The Time of Their Lives
An exploration of life during the early gold rush days in Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia
A lucky strike...
When 12 year old Aboriginal stockman Jupiter Mosman found gold in 1871 close to the modern-day town of Charters Towers, it set in motion the development and growth of a community largely fuelled by the hope of more ‘lucky strikes’.
Mines at Charters Towers (1850) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Separated from distant towns and cities by dirt tracks, muddy river crossings or coastal voyages, the community of Charters Towers looked to itself to fulfil the requirements necessary to sustain and promote progress.
Day Dawn mine, overlooking the township of Charters Towers (1887) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Day Dawn Mine overlooking Charters Towers. By 1890, the goldfields were the largest in Australia with the town developing a growing reputation for being rich and highly progressive. Education, recreation, sporting and social activities were established with the citizens referring to Charters Towers as ‘The World’, proudly proclaiming they had everything a civilised person could want.
Playtime
During the early days of Charters Towers, children entertained themselves with simple and often freely available activities and games such as knuckles, marbles, hopscotch or skipping. The environment lent itself to exploration in the creek beds or games of rounders, football or goat-cart racing.
Toy shops in the town were expensive. Shop-bought toys were highly prized and, if given as Christmas or birthday presents, were reserved for solitary play or with special friends.
In later years, world events influenced the type and availability of materials used in the manufacture of toys. The First and Second World Wars saw the introduction of more affordable metal-based toys, often reflecting the latest war technology.
At school with the bearded ones
The first school in Charters Towers was built in Millchester in 1874. Children started school at six years old and left at 12 years to begin work in the mines or other employment to help support their families.
Queenton School (1906) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
With a growing community, space was soon cramped. The playgrounds were full of both children and inquisitive goats.
Affectionately known as ‘the bearded ones’, they wreaked havoc in their roaming and constant search for anything edible.
Arithemetic activity from 7th Grade (1930) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Classrooms were overcrowded with up to 60 children in each and even by the 1930s conditions were still difficult, as Bob Mark, ex- pupil at Millchester School, describes:
"There were three classes in each room… We had desks, slates and slate pencils. The only thing you used pen and paper for was to do an exercise or a map… There was no uniform. I wore black ‘can’t tear ‘em’ shorts like the miners and a grey button up shirt… We always had to have a hat on. If the teacher caught you without a hat on you went up the head master and got yourself a cut (caning)."
The School of Mines (1899 - 1925), was established to teach subjects related to mining. By 1912 many people were leaving the town although the school continued to produce a small, but highly regarded, stream of graduates who were to distinguish themselves in many branches of the mining industry, both in Queensland and further afield.
Blackheath College (1920) by State Library of QueenslandQueensland Museum Network
When the goldfields closed in 1916, Charters Towers transformed itself into North Queensland’s education centre with the emergence of boarding school education.
Blackheath & Thornburgh College c1919.
Today education still drives the city with boarding colleges educating children from all parts of North Queensland.
Music on every corner
With the regular and constant sound of 300 mining ‘stamps’ constantly rising and falling to crush the mined ore, Charters Towers could never have been described as quiet. Many residents became involved in the musical life of the town which developed into an important part of general entertainment.
North Queensland Eisteddfodd Championship Paling Trophy (1925) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
The earliest and most significant influence on music was the Eisteddfod Movement, initiated by Welsh miners. In 1886 a Musical and Literary Festival Eisteddfod was held on St David’s Day, paving the way for an annual event. This promoted the quality of the town’s music and encouraged regular visits by well-known professional singers and musicians.
Many bands sprang up. The Fire Brigade formed one of the first in 1878, followed by the Salvation Army, the Kennedy Regiment and a Temperance Band in 1910. The bands were very popular, providing music at the dancehalls, on the street corners and in the bandstands.
Richard 'Dick' Hall with Baton (1910) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Richard ‘Dick’ Hall (1872 - 1933) baritone and later conductor of Charters Towers’ famous choir, The Leidertafel renamed after the war as The Curlews.
He was a leading figure responsible for the establishment of the North Queensland Eisteddfodd and regarded as one of the north’s most outstanding musical figures.
The Curlews (1912) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Churches formed the earliest choirs with the most famous of the secular choirs, the Liedertafel, being established to promote male choral singing.
Harola Accordion (1940) by Queensland MuseumQueensland Museum Network
By 1899, there were eight or nine pianoforte teachers in addition to two or three violin teachers. Homes were acquiring gramophone players, accordions and many had a piano.
Sport, sport and more sport
Each weekend, people could be found participating in, or watching, a sporting activity. Regardless of high temperatures and long dry spells, ant infested paddocks and hard grassless surfaces, the community played and competed in their favoured sports: they played cricket, rugby and tennis; they cycled, boxed or ran; they rode horses, raced goats or went shooting.
Rugby Union boots (1940) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Between 1890 and 1910, Charters Towers was considered a rugby stronghold in Queensland. The prowess exhibited on the field brought claims that Charters Towers should be "proclaimed the capital of the new colony”. One the great players to emerge was Tom ‘Rusty’ Richards who today, still rates among the greatest loose forwards Rugby has seen.
Horse racing colours (1920) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
Charters Towers became the headquarters for horse racing in the north when the North Queensland Racing Association formed in 1886. Amateur or grass fed race meetings were also great social occasions for pastoralist families becoming popular from the 1920s. This bush tradition continues with racing at Ewan and Oak Park.
Ladies cricket team (1900) by Courtesy of Zara Clark MuseumQueensland Museum Network
At the January long weekend in 1948, the first Goldfield Ashes amateur cricket game was initiated by the Charters Towers Cricket Association Incorporated and been played ever since. It is the now the largest cricket carnival held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cycling was also a very popular sport for many Queenslanders at that time.
View from Tower Hill (2020) by Greditdesu - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92912668Queensland Museum Network
Lookout from Tower Hill, westward over part of the town.
This online exhibition is presented by the Charters Towers and Dalrymple Archives Group and the Zara Clark Museum with assistance from the Queensland Museum.
Unless stated, all photographs are by courtesy of the Zara Clark Museum.
