inn (from Kyneton), Crabholey Flat. Size restrictions limit being able to fully appreciate what's on these maps at times, only too happy to send a full version via email, just PM me.
Enjoy, Tom

 

[loamer]

Got it Teemore but thanks anyway. I had several printed some years ago onto plotter paper (about 900mm wide) I got my golden triangle published/unpublished maps series done.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

yeah I find my mines and places by just long walks and looking on google earth