Howqua Hills Goldfields
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The text & images on these pages are from the book
GHOSTS & GOLD IN THE VICTORIAN HIGH COUNTRY by R. W. Christie © 1993 ISBN No: 0 646 16946 7 They are reproduced on these pages, with some changes in layout, with his kind permission. |
Once a year the Howqua Valley at Sheepyard Flat comes alive to the sound of
horses and men. For a brief moment in the early morning mist it is easy to
imagine that the years have been turned back and that you are standing in a
tent town from the days of the goldfields. Tents abound on the flats, but they
are not the old canvas type of earlier times, but made of nylon and synthetic.
The inhabitants are not in their working clothes, but dressed for the weekends
festivities. The horses are there to participate in the Great Mountain Race,
held each year in November, a trial for horse and rider alike.
Howqua Hills Historic Area. Click on image to enlarge On this particular weekend more visitors camp along the Howqua River than ever lived in the tiny township of Howqua Hills which once stood on the flats. The township was situated on the northern side of the river, between Stockyard and Blackbird Creeks and was surveyed in 1888. It was divided into sixty three house blocks and some larger rural blocks. Howqua Hills had six named streets and was bounded by Buller, Fern and Hill Streets. Despite the grandiose plans, like many other gold towns, few of the blocks were ever sold to anyone other than those already residing on them. At its peak the population of Howqua Hills would have been struggling to reach two hundred persons. The early '80s saw the largest congregation of people there with over forty working miners. By 1889 the mining population was fluctuating between ten and thirty but the town had ceased to grow and was in fact slipping into decline. Although the township of Howqua Hills was short lived, occupation of the valley can be traced back at least four thousand years. The Taungurong tribe constantly moved through the area to the west of Mt. Buller and used the Howqua Valley as a major route for trade or war between the tribes. Today the valley is significant as an archeological site, for it was here that the aborigines gathered stone from greenstone quarries for tools and implements. The stone here is exceptionally hard and ideal for axes. Apart from these sites there is little to indicate that aborigines once lived and hunted in the valley. These early occupants worked with the land and left only minimal changes on its surface, in contrast the white invaders of the mid nineteenth century established themselves permanently and forever changed the landscape. No evidence remains to show if there were ever any confrontations or meetings between the two groups on the Howqua. The first whitemen to move permanently into the district were the Hunter Brothers and James Watson As a result of the growth in the wool industry, they formed a company in 1838 with several wealthy backers, intending to speculate in stock and land Their base was on the Devil's (Delatite) River and they quickly accumulated another seven runs comprising nearly 300,000 acres. Despite the vast holdings the depression of 1842 destroyed their business. Stock and wool prices fell dramatically, loans could not be repaid and many squatters went bankrupt necessitating the sale of their lands. |
Watson and Hunter's main holding was broken up into six stations and sold off
after an insolvency case that finally ended in 1847 Other properties had
already been sold off prior to this time. The Howqua area or run was purchased
by John Martin.
The Howqua river and run received its name from one of the Hunter Bothers - John 'Howqua' Hunter, who was an early company representative in Australia. Howqua was a popular brand of Chinese tea and a common name in the coastal Guangdong Province of China. It is possible that John Hunter visited China looking for trade and so picked up the nickname. 'Houqua' was also the name of a American ship which began an era of tea races to China. After the initial purchase, the Howqua run was subdivided into Goulburn Downs and Howqua Hills and put up for lease. Lickhole Creek was the proposed boundary between the two runs. A Mr Daniels leased Howqua Hills and Alfred Chenery Goulburn Downs. 
Old Machinery on the Howqua. Click on image to enlarge When the former lease expired Hyman Rowe took it over and purchased 100 acres of freehold known as Seaforth Station. He built a thirteen roomed homestead which became known as Howqua Hills Station. In 1882 a surveyor commented that although there was good soil on the river flats and creeks there was'... nothing to art attract a large selecting agricultural population.' He went on to say that there was '...fair grazing country of limited extent around the station, and a larger area of inferior quality outside of that, but the mountains are steep rocky lofty and sterile, capable of supporting but a small amount of stock...' Few others were tempted to farm the area until the lure of gold provided a market and alternative income. It is surprising that although gold was discovered in Victoria in 1851 and the areas of nearby Stations were known to be auriferous no one had bothered to consider the Howqua as a gold bearing stream. Certainly major finds to the south at Gaffneys Creek and on the left hand branch of the Goulburn River (Morningstar Creek), at what was to be later Wood's Point, were spectacular and would have diverted attention from other areas. With fair publicity in 1860, most of the ardent diggers were headed for the upper reaches of the Goulburn where there was supposedly gold in abundance. |
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