Ballarat’s golden “Canadian” connection

By Kevin Ruddick

Visitors to Ballarat will readily notice two 1850s goldrush terms in constant modern commercial use, namely, “Sovereign” and “Eureka”. You can get anything from a Eureka Pizza to pre-cast products from Sovereign Concrete. But another goldrush term, “Canadian”, also gets a pretty good workout, and with regards to gold production, “Canadian” was far more important than either Eureka or Sovereign. This article was originally going to be about an interesting mining relic I found while detecting in the Canadian Forest, on Ballarat’s eastern fringe, however the origins and golden history of all things “Canadian” at Ballarat are so fascinating they deserve some explanation.

The 4-gram bit specked by the author in Canadian Forest

There are five usages of the word Canadian at Ballarat and, in historical and geographical order, they are: Canadian Gully, Canadian Deep Lead, Canadian Creek, the suburb of Canadian, and Canadian Forest. All have gold, but certainly not in equal proportions. Canadian Gully was first opened at its shallow head in September 1851, probably by the notable David Ham, but more seriously in mid1852. It was named after a Canadian digger called Swift, who prospected there with compatriot Canadians and Americans. But what is the relationship between Canadian Gully and the other “Canadians”? Remembering the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, I have drawn a flat plan and a vertical cross section through the Canadian Gully (Ballarat East) to clearly explain what a thousand words would struggle to do.

Chunky bits panned in Canadian Creek

Harrie Wood’s authoritative Notes on the Ballarat Goldfield informs us that by February 1853, the miners, sinking down to rock bottom (or pipeclay) in the Canadian Gully, started tracing their way down the gully, finding that they had to go to ever greater depths to find rock bottom and the gold. But what fabulous gold awaited them! In the short space of 11 days in January 1853, not one, but three monster nuggets, the likes of which the world had never seen, were found in quick succession. The largest, named the “Sarah Sands”, was at that time the heaviest nugget anyone in the world had ever laid eyes on. The three monsters weighed 1,619 ounces; 1,117 ounces; and 1,011 ounces, the last two being found in the same claim! All the other claims in the gully averaged 420 ounces. As the gully reached the flat below, the golden rock bottom was now so deep it started being referred to as the Canadian Deep Lead. It took a sharp 90-degree turn to the left (north) and the claims were now paying an unbelievable £2,000 per man.

But the best was yet to come. When the Canadian Lead amalgamated with the Prince Regent Lead, a small claim on this site called the Blacksmith’s Hole produced an incredible one ton of gold. Remember, this was a small-area claim worked by a windlass and eight men, with only limited short drives. I suspect it was possibly the richest small claim worked by a windlass in the history of the world. I would be interested to hear of any rivals. No wonder the name “Canadian” became famous throughout Europe. And a little further north, where the Canadian Lead entered Dalton’s Flat, another monster nugget of 1,177 ounces, called “The Lady Hotham Nugget”, was found. This nugget and the three monsters already mentioned, would soon be eclipsed by the “Welcome” and the “Welcome Stranger” nuggets. The Sarah Sands nugget remains the fourth largest ever found in Australia, a delirious dream for the four relative new chums who took it back home to England with them on the good ship Sarah Sands, the inspiration for its name. Today, if you’re looking for the historical location of Canadian Gully, you’ll find it behind the fence of the Sovereign Hill Park, at the Park’s southernmost end, where their horses graze and the light show is held. It is parallel, and near to, Elsworth Street and while you won’t be doing any metal detecting there, you can still pan specks in Canadian Creek.

The pulley in its pre-restoration state

The creek, at the surface, roughly follows the same course as the Canadian Lead, buried deep below it. I have found many pennyweights there (but not ounces I’m afraid) and some chunky bits too. Thirty or more years ago, my son Chris and his mate, Terry, were poking around in Canadian Creek looking for old bottles rather than gold. Terry looked down and specked a 1.5-ounce nugget right beside the York Street bridge, in the middle of Ballarat suburbia! He still has it. But it’s getting hard to find specks there now and you feel a bit odd panning behind someone’s backyard fence.

The pulley after sand-blasting and painting

The Canadian Forest is another story however, and people certainly detect there. It is so named because it adjoins the suburb of Canadian, but on the other side of the suburb, and nearly 2km from Canadian Gully. There is still plenty of evidence of mining there, with many shallow shafts near the Pax Hill scout camp. A storage dam and head race hint at past ground sluicing, which is also clearly evident. But this was never a big producer like Golden Point or Canadian Gully, and old newspaper references to gold mining in the Canadian Forest are rare. The word is that detectors are finding a few subgram bits there on occasions – very rare occasions I suspect. Then again…one day I was walking my dog on the dirt track just a few metres short of the forest. It had rained that morning, exceptionally heavy rain, the heaviest in my memory, and I was shocked to see that every pebble and grain of sand had been washed clearn away, leaving a smooth, clay road, bereft of any covering. The thought of gold immediately crossed my mind and I kept my eyes peeled as there were several little mine heaps only metres away, right on the road reserve. Lo and behold, a 4-gram nugget was sitting in the clay gutter, completely free of any sand or stones. The rain had washed absolutely everything away, but the nugget, being heavy, just sat there, and was perhaps exposed for the first time ever. I had walked past that little nugget every night for years but it took a freak storm to reveal it. For some inexplicable reason, I get a bigger thrill specking gold than any other way of finding it.

The author’s flat plan of Canadian Gully

Vertical cross-section of Canadian Gully drawn by the author

I did say this article was originally going to be about a mining relic I’d found, so I’d better get on with it. A few months back I was trying my luck with the detector in the Canadian Forest about 100 metres from where I’d specked the 4-gram bit. I was working around the aforementioned old shallow shafts and heaps when suddenly Above: The pulley in its pre-restoration state Above, right: The pulley after sand-blasting and painting Below: The author’s flat plan of Canadian Gully Bottom: Vertical cross-section of Canadian Gully drawn by the author Australian Gold Gem & Treasure 9 my detector nearly blew its head off. Just under the leaf litter I dug up an old pulley block. It was quite rusty, but the word “Digger” was clearly legible, being cast into the pulley. I can’t be certain, but being in the middle of a goldfield, it’s reasonable to assume that miners used it to help haul up their bucket or kibble.

I took it home to clean it up but it was so rusty it gave the impression that with a little rough treatment, it might fall apart. I took a risk, got it professionally sandblasted and it was surprisingly sound with the detail around the axle now clearly visible. I then primed and spray painted it black. Just for a bit of fun I built a tripod over some old diggings to let the grandkids have a play around with it. I’m sure the miners would have built something much more substantial – probably involving a windlass. Some research on the internet to investigate the “Digger” brand name revealed that a company called Gray’s Pty Ltd from Victoria manufactured picks, shovels, hoes and so on under the brand name “Digger”, but that was all I could ascertain. Maybe someone else can add to the story. My brother-in-law has a great collection of heritage Aussie tools and artifacts in his own backyard patio museum, so my old pulley block has a home to go to where I hope it will be appreciated by many.

Footnote: The Canadian Forest has recently been made into a park by the Victorian government. It is now called Woowookarung Regional Park, in deference to the local Wadawurrung people. Interestingly, detecting is allowed and the remnants of mining have not been destroyed. At 640 hectares, it is one of Ballarat’s best kept secrets. There might still be some gold on offer but the trees, birds, animals and beautiful wildflowers are the real treasures of Ballarat’s Canadian Forest