At 08:17 AM 16/12/2008 +1100, Rachel Heaton wrote: >My G-Great grandmother, Catherine Wilsons was born on the "Blue >Mountain Goldfield near Kyneton now Trentham" Hello Rachel, From Flett's "Historyof Gold Discovery in Vic" page 406 says: Blue Mountain Diggings (Trentham) In Sept 1851 gold... found on Clow's station, a run bordering on the Dividing Range on the north side, on the heads of the Coliban River. Later that year... new diggings on the Coliban. The first gold rush.. March 1859...Trentham town site, then known as Clowe's or Ogden's Forest.... Stony Creek valley discovered and worked in 1859, but was deserted for the Inglewood Rush near the end of that year. The lead here was then known as Frenchman's, and the diggers were nearly all Frenchmen. The main rush to this area, which then became known as Blue Mountain diggings, started in October 1862, following the discovery of gold near the Divide at Blue Mountain, or Wuid Keruik, as it was known to the aboriginals. ..... Early in 1863 the rush spread to Blue Creek..... Lots more descriptive of later rushes and developments > Dec 10th 1863. Her >birth was registered on Sept 17th 1864 in Kyneton. Actually, the law from 1853-1864 was that a birth should be registered within 15 days. If the father or mother was deceased, then the registration had to be within sixty days, failure to do so brought a fine of ten pounds. There was one small window of opportunity for late registration after 15 days but within 6 months ONLY if a solemn declaration was made by the father or guardian or a person present at the birth, before the Deputy Registrar or the Chief Registrar (in Melbourne) and signed "in the book" (presumably the birth registration book.) Any attempt to register a child after 60 days had passed without making a declaration, brought a fine of five pounds, as did any attempt to register a child after 12 months. The Law stated:" After 60 days it shall not be lawful for the Deputy Registrar or the Chief Registrar to register a birth." But .... did your certificate of birth indicate that the birth was registered by declaration by the law demanded (sometimes noted in the central gutter )? Or did the Deputy Registrar, understanding the difficulty, in a gold rush area register the child without requiring the fine or the declaration? And risked the wrath of the Chief Registrar who could refuse to register the child as he was instructed by the law. The law was slightly relaxed in June 1865, but that is outside your query timeframe. >I am new to family history research. I was just hoping that someone >would have an idea on how I would get more information on the Blue >Mountain Goldfield. And if anyone knows if it was common to have such >a delay in registering the birth - if that was commonplace? >Thankyou >Rachel Heaton > >Hope that helps, Rachel Regards Ada