160 YEARS AGO IN GEELONG
(From the pages of the Geelong Chronicle)
DOLLY’S CREEK DIGGINGS
The area known as Dolly’s Creek is today just a camping ground and a walking track, a few miles north of Morrisons. In 1864, Dolly’s Creek diggings, on a tributary of the Moorabool River, was home to a thriving little community of miners and their families.
Alluvial gold had been discovered in the creek in 1856; and there were further ‘rushes’ in the early 1860s. The reporter for the Geelong Chronicle was up there in 1864 and noted that “these diggings have changed wonderfully during the last year”.
The creek, which ran very low or was dry at certain times of the year, “now has a constant supply of water, which is brought from the Lal Lal, a distance of six or seven miles”.
“Where they were getting gold, opposite Adamson’s store, is now like a maze of worked-out quarries. Gold is still being got in payable quantities on the Charcoal Hill, and it is here that the mass of the diggers are employed. Adamson’s store, which four years ago was merely a small place, some 12 feet square, is now as large as most of town stores.
“Four years ago Dolly’s Creek could not boast of a single hotel; weary travellers used to get disappointed, and troop back to Morrison’s. The hotel that Adamson has built adjoining his store is a handsome, spacious building, and a credit to the place. At the back of the hotel is a large assembly hall, which can accommodate between two and three hundred people.”
An amateur singer and ventriloquist from Geelong filled up the Assembly Hall to capacity.
Henry Meakin gave numerous concerts in the district in aid of funds for the Geelong hospital.
The first in the series was at Dolly’s Creek, in June 1864. Adamson’s Assembly Rooms were “crowded to excess, and the entertainment, if one can judge by the roars of applause, gave great satisfaction to everyone present”.
In 1864, steps were also being taken to establish a post office at Dolly’s Creek. The Geelong Chronicle thought it was not before time.
“There are some three hundred inhabitants round and about, and the nearest post office is at Morrison’s, some three miles. The road between them is very much a quagmire in winter.”
The Dolly’s Creek Post Office opened for business at the start of January 1865.
This article was provided by the Geelong Historical Society. For enquiries, email admin@geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au or write C/- P.O. Box 7129, Geelong West, 3218.
