It was Bendoc's Golden Era

Although no mining of any description is carried out in the Bendoc area now and gold mining as an industry is non-existent, the colourful occupation has a permanent position in the history of this part of the East Gippsland Shire. 

It all started way back in 1852 whn the Rev. W.B. Clarke published a report describing the existence of a rich gold field, which intersected the boundary of NSW and Victoria.

A later report states that the rough washing from one reef in the locality on the 13th of February 1872, realised 70 oz from 40 tons of quartz.

Bendoc township, 5 miles from this intersection was proclaimed a township.

The principal mine in the area was "Come Love" owned by Bendoc Park and Co., and consisted of a main shaft 170 ft deep. This yielded 606 oz of gold between April 19869 and October 1871.

Realising the need for food and shelter, for the miners, Hamilton Reed built the first Commercial Hotel on the site opposite to where the present hotel now stands.  He engaged two pit sawyers to cut the timber in a day, one cutting until midnight.  The building was roofed with singles.  They had up to 60 boarders at one time.  In 1867 John Nichol was appointed mining registrar and ratained the position until ealy 1900.

In 1855 alluvial gold was first discovered in in the Bendoc River near the bridge by Jack Locke and Hamilton Reed.  This soon petered out and in 1857 they discovered the "Morning Star" mine.  Other prospecters soon followed, staking their claims. Conical Star, Homeward Bound, United, Welcome Stranger, Evening Star, and others.

In the late 1850's a geologist, names Clarke from Melbourne, together with Frank Dowling and other prospectors found the New Discovery near the head of the Bendoc River.  It yielded 2 oz to the ton and was mined to a depth of 200ft.  The Discovery, Sunbeam, Wagra, Snow Storm, soon followed.  The new field was named Clarksville after the geologist who was responsible for the discovery.

For a time the tiny settlement was flourishing. The Eclipse mine, in 1869 had a primitive battery consisting of four heads of wooden stamps shod with iron fittings and worked by a water wheel from a race 1 1/2 miles long.

Population 150

In 1870 the population of Bendoc was 150 of which 106 were miners.  Their homes were roughly hewn slabs or wattle and daub, with bark or shingle rooves.  From 1850 to 1870 many men including a number of Chinese were sluicing for gold in Back Creek, Bendock, Queensborough and Delegate Rivers the population reaching as high as 500.

The best alluvial gold came from Chinamen's Creek, about five miles from Bendoc and from the Delegate River where a tunnel was built to divert the course of the river and through which the river still runs today.

George Helmers was a prospector who mined all the terrace gold from the dry gullies that ran into Bendoc.  About 1876 gold mining slumped and miners left, whilst others selected land.  In 1911 Victoria Star was discovered which yielded 4 oz to the ton and was mined to a depth of 300 ft. After yielding thousands of ounces of gold, water flooded in and sopped operations.

In 19354 a Melbourne syndicate took over and pumped out the water.  The mine operated for another three years and yielded 3500 oz of gold which was sold at £1-17-6 per ounce through a Delegate bank.

Sluicing and dredgng plants in the early days, were operated by means of water wheels.  In 1933 Harry Miller, a mining engineer started hydraulic sluicing in the Littr River in close proximity to Bendoc Township.  In the 1940s he and his family dredged all the dry gullies previous worked by the Chinese at Back Creek, a tributary of the Quinburra River.  Thousands of ounces of gold were produced.

The Millers left in 1951 because of the inaccessability of school for their children.

Wolfram

During the 1914-18 war, R Robinson ad othrs worked in the wolfram mine at Mt Bendoc.  For a time it yielded quite well.  It was reopened during WW11 by Ron Stewart and a son of the first Robinson.

In 1940 a Melbourne syndicate took over but although the reef was rich at wolfram, it was too narrow to produce payable ore.  Bismath was also present but not in payable quantities.

Bendoc School, which opened in 1873, remembered to township's golden era in centenary celebrations conducted recently.

by Colin Handley

In the 1940's Bendoc held New Years Sports picnic races at Bendoc Park on New Years' Day, including woodchopping and buck jump riding events.

1950 was the last year the event was held, including a dance at the hall.  A very successful event.

The mid 1950's saw change in the sawmill industry of Bendoc.  Bill Jameson sold the sawmill he had worked most of his life to Richards.  Later the Yelds mill at the Bendoc River bridge was also sold to Richards.

Mrs Mustard after being in the pub for many years, sold the premises to Cliff and Jessie Yelds.  Ted Johnson, a sawmiller in Bendoc, sold his enterprise to Keith Mason from Bairnsdale.  This mill was also later sold to Richards.  While Mason was the owner, he rebuilt the mill with electric motors to be ready when the power was connected.

In 1963 the Bendoc community tried to get the State Electricity Commission to connect power to Bendoc from an area in Victoria without success.  The Monaro County Council from NSW agreed to connect Bendoc, provided the power lines were cleared by the locals beforehand.  In 1968, the power was connected with an opening night celebration at the Bendoc Hall.  A new school was built in the 1960's to replace the original one which was over 100 years old.  It was almost on the site of the Original No 1166. 

The existing Police Station and Court House was built in the early 1970's, and the original which was built in the 1986's, was demolished.  A few plum trees remain there.

Around this time, Richards closed the Hayden's Bog sawmill and moved to the new electric mill currenly used.  With the mill and forestry in Bendoc about 60 men were employed with about 1/2 coming from NSW.