Good morning Peter, Noted your query re the Ovens with interest. Suggest you try to find a copy of "Department of Mines [Geological Survey] 1907 Victoria "The Discovery of the Ovens Goldfield in 1852 by David Reid in "Records of the Geological Survey of Victoria Vol.2 part 1." I have checked through the text this morning - there is no mention of the names of two men who had been working with the geological surveyor Smyth. These two me subsequently went with Howell - a shepherd working for David Reid on his Wooragee run [later known as Gemmel's run], and found gold in Spring Creek [no date given]. My interest is in William Wise and John Duncan Fisher from Albury who were immediately advised by Reid of the discovery, and who took up some of the first claims on the field. Others having first claims were Alexander Meldrum and Alexander Tone from Wangaratta. Other names were Brown, Maidment, Gaire and 'Old Jack'. About three months later Gold was discovered in Yackandandah by a man named Carrol. {Sorry no Christian names given]. Trust this is of some help. Kind regards, Jennifer Jennifer Lambert Tracey HERITAGE ARCHAEOLOGY Archaeological & Heritage Assessment Consultants PO Box 4265 Kingston ACT 2604 Australia Tel: 02 6295 6795 Fax: 02 6295 6791 Mobile Tel: 0419 011860 -----Original Message----- From: Peter Strauss [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, 22 March 2005 7:47 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [AVNE] DISCOVERY OF THE OVENS GOLDFIELD Hi Listers, Can SKS please point me to documents/history or whatever regarding the discovery of the Ovens Goldfield? An 1895 obituary in a New Zealand West Coast newspaper states that my GG grandfather, William Roxburgh GLOVER was one of the discoverers of this field. Cheers Peter Strauss Melbourne

One of the men reportedly to come from Omeo was John Strickland - Englishman who had spent time on the Californian gold fields. He settled in the northeast, living working etc. in Chiltern. Peter I have just returned from a few weeks away from my files, so when I get back into the swing I'll let you know what I find. I have a booklet which was written in 1881 which also names a few of the early people, so will check it out for you. regards Denise