NEW LEADS - Gulgong: 70 Years Ago - The Three Mile Rush
By W. M. CLARIDGE - ARTICLE 7
The progress of the town during 1871 is illustrated by the various improvements that crowded one upon the other. Every week seems to have brought some additional convenience to the town which was growing upon the slopes of Red Hill.
In April, a coach service be gan from the nearest railway station, Wallerawang, and May saw the beginning of the gold escort system to and from the town. Agitation for a daily mail service and for the extension of the telegraph were urged in the local papers. In June, a public meeting decided upon the erection of a public hospital, and this was soon completed, for before the end of the year applications were called for a qualified medical officer.
As new leads were opened up, not only did the miners' tents appear, but also other buildings, where the miners' requirements were supplied. An instance illustrative of this is the following report regarding the Three Mile rush: 'These diggings are on the increase, stores and public houses springing up; in fact, from present appearances the Three Mile will soon become an important village." (Gulgong Mercantile Advertiser 17/8/1871). Today [1941] not a building remains at Three Mile, and it may be doubted whether the rush ever attained even village status.
Complaints regarding the multifarious duties of the commissioner led to the deletion of one of his offices, and a separate position was created when the selection of the first C.P.S. for Gulgong, Mr. L. S. Donaldson, was gazetted. Mr. Donaldson died within a few months of his coming to Gulgong.
The route to Gulgong in these days was via Home Rule from Mudgee, but towards the end of 1871 a new road was surveyed. This avoided some of the hills met on the old road, and is the one now regarded as the main road to Mudgee, that via Cullenbone.
At this time the first move was made to establish a Presbyterian Church, for a public meeting was called in September for that purpose. November saw the opening of a Wesleyan Chapel, while a better building for R.C. worship was being erected to replace the earlier weatherboard structure, but though the spiritual welfare of the populace was receiving attention, the position regarding education was not at all promising, for it was reported that "There are at the present time hundreds of children running wild in Gulgong. It is true there are some bark places called schools, but nothing at all suited to the requirements of the goldfields." A public meeting was called in December to consider the inauguration of steps to procure a public school under the auspices of the Council of Education, and an application was made, for it is notified in April 1872 that such an application had been received.
The extension of prospecting over a wide area had resulted in a considerable increase in the quantity of gold produced with a corresponding enlargement of the population and improvement in the town itself. The occupation of business sites was legalised when these were surveyed, and holders were able to purchase them without competition upon appraisement, the first batch of applications being completed at the end of October. This led to buildings of a more permanent nature, up to £12 per foot being paid for sites on Queen street, while on the hills around the town private residences began to appear.
October 1871 saw a distinguished visitor in the person of Mr. Anthony Trollope. He devotes some pages of his book "Australia and New Zealand" to describe the town as it was then. As he was more interested in the "general inhabitants and mode of life than the mines," these pages give a vivid picture of life at Gulgong in the early days of its prosperity, though even so early, it appeared to him that "the rush was not regarded as a success."
