Moorabool Slate Co.
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Background
| THE MOORABOOL SLATE QUARRIES. Within three miles of the little township of Meredith--a station on the Ballarat Railway line--and on the banks of the Moorabool, near its junction with the Lal-Lal, there is now quietly progressing another of those undertakings by which the dormant resources of the colony are being brought into play. The enterprise alluded to, is that of working the slate veins recently discovered in the district mentioned. The existence of slate in the vicinity of the Moorabool appears to have been rumoured for many years past, but until within the last twelve months few if any steps were taken to render the stone available. The report of its existence, however, came to the ears of some enterprising Welsh quarrymen, who started a systematic prospecting of the district, and who, not quite a year ago, struck upon several valuable veins. Capital, of course, being required, arrangements were effected with certain gentlemen, chiefly of Ballarat, the result of which was the formation of the Moorabool Slate Company, an association in which about ten persons, including the four discoverers, are interested. A lease of 150 acres was obtained for the company in January last, and, since then, a lease of fifty acres has been granted to the Victoria Company, for the working of veins subsequently discovered...[1] |
| THE MOORABOOL SLATE QUARRIES. During the last sixteen months a company of enterprising Welshmen have been engaged in one of the prettiest parts of the valley of the Moorabool opening a slate quarry. We do not know whether or not it was a love of the picturesque heightened by pleasant memories of similar but even more beautiful scenery in their native land that led the projectors of the Moorabool Slate Company to the spot where they have initiated an industry that promises one day to add very materially to our comforts and to our developed resources. It may be that more prosaic thoughts than those of landscape beauties and home recollections lad to the discovery of the existence of large and valuable slate veins at the place we have mentioned, but whatever the causeo f the discovery may have been we have had an opportunity of verifying with our own eyes the very gratifying fact of the discovery in question, and the prosecution there of considerable works belonging to the art and mystery of slate quarrying. We believe that Messrs Evan Rowlands and Theophilus Williams of Ballarat were the first to discover the slate veins, and the company now existing comprises those gentlemen besides other, most of whom hail from that land of mines and minstrels, the ancient and historic Gswallia...[2] |
| With reference to local enterprises and manufactures, we may mention that the Moorabool Slate Company, having proved the good quality of its slate, and ascertained that large supplies are accessible, has resolved to call more capital to its assistance. Three Welshmen residing at Carngham are understood to have left for their native country for the purpose of procuring the necessary plant for the establishment of a flannel manufactory in the district.[3] |
History
Site
Innovations
Community Involvement
Works Produced
Workplace Relations
The People
Legacies
See also
Non-Metallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying
Further Notes
References
- ↑ The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Monday 31 August 1863, page 6. Digital copy accessed via Trove.
- ↑ The Star (Ballarat], Vic. : 1855 - 1864), Monday 26 September 1864, page 1 Supplement. Digital copy accessed via Trove.
- ↑ The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), Monday 24 October 1864, pages 1—2. Digital copy accessed via Trove.
Further Reading
External Links
--Beth Kicinski 11:27, 14 August 2013 (EST)