Timor
Origin of the name
Timor is the farming district by Bet Bet and Timor Creeks, North West of Maryborough, gold discovery in 1856 led to the development of Coxtown after butcher and hotelkeeper R. Cox. The town was surveyed in 1856 as Timor (cf. Timor Island and sea North West of Australia) Timor West once called Wareek [1]
History
Timor is situated eight kilometres north of Maryborough at the junction of the Alma, Timor and Chinaman's Flat deep leads, the portion of the lead near the junction of the Timor Creek and the Bet Bet Creek is known as the Duke Lead. [2]
In 1854, a digger named McMillan was prospecting the region and found gold at Chinaman's Flat, 500 diggers rushed to the area and within a months there were 18,000 diggers at the sight. A small town, straddling the Bet Bet Creek was born, it was originally named Coxtown, after a local butcher who constructed a bridge over the creek at his own expense. The town was later surveyed by Hugh Fraser in 1856 and renamed Timor. [3]
Timor was a thriving town with four churches, three butchers shops, two banks, three bakeries, two large stores, several small stores and 22 hotels. Timor also had a police station and several lockups, the remains of one of these lockups is still standing behind the present day store. [4]
Mines were started on a commercial basis and managers employed men to work in some of the mines. The Timor area had seventeen notable mines but the area was dominated by the Duke and Timor GMC. These mining companies, the the Miners Right Store, the Timor School, which still operates, Saint Marys Catholic Church and the Timor Cemetery are the most historic sites in the area as they are the only remaining relics of a gold rush era when Timor was a large town of 30,000 inhabitants. [5]
Although the area was scattered with alluvial and shallow leads produced nuggetty gold, a much larger quantity was obtained from the deep leads. The largest of these mines was the Duke and Timor Mines, later to become known as the Grand Duke Mine. The mines declined between 1901 and 1920 and workers left the area, the town had changed from a large community to virtually a ghost town with very little left as buildings were destroyed. [6]
Governance
Timor was a part of the Shire of Tullaroop, which was created a district 18th January 1861, proclaimed a shire 24th January 1865, the Carisbrook Borough and the Majorca Borough united in 1915. [7]
Geography and climate
Environment
Economy
Demography
Culture
Sport
Industry
Tourism
Transport
Architecture
Education
Chinaman's Flat 714
Chinaman's Flat School (714) was built three miles from Maryborough, the school was quite large. The original school was a two bedroom brick building was built in 1864 as a Common School, the miners paying 1 shilling for their children's education. In 1880s, a new brick building was built with the old building being used as a shelter. The school had a name change to Leviathan Reef and the school was an adjunct to the Timor School 1027. [8]
Dwyers Bridge School 38
Dwyers Bridge School number 38, was a non-vested national school, established under the National Board on the 1st December 1860, the first Head Teacher was George Cook. Until November 27th 1875, the school was known as Bet Bet, it became a state school in 1873, under the Department which took over the building. The school closed when it was destroyed by a storm in 1877 and the debris was sold and removed in 1898. [9]
Timor School 1207
The Timor school was built in March 1873 and the first Head Teacher was M. O'Brien and in 1879 there were 492 new enrolments. A mothers club was formed on the 1st May 1956, convened by Head Teacher Max Bridges , Office bearers elected at the meeting were President, Mrs M Cameron, Secretary Mrs D Bridges. [10]
Media
See also
Churches
Eucalyptus Distilleries
Hotels
Berlin Hotel - Bismark Hotel - Bridge Hotel - Commercial Hotel - Berlin Hotel - Cornish Arms Hotel - Criterion Hotel - Farmers Arms Hotel - Golden Valley Hotel - Shamrock Hotel - Star of the South Hotel - Timor Hotel - Timor Junction Hotel
Mining Companies
Alma Consols Co. - Band of Hope Co. - Bismark Co. - Central Duke Co. - Duchess of Timor Tribute Co. - Duke GMC - Duke Extended Co. - Duke and Main Leads Consols GMC - Duke and Timor GMC - Duke United Co. - Grand Duke GMC - Gladstone Co. - Hit or Miss GMC - John Bright Co. - Magnum Bonum Co. - Mammoth Co. - New Magnum Bonum Co. - New Seaham Co. - North Duke Mining Co. - Old Duke Co. - Old Magnum Bonum Co. - Queen Co. - Seaham Co. - South Duke Co. - United GMC - United Gold Mining Co. - Young Duke Co.
Notes
Also See
Timor Primary School Honour Roll
References
- ↑ Blake, L. Place names of Victoria. Melbourne: Ruby Limited. 1977
- ↑ Flett, J. Maryborough Victoria: Goldfields history. Melbourne: Poppet Head. 1975.
- ↑ Flett, J. Maryborough Victoria: Goldfields history. Melbourne: Poppet Head. 1975.
- ↑ Three Timor Mine Sites (unpublished) by Sue McPhan, 1996
- ↑ Three Timor Mine Sites (unpublished) by Sue McPhan, 1996
- ↑ Three Timor Mine Sites (unpublished) by Sue McPhan, 1996
- ↑ The Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick, Vic. : Arnall & Jackson. 1986.
- ↑ Education Department of Victoria. Vision and Realisation: A centenary of realisation. Melbourne: Education Department of Victoria. 1973
- ↑ Education Department of Victoria. Vision and Realisation: A centenary of realisation. Melbourne: Education Department of Victoria. 1973
- ↑ Education Department of Victoria. Vision and Realisation: A centenary of realisation. Melbourne: Education Department of Victoria. 1973
Further reading
External links
http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/7216
http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/7217
--[[User:No1historychick|Sue McPhan] 12:44, 13 November 2016 (AEDT)