The Three Lost Children Walk FS0084 DSE –Daylesford ISSN 1440-2262

December 2010 The Three Lost Children Walk FS0084 DSE –Daylesford ISSN 1440-2262

A walk into history Daylesford, wandered in the direction of Wombat Creek past familiar shallow gold diggings to look for wild goats. This walk commemorates the tragic story from

Daylesford’s gold era when three small boys wandered Three children, William Graham, aged 6½, his brother away from their homes in Daylesford in 1867. Despite Thomas, 4 years 3 months, and Alfred Burman, 5, a massive and lengthy search effort the boys were not responded to the call of adventure. They crossed found alive. Wombat Creek and headed towards Muskvale.

The Three Lost Children walk follows the approximate When the boys failed to return home for lunch their route the boys walked. The walk will take you through fathers began to search, concentrating their efforts near bush landscapes that were once active goldfields, and the junctions of the Wombat, Stony and Sailors Creeks. now part of the Wombat State Forest and the Hepburn That evening the police were notified, and the search Regional Park. Along the walk you will see the went well into the night. remnants of gold mines, water races and tramways. During the afternoon the boys had spoken to a Muskvale The Three Lost Children Walk storekeeper, Mr Mutch, but failed to follow his Grade of Walk1: Grade 3 instructions on how to reach Daylesford. After a short Distance: One-way 15km distance they unaccountably headed east to Specimen Time: 6 hours (including breaks) Hill. Gradient: Gentle hills Quality of Path: Formed track, some obstacles Towards dusk the children then spoke to an older boy, Quality of Markings: Sign posted John Quinn, near Specimen Hill gold mine. He told Steps: Occasional steps them they were lost, but they ignored his attempts to Experience required: Some bushwalking experience turn them back and vanished into thick bush to their recommended impending doom. Suggested pick-up or set down points Organised searches are shown, for those people wishing to At dawn on Monday 1 July, the search began in earnest. walk only part of the track. Follow the As news of the previous day’s sightings circulated, the ‘Three Lost Children Walk’ markers search area widened. Community anxiety grew, and the along the track. The map inside is next day more than 100 horsemen assembled near the accompanied by descriptions of the walk starting at the Specimen Hill gold mine. By Wednesday 3 July, after a Lost Children Reserve on the corner of Midland Hwy public meeting the previous night called by the Mayor, and Central Springs Rd Daylesford. Cr Bleakley, sympathy for the distressed families was Be Safe – Be Prepared so heightened that almost 700 people turned out in cold, Wear sturdy footwear with good tread miserable weather to continue searching. Walking track may be uneven and slippery The sorrowful discovery Take clothing for variable weather conditions After eight successive public meetings and 25 days of Take sufficient water and food searching it appeared that the tragedy of the Three Lost Carry a good quality map Children might never be solved. Deep mine shafts are present in the Park and Forest –

Keep to the walking tracks, mind your footing and But on Friday 13 September a dog returned home to supervise children at all times Wheelers Hill, some 10km from Daylesford, carrying in The Story its mouth a small boot with a child’s foot in it. The following day a number of Wheelers Hill residents The call of adventure combed the area and found the bodies of the youngest boys in the hollow of a tree. The remains and clothing of It was Sunday morning, 30 June 1867, when a group of the older boy were nearby. young children from Connells Gully, near Table Hill,

There was a large funeral, and the three children were 1 For more information on how walks are graded, visit buried together in the Daylesford Cemetery. An www.dse.vic.gov.au/walking

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U N N This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and AitsME Dofficers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is

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The tree where the bodies were found. Photo courtesy of Daylesford and District Historical Society impressive monument was Sailors Falls Reserve erected there by public subscription – you can see it The Lost Children Walk meets the Great Divi ding Trail at today in the cemetery on the Wombat Creek. North of the Lost Children Walk the Daylesford-Trentham Road. Great Dividing Trail passes Tipperary Springs then continues through to Bendigo. In 1889, Mr Graham, the father of two of the lost boys, The Great Dividing Trail follows The Lost Children Walk established a scholarship to south-west through to Hogans Lane. At Hogans Lane be presented each year to the an optional 2.5km return extension can be added to the best boy and girl pupils at Lost Children Walk to include the picturesque Sailors Daylesford State School. In Falls Reserve. From Hogans Lane the Lost Children this way the memory of the Walk heads east to again cross the Great Dividing Trail Lost Children has been kept alive in the Daylesford near Specimen Hill Dam. This is the Lerderderg section District. of the Great Divide Trail running from Daylesford through to Bacchus Marsh. Daylesford: The scene in 1850s and 60s Acknowledgements Gold was discovered in Daylesford in 1851 in the areas known as Wombat Flat and Connells Gully. Tom The assistance from the following groups and individuals Connell was credited as being co-discoverer of the first is gratefully acknowledged for their contribution to the gold. While gold prospecting development was fairly construction of the walk, production of the leaflet and slow with two or three hundred diggers active in 1852, track upgrades. by 1855, diggers numbered in the thousands as new Australian Bicentennial Committee fields opened up at Yandoit, and later Coomoora. The The Royal Historic Society of Victoria Graham, Burman and Griffiths families lived in the The Daylesford and District Historic Society Connells Gully area. William Graham, father of two of The Victorian Mineral Water Committee the lost children, was a miner who later went on to John E Menadue discover rich buried leads at Allendale. Members of the local community

Many Chinese worked the local fields, and other turned The Three Lost Children booklet is available from the their hands to market gardening. There were Chinese Daylesford Historical Society, Vincent Street, market gardens in the Wombat, Stony Creek and Daylesford (Open weekends and holidays). Sailors Creek areas. For more information Teams of six, eight or ten horses pulled many laden wagons of timber out of the nearby forest for use in the The Department of Sustainability and Environment mines, as underground mining and quartz crushing (DSE) is responsible for managing Victoria's State developed in the early 1860s. One such mine was the Forest. For further information contact DSE’s Customer Specimen Hill mine, which the Children passed on their Service Centre on 136 186 (TTY: 1800 122 969) or visit journey. DSE’s website at http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/forests

Dams were constructed, with water run along water The Three Lost Children Walk was constructed by and races to sluice gullies and to power the minefields. The is maintained by the joint cooperation of DSE, Parks remains of one such dam can be seen on the south Victoria and Hepburn Shire Council. side of The Lost Children Walk at Blind Creek, with the This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of sluicing works to be seen on the North side of the Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication track. Water races can also be seen along Cockatoo is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your Creek Track. particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you

relying on any information in this publication.