“Nine working miners, are now actively employed, digging at a point of the Summer Hill Creek near its junction with the Macquarie, about fifty miles from Bathurst, and twenty from Orange. Ophir is the name given to these diggings.”

And thus was the NSW gold rush born under the label of the biblical city of legendary riches – Ophir.

While Ophir’s heyday was short, mining continued there well into the 20th century.

At Ophir today you can try your luck gold panning in Summer Hill Creek, explore the abandoned gold mines and the historic cemetery.

The Ophir Goldfield Walk will take you past Salvation Bob’s Mine, Tinker Point and FitzRoy Bar. Picnic areas, public toilets, camping and a chance to chat with one of the local volunteers who look after the place. Or maybe a ghost from the past?

Accommodation available nearby at Ophir Gold B&.B and Ophir Valley Cabins. Guided tours available through Simmo’s Offroad Tours.

Below: Gold washing, Fitz Roy Bar, Ophir Diggings 1851. Image reproduced courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (Album ID 865441)
Milthorpe - head of Summer Hill Creek - start of a journey into Ophir

The village of Milthorpe at the head of Summer Hill Creek has a special connection with the “real” discoverers of gold at Ophir – John Lister and William Tom. John Lister is buried in the Milthorpe cemetery and the Milthorpe Golden Memories Museum contains a special collection of objects relating to the two men.

A visit to Milthorpe is the ideal way to start your journey into Ophir. The museum has prepared a special summary of the event surrounding the discovery of gold at Ophir. You can read this oposite.

MILTHORPE MUSEUM ACCOUNT OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY AT OPHIR

In March 1851 John Lister and William and James Tom discovered payable gold at Summer Hill Creek, which came to be known as Ophir.

Although not recognised as such until 40 years later, these young men were part of the catalyst for the first gold rush seen in New South Wales and the beginning of great change in the colonies that were becoming known as Australia.

The story that Edward Hargraves discovered gold persists to this day and will no doubt continue, although the NSW Legislative Assembly Select Committee overturned the accepted version in December 1890. The Report states that ‘Messrs Tom [William and James] and Lister were undoubtedly the first discoverers of gold in Australia of payable quantity.’

John H A Lister along with William Jnr and James Tom became partners with Edward Hargraves in the search for payable gold in March 1851.

Initially finding some colour, Hargraves left despondent while the others continued to work the area around Summer Hill Creek. Lister and the Toms found what amounted to 4oz, an amount considered to be viable for prospecting. This information was sent to Hargraves who, upon receipt announced through the papers that gold had been discovered.

Hargraves neglected to mention his partners in the endeavour. The NSW Government, which had offered a £10,000 reward for the discovery of payable gold in Australia, paid Hargraves his reward and eventually a pension. William Tom Jnr began lobbying the Government in 1853

The government approved £1000 for the three partners. This is the only reward ever received by them. The Select Committee in its 1891 report acknowledged that the three claimants did discover the first payable gold and not Edward Hargraves.

It seems that it was too difficult for the NSW Legislative Council to fully rescind the Hargraves’ claim, even after the findings of the 1890 Select Committee. It is a sad irony that John Lister died on the day he was to give evidence to the commission and that the discoverers never did see any more money than the one thousand pounds. This has been a contested moment in the history of New South Wales.

Hargraves was persistent in his quest to be known as the discoverer of the first payable gold in Australia, petitioning the Victorian Government for the full payment of their reward after the government had decided to pay him only £2938, instead of the full £5000 originally offered.

James Tom was in Victoria at the time of Hargraves’ claim to the Victorian Government and it was through James Tom counter claim that the reward was paid only in part.

The collection of objects pertaining to John Hardman Australia Lister and William Tom Junior, although not vast, is of national significance because it is all that remains of these largely unrecognised men involved in a crucial event in Australian history.

The collection at Milthorpe Golden Memories Museum includes examples of William Tom’s and John Hardman Australia Lister’s signatures on legal documents and personal belongings, including a gold fossicking pick. Millthorpe cemetery is the burial site for John H A Lister while William Tom Jnr is buried at Byng.

Together this collection will provide a strong basis for interpretation on the discovery of gold in NSW and its subsequent momentous effects on the economic and cultural development of the colonies.

The area around Millthorpe is still involved with the mining of gold at Cadia Mine.

Research by Elaine Kaldy copyrights belong to Golden Memories Museum Millthorpe

The Orange Information Centre can hire you a gold pan so you can try your luck at Ophir.

Gold panning has always been a a part of the Ophir scene. In the 1890s depression that struck NSW, the Government actually gave a train ticket and miners right to unemployed men to get them out of city and onto the goldfields where they could fossick for a living.

The old established fields were a major focus for these “new chums”, many of whom succeeded to the point of paying back their government subsidy and staying on in the district even when economic conditions improved by around 1900. Today a younger generation of “new chums” can often be seen in action at Ophir.

Below: Panning for gold, Ophir. Reproduced courtesy Mitchell Library, State library of NSW. Call no: At work and Play – 04380. Digital:bcp_04380.