Talbot Heritage Walk
Originally the land encompassing Talbot formed part of the native territory of the Jajawurrung tribe (also called Djadjaurrung).
The aboriginal population before the arrival of the British was estimated to be between 900 and 1800. By the 1841 census however, the population had dropped to 282, with the drastic decline due to a combination of 'white man's' disease (principally smallpox) and massacres by early white settlers & alcohol. In 1850 the Protectorate system was abolished, but Edward Parker continued to care for them. Some in the tribe established their own small farms, operating successfully until the gold rush when they were over-run by incomers.
By 1855 the population was down to 100; by the April 1864 Census it was just 23, due to wandering and joining the rushes in other goldfields.
History
Throughout the 1840s there had been rumours of gold found in the area, but the evidence was suppressed. The authorities sought to keep the region as a quiet pastoral district, and feared that a gold rush could spark chaos and lawlessness among the largely convict population.
But in January 1849, an ex-convict called Thomas Chapman found a 38 ounce gold nugget in Daisy Hill Creek (7 km from Talbot) while working as a shepherd. He sold it to a jeweller in Melbourne named Charles Brentani in early 1849.
This was the first confirmed finding of gold in Victoria and it created quite a stir, kicking off a minor rush to the region. By late February 1849 thirty to forty trespassers were reported to have gathered at Thomas's former hut seeking gold before being disbanded by a party of police sent from Melbourne. Meanwhile, Thomas fled to Sydney, fearing trouble after his unauthorised sale of the gold that, according to the law of the time, was illegal.
The first major rush in the area around current day Talbot occurred in December 1852 when gold was found in Daisy Hill, near what is now Amherst Cemetery (2km west of Talbot). News quickly spread and within a few weeks hundreds of miners from the nearby Castlemaine goldfields had arrived to try their luck.
The next major gold find was in 1854 at Kangaroo Flat along Back Creek (1km out of Talbot).
By November 1855 it was reported around 6,000 miners had taken up residence in what became known as Back Creek. But, as the gold dwindled, so too did the population and by end-1857 only a few houses remained. In 1859, a group of miners from Norway and Sweden led by Carl Hallen decided to look in an area just outside of Back Creek, previously thought barren of gold as it was un-forested. Their gamble was rewarded, and as the news spread, miners once again flooded into the area. Within 4 months of the Hallan Party's first shaft being dug, there were 50,000 people in the Back Creek region.
To cater for this influx, streets were improvised in the area of the diggings - starting with what became known as "Scandinavian Crescent" along the edge of the actual diggings themselves. It remains to this day and is now the main street of Talbot.
Today with its wide streets and sweeping curve it looks quaintly graceful. During the 1860s however, the Crescent was an open cut mine of 15 metres deep, 45 metres wide and 650 metres long!
By late 1859, the Census reported that there were around 15,000 people on the Scandinavian field with 5 banks, up to 49 drinking establishments, two breweries, and numerous stores and businesses scattered along six streets.
In 1861, Sir Henry Barkly renamed the town of Back Creek, Talbot, some believe in recognition that the town was situated in the County of Talbot in Victoria.
Key gold era architectural sites include:
- Former Wesleyan Church, constructed in 1862 -1863, now the oldest surviving church in Talbot. Free use of Gothic elements.
- Contrasting sharply with the classically inspired Primitive Methodist Church opposite. ANA Hall, Ballarat Street, next to the town hall, was built 1870-90 for the Australian Natives Association.
- Former Bootmaker, corner Ballarat Street and Scandinavian Crescent, built by Joseph Burdess in 1862. In 1987 the veranda was reconstructed using early photographs as a guide.
- Former Bull & Mouth Hotel, now Chesterfield House B&B, Ballarat Street North, was built of local basalt in 1865 by William Owen. The original Bull & Mouth Hotel was opposite and was demolished to make way for Heales Street. The veranda was added about 1900 when the building was known as the Town Hall Hotel.
- Former drapery, Scandinavian Crescent and Camp Street. This unusual shop and attached residence was built about 1861 when early development consolidated in Talbot. Originally a drapery and later a tea house, by 1919 it was Weilandt's general store. The adjacent shop was built in the early 1920s and has a pressed metal facade, simulating masonry. Now called Slightly Bent Books.
- A guided walking tour of the nearby Amherst Cemetery (which also serves Talbot) is available by appointment. Your tour guide is a trustee of the Cemetery and can provide information about family history research.
Location
40 Scandinavian Crescent, Talbot 3371 Map
