The old mining rigs, Lucknow

 

Lucknow
Historic goldmining village - site of Australia's second gold discovery
Lucknow is a tiny, former goldmining village located 9 km south-east of Orange on the Mitchell Highway and 250 km north-west of Sydney.

The first European in the area appears to have been Lieutenant Percy Simpson who traversed Frederick's Valley en route to Wellington where he established a convict settlement. In 1824 a government station cum garrison was established in the valley as a resting place for those travelling to the new penal settlement.

The Lucknow estate was established in 1838 by William Charles Wentworth, a member of the first European party to cross the Blue Mountains. The land was then leased to a Captain Raine.

In May 1851 the estate became the site of the second gold discovery in Australia, after Ophir. The usual story is that two tenant farmers found gold on the hill behind what is now the village. As this was privately-owned land, Wentworth demanded a monthly fee with royalties from prospectors. This arrangement only lasted four months as the royalties became too exorbitant.

In April 1852 the whole estate was sold to the Wentworth Gold Field Company - the first goldmining company to be formed in Australia. It went into liquidation in 1860 and the land was opened to the public on monthly leases in 1862.

The settlement was named 'Lucknow' in 1863. Some say this was a reference to the good fortune the town proffered (i.e., luck now) while others claim it was named by the mine bookkeeper after the siege at Lucknow in India in which he may have been wounded.

Four hotels were in operation by 1866 as well as a public school, a Catholic church (1864), a police station and lock-up, general store, butcher's, blacksmith's, bootmaker's and baker's. Church services were initially held in a bark hut which doubled as a school until a National School building was erected in 1864. Anglican and Wesleyan churches were erected in 1873 and 1886 respectively.

After initial hardship caused by drought the finds came thick and fast and substantial fortunes were made. The Bank of NSW and Commercial Bank purchased 1962 kg of Lucknow gold from April 1862 to February 1867, though other gold went to private buyers or direct to Bathurst or Sydney. The largest nugget weighed 76 kg.

By 1872 the easy pickings were gone and an influx of capital was needed to extend the mining further underground. The Uncle Tom Company was formed in 1873 but it ran out of capital owing to mismanagement and closed. It was purchased and reopened in 1878 by Henry Newman who had made his fortune at Lucknow but lost it subsequently. The reopened mine proved profitable and other companies successfully worked the fields until the outset of the 20th century.

Most of the land at Lucknow was privately owned by large syndicates until subdivision commenced in 1913. In 1929 the Bismarck Group recommenced mining and struck a new vein. They operated the field successfully until they ran out of funds in 1937 and there have been no further such enterprises since that time. It has been estimated that the fields yielded around 14 000 kg of gold in all.

Things to see:  

Tourist Information
Orange Visitors Centre, Civic Square, Byng St, tel: (02) 6361 5226.

 

Historic Buildings
The bluestone Anglican church was erected in 1873 to replace a bark hut which doubled as a school and centre for both Anglican and Wesleyan services from the outset of the town's establishment. The initial National schoolhouse (1864) blew down and was replaced with a fine stone building in 1878. New wooden classrooms, added to the original structure in 1900, became the school when the stone structure was demolished in 1958. The school ceased operations in 1971 and is now a community hall.

'Mamhead' was built as the residence of local identity Henry Newman (see introduction) in 1879, at the rear of his store. It is an unusual mixture of styles, with rendered masonry, hipped and gambrel roofs, numerous chimneys featuring decorative moulding, cast-iron verandah columns and timber louvred shutters. It is located by the corner of the main road and Carroll St.

The school of arts was built in 1887 and served as a library, dance hall, silent movie theatre and general meeting place. A function for Governor-General Northcote was held here in 1906 and the Coo-ee marchers from Gilgandra stopped here during World War I. It is located on the Mitchell Highway and is currently a garage.

 

 

 

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Lucknow