Greetings Di
Your work has been of great value for this project, especially the transcript of the diary of Charles Rule and your tracing of that journey.
It has been exciting to make contact with Christine Cook and others about plans to follow the route taken by the Wendish from Rosenthal to Portland and on to the Hamilton area in May next year.
It all helps to build up a picture of overland travel at the time.
I have just returned from another road-trip to South Australia investigating locations and routes mentioned in the various accounts and should have some updates compiled and on the website in the next week or two.
Moira Drew
Greetings from Di Cummings
Your website was mentioned on a “List” I am a member of, as follows:
1. Travel from SA to Vic in early1850′s (Christine Cook)
2. Overland Gold – South Aust to Victoria Goldfields – 1850′s (Ros Dunstall)
Thanks for the link Christine, and for the detail Ros.
We’ll not forget that there is a CD available specifically about those who journeyed from South Australia to the Victorian Goldfields.
This CD is available at www.gould.com.au
and features hundred of names of those courageous folk who sailed from Port Adelaide to Victoria, plus lots of information
about those who walked, travelled by horse & cart to the Victorian Goldfields.
Included on this CD is a diary published by Charles Sandry Rule who travelled with a party early in 1851,
and the adventures they had before arriving at “el dorado”.
One of the best things I found whilst researching this topic
was that my grandfather’s grandmother’s father [John Oatey c.1823] and his cousin Jeremiah are both listed
as having been on a ship travelling to South Australia from Melbourne – clearly returning after a ‘gold’ adventure.
It seems very likely that they were both reasonably successful as records indicate they were purchasing land
not long after this trip – you need money [gold] to do that !!.
and
my grandfather’s grandfather’s father [William Mullett b.1813] went to Melbourne round the same time, and returned a few months laer – both trips by sea.
another brick or two taken off that brick wall !! cheers
Maps or other details or of early roads from Burra to the south are sought – those to Adelaide and in particular those going further to the south and linking up with routes to early crossing places over the Murray River.
We assume that the route from Burra followed the still existing gravel ‘Adelaide Road’ which turns to the south off the current highway a short way out of Burra. This is a rough road, and probably requires a 4WD vehicle.
Moira Drew
Project Coordinator
The earliest account so far located of an overland journey to the Victorian goldfields, is that of Richard Clode who left Adelaide on 20 October 1851. His journey is described in a letter held by the State Library of South Australia (D 3105(L)) and quoted in the Manning Index of South Australian History – http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/sa/gold/gold.htm.
We would be interested to know of detailed accounts of other journeys in late 1851.
Posted in Travellers
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Tagged Travellers
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Welcome to our blog.
We are interested in details of any overland journey between South Australia and the Victorian goldfields, especially in the period 1851 to 1852.
Contributions and comments on any aspect of the research, or the project generally, is welcome.
Moira Drew, Project Coordinator
Overland Gold
