The economic depression of the 1930s caused a revival of gold mining around Creswick, and this gold fever spilled over to students at the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF), but generally with limited success.
However, Harold Beer wasn’t giving up, and one Saturday morning in late March 1931 he went fossicking at Grub Gully, which is between the School and the State Nursery.
He brought some quartz specimens back to the school to examine under a microscope. Encouraged by what he saw, Harold went out again on Sunday morning with fellow student, Jim Wescott, to have a bit more of a rummage.
After examining a quartz reef near Grub Gully for about a chain or so Jim called Harold over to look at something.
Originally thinking it was just a fungus of some kind they soon discovered the object was hard and excitement started to build.
They unearthed the lump from the blue grey clay to find a water-worn gold nugget 6.5 x 2.5 x 1.5 inches in size.
When returning to the school with their booty in a hessian bag they bumped into the Principal, E. J. Semmens, and asked him to take care of the nugget and keep their secret until the bank opened on Monday and they could also obtain a miner’s licence.
The nugget was 99% pure gold and weighed 75 ounces, 6 pennyweight (~2.2kg). It sold for 388 Pounds, 16 Shillings and 7 Pence at £5/1/3 per ounce. With current gold prices hovering at $6000 per ounce, the find would be worth about $440,000 nowadays.
The Bank of New South Wales arranged for plaster casts to be made of the nugget. The bank kept one and the two boys bought one each.
Not surprisingly, the find started a mini gold rush, and students obtained miners rights to peg out several claims.
Even the School Principal, Mr Semmens, the Vice Principal, Mr Litster, and manager of the Creswick nursery, Mt Tidd, got in on the act and also pegged claims.
However, the rush was short lived and gold panning along the creek only revealed some tiny specks.
Harold used his share of the money to support his family to cover his tuition fees at the forestry school.
In September 1959, Harold Beer was appointed the District Forester at Dunolly and later in November 1966 he shifted to nearby Maryborough.
In 1965, Harold donated his copy of the nugget to the Dunolly Museum together with a letter he wrote to his father at the time of the discovery. The letter was received on April Fool’s Day 1931, and the family wasn’t sure whether to believe it or not.
Jim Westcott retained his copy of the nugget and its current whereabouts is unknown, but is thought to still be within the family.
Puzzlingly, another copy of the nugget was presented to the Forestry School by Harold Beer in December 1985 and is on display in the school library.
Note – There are some minor discrepancies with the stated weight and value of the nugget. Harold’s initial letter claims 5 1/4 pounds (84 ounces) worth £270; the Age Newspaper article states 75 ounces valued at £389, while the Dunolly copy has a tag of 72 ounces. Finally, Harold’s later accounts in the School of Forestry correctly records 75 ounces, 6 pennyweight valued at £388.
Dear Father
Our luck seems to have taken a turn for the good, as today, another student Westcott, and myself found a nugget of gold weighing 5 1/4 lbs. and having a value of about £270.
We are going to have a good go at the place before we let the news out as there may be some more close handy.
We will get a miners right tomorrow, and if the place seems any good, we will peg out a claim there. The nugget is in Mr Semmens’s safe keeping until it is sold. It will be alright providing no one else knows about it.
Yesterday I went down to the creek about 1/2 mile from here and started panning some of the gravel in the creek bed, but as I got nothing I then started to pick at a quartz reef. Some of the quartz showed signs of gold, so I took some back with me to see if it were any good.
This morning Westcott and I went down and had another pick at the reef but there seemed to be nothing in it. We then started picking at some clay where we noticed something yellow projecting from the clay about 2” from where Westcott was picking. On unearthing it we found it was a large nugget.
I am going down now to have a pick about at the same place so cheerio.
Love from Harold
PS Don’t let anyone know about it until I have the money in the bank.
Back (l to r) John Chinner, Roland Parke, ? Chapman, Reginald Needham
Middle (l to r) Jim Westcott, Harold Beer, ? Thomas, Alan Gordon, Rex Jones
Front (l to r) Albert Head, Colin Gibson, William Litster (Vice-Principal), E J Semmens (Principal), Kingsley Gibson, Frank Moulds
It appears that Chapman and Thomas did not graduate
Source: FCRPA Collection
