Hingerty Gold
Men at Sydney Railway Station boarding train for Temora Gold Rush 1880
My father always said that the Hingertys "Came to Temora for the gold"- is this true?
John Hingerty and his wife Isabella took up the 2500 acre property "Rosegreen" about six miles from Temora about 1888.
If, they went to Temora 'for the gold', then they had left their run very late.
In the timeline that introduces the Centenary publication: Temora Yesterday and Today 1880-1980 it states the following:
1880 Gold discovered. False rush in Feb. Temora goldfield declared June 4, Townsite selected in May and surveyed in June. Gold rush 20,000 people in Temora.
1881 Drought. Highest yield of gold from the Temora field- 35,228 oz gold.
1882 Drought continued. Mother Shipton nugget discovered. 33,348 oz gold.
1883 Population down to 2,000
...so by 1883 the Temora 'rush' was all but over..... arriving 5 years later the Hingertys were too late for this rush.... and they would have been well aware of the Temora rush located as they were on a property on the road between Cootamundra and Temora at the time.
Cobb and Co and Slayters coaches made daily runs up from Cootamundra to Temora during the rush period. The coaches were often large, running up to ten horses and holding up to 60 passengers (not very comfortably by newspaper accounts) at a time.
In August 1880, John Hingerty was granted a licence for an inn on his Ironbung property at Bute about twelve miles out from Cootamundra. The inn would have catered for those making their way along the road to the Temora rush. (They may have been operating an inn on the property prior to this date and this was a renewal rather than a new licence).
Mary Ann Hingerty, John and Isabella's daughter had married Thomas Duffy in 1866. He held a neighbouring property "Summerfield" to John and Isabella's "Summer Hill" outside of Yass. They too later took up land near Cootamundra, a property called "Belowrie". They too applied for a licence to open an inn on their property, the Belowrie Inn, and they too catered for the needs of the coaches and other people making their way to the Temora rush.
A newspaper article of 1880 describes the journey to Temora- and makes mention of stopping at Hingerty's along the way.
 |
| Freeman's Journal 7 Aug 1880 |
The rush was not to last however and by the late 80s Temora had ceased to be a major producer.
So, when the Hingertys arrived at Rosegreen in 1888, the rush was well and truly over... but that didn't stop the Hingerty boys from trying their luck.....
There are newspaper reports from 1889 until 1896 of small amounts of gold being mined and crushed at Reefton by a group called "Hingerty and party". The amounts of gold are not large and it seems that lack of water, poor roads and limited capacity to crush the ore were constant issues for the miners.
Yields for Hingerty and Party:
1889 12 ton @ 10 1/2d
1892 19 ton @ 7 1/4d
1895 22 ton @ 7 3/4d and later 49 1/2 oz
1896 70 tons waiting to be crushed
In February 1897 it was reported that Hingerty and Party had a small crushing- no further articles.....
The following article summarises the mining scene at Reefton in late 1894.
In a newspaper list of October 1894 John Hingerty and Thomas Hingerty are listed as miners. Their right to take part in local elections is being questioned.
Can we therefore assume that John and Isabella's sons John Alexander and Thomas were the "Hingerty and Party" miners at Reefton at this time?
It is interesting to note that Thomas was listed as a farmer (not a miner) on his sons' birth records of 1893, 1896 and 1898. Thomas was seen as primarily a farmer, even if also engaged in mining activities at the time.
Was 1897 the end of gold mining for the Hingerty boys?
In 1900, or thereabouts, Isabella sold "Rosegreen" and moved back to Cootamundra taking up the licence of the Commercial Hotel (which she later handed over to son Thomas).
There is an intriguing advertisement in the Cootamundra Herald of September 1901.
Was the meeting just taking place at the Hingerty hotel or did a Hingerty have a proposition to put to speculators??? Intriguing....
 |
| Adelong & Tumut Express 12 Sep 1902 |
In January 1900 John Alexander Hingerty, Thomas' brother, brought a case against a person for passing him a fraudulent cheque at Cootamundra, so we know he was living in Cootamundra at this time.
In March 1900 a Mr J Hingerty boarded the ship the Britannia sailing from Melbourne, Victoria to Fremantle, Western Australia. Is this John Alexander? His age is out by a few years, but there was no other J Hingerty in Australia at the time likely to have boarded this ship.
In July 1900 a Mr J Hingerty arrived back in Melbourne aboard the Marloo from Fremantle. The age was out by a couple of years and the passenger was listed as married. The passenger was listed as a labourer or miner. Did John Alexander try out the Western Australian goldfields for a few months? (His nephews Tom and Hugh Hilly travelled to the WA goldfields a few years later..... )
John Alexander married in May 1901 and lived once again in Cootamundra for the next few years.
In 1903 a report from the Mines department was published in the Cootamundra Herald (29 July). Thomas was making a case for further exploration of previously worked areas.
However, the Mines Department decided that the case for re-opening was not compelling.
 |
| Cootamundra Herald 29 Jul 1903 |
Thomas must have continued his mining interests as, in September 1907, he is listed as a Miner living in Temora in the birth record for his son Donald Dominic.
The next time the Hingerty name and gold were reported together was in 1929 when Thomas found 'golden gravel', or one or two gold nuggets depending on which newspaper report you believe. ...
Thomas must have decided to persist with the idea of there being payable gold still available at Temora. In April 1931 it was reported that he was seeking support for his mining efforts.
In June 1935 Thomas was refused a mining licence, however he was obviously still prospecting as a newspaper report of July 1935 stated he was mining at Curry's Hill.
In 1937, as a 69 year old, Thomas gave his occupation as Miner on the Electoral Roll.
Thomas died in 1940.
Thomas' efforts at gold mining in his later life mirrored the experience of others in relation to gold in Temora.
From time to time good sized nuggets were found and newspaper articles would be published supporting the notion that there was still gold to be found. (These articles were particularly popular in the 1930s).
The reality was that while some prospecting was carried out in the field over the years, no real payable gold was ever found. Even at the height of the Temora rush, the value of gold taken from Temora was only 558, 271 lbs.
So, did the Hingertys come to Temora for the gold?
I think it is unlikely. They knew about the rush and made money on it by offering hotel services near Cootamundra.
They went to Temora AFTER the rush to take up a pastoral property.
They were not however, totally immune to the lure of gold.
John Alexander and Thomas both tried their hand at mining at Reefton, Thomas at Adelong and John Alexander in Western Australia (maybe).
Thomas persisted in his efforts in his later life to find payable gold at Temora but did not succeed beyond the occasional small nugget.
Were there any other Hingertys
in other parts of the world
who tried their hand at gold mining????
Leave a Comment or Send and Email
hingerty@one-name.org
Acknowledgement:
When our ancestors 'took up land' for pastoral or mining purposes, that land had prior owners.
The land on which Rosegreen sat and on which the Reefton and Temora mines were located, was Wiradjuri land.
I acknowledge the ongoing connection to this land by the Wiradjuri people and pay respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
UPDATE: Peter Hingerty, grandson of Thomas Hingerty and great grandson of John and Isabella added the following comments in response to this blogpost on Facebook group Hingerty Now and Then:
Comments
Post a Comment