James Walker (1840-1913)

[Silverfoxyface]

Hello
I'm a 75 year old British retiree currently researching the gold mining activities of the late James Walker who spent 13 years in Victoria, Australia from 1863 to 1876 before returning to his homeland in England to start an engineering business. I have a copy of one of his Miners Rights no 32795, which refers to Kilmore and Sandhurst.
If anyone can help me discover any more information about where this pioneering man was working in Victoria, I shall be extremely grateful.
Regards
Chris Pownall

 

[MegsyB007]

Hi Chris,

I'll have a look around and see if I can come up with anything for you.

Unfortunately that's a fairly common name, so finding results for him may be difficult without a lot more information to pinpoint his facts, rather than belonging to other James Walkers.

For a start though, Sandhurst was formerly the name of what became Bendigo, one of the richest gold mining areas in the state back then.

And you did well to find his Miner's Right too! Would love to see a copy of it.

I'll get back to you if I find anything that may be regarding your James Walker.

Cheers,
Megsy

 

[silver]

Theres a mention on trove
link (gotta scroll down a bit to find it in the typed bit)
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4785784
heres a photo of the article part

hope this helps in some way

 

[MegsyB007]

I don't think that's him, silver. He died in 1913 in England, not here in Victoria.

That's the problem with searching for people with somewhat common names, there are a lot of them to sift through, and then trying to work out if it's the one you seek!

While I was doing my story on Patrick Dunlea (posted on this forum this week), I discovered there were three Patrick Dunleas in Australia at the time, all around the same age, and two were in Victoria. It made it "interesting" trying to sort out the one I was researching.

And in this case it's even more difficult with so little information, and a 13 year time span to cover. I've already found several James Walkers in an initial search, including one who was charged with bigamy! But that's not this James, I believe (Phew!).

And as we know, the goldfields were a bit of a shambles with thousands of people flocking in and out of them, in a fairly transient lifestyle, going to and from new gold discovery areas that popped up all over the place. He may have been in Kilmore or Sandhurst at one time, but he may have also traveled to any number of other goldfields too. Tricky to research!

Anyway, the search continues and I'll see if we can help out Chris with something.

Cheers,
Megsy

 

[Jaros]

Welcome to P.A. Chris

 

[MegsyB007]

I found an article in the Bendigo Advertiser from 19th March 1874, where a James Walker sued the Australasian Newspaper for libel, titled 'Walker v George'.
Was he involved in horse racing at all? A horse called the Marquis of Lorne is involved in this accused race fixing story.

 

[MegsyB007]

I'm sorry Chris, this is like working blind. I've found a few James Walkers, a JC Walker, a Walker and Co. A Betts & Walker; and multitudes of Mr J Walkers. I just simply can't know if it's your James ancestor, and I feel as though I'm not getting anywhere with this search.

Mostly they were stories about the horseracing James C. Walker and his libel court case; a lot of shipping and railway information of deliveries of goods; and I can't find anything in the census documents for that timeframe either.

Sorry I can't be of any further help, but a name like James Walker is a tough one to research with just that alone.

Best of luck with your search,

Regards,
Meg