Gaffneys Creek is a former mining locality situated between Jamieson and

Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a g ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is located at the junction of Gaffney and Raspberry Creeks in a steep valley in mountainous terrain. It is situated in the

Shire of Mansfield The Mansfield Shire is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 8,979. It includes the towns of Mansfield, Mai ...

on the unsealed Mansfield - Woods Point Rd.

History

Gold

A prospector from the Big River area to the east, Terence "Red" Gaffney, was the first to actively search the area for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, followed by John and William (Bill the Welshman) Jones who discovered rich alluvial gold at Raspberry Creek in 1859. A string of small villages later appeared in the valley, and these were subsequently amalgamated and collectively named Lauraville by the Government Surveyor in honour of his wife, Laura. The Post Office (called Gaffneys Creek) opened on 1 January 1862 and closed in 1981. A Lauraville Office was open from 1902 until 1910. The name "Lauraville" was changed to Gaffneys Creek in 1900. Alluvial mining was later replaced by reef mining, but none of these mines were to achieve the success of the nearby A1 Mine Settlement and by the turn of the century the population had dwindled.

20th century

In 1980 the area of the original valley settlements was placed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

as a Conservation Area including early miners' cottages, a hall, stone retaining walls and a hotel which succumbed to a fire in 1993. In 1993, two escaped prisoners, Archie Butterley and

Peter Gibb Peter Robert Gibb (30 June 1954 – 23 January 2011) was an Australian criminal, known for his escape from the Melbourne Remand Centre in 1993. Escape from Melbourne Remand Centre Gibb had several prior convictions for manslaughter, armed robbe ...

from the Melbourne Remand Centre, and a prison guard who assisted them to escape, drive to Gaffney's Creek to hide out. They stayed at the Gaffney's Creek Hotel and on the morning of 12 March a fire started in their room which resulted in the hotel being completely destroyed.

21st century

In 2006 Gaffneys Creek was threatened by

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

. About half of the residents of Gaffneys Creek stayed to defend their homes. However, not much of the town remains anymore except a couple of houses which survived including two historic gold-era cottages. The town's community hall was destroyed and the whole area was burnt including A1 Mine Settlement and Ten Mile.

Demographics

The population within the locality has steadily declined over the years: *1865: 1000 *1871: 502 *1911: 274 *1954: 91

Notable residents

William Adcock William Eddrup Adcock (31 December 1846 – 18 May 1931) was an Australian journalist and businessman. Adcock was born in London to cigar manufacturer George Charles Adcock and Mary, ''née'' Goodwin. The family moved to Melbourne, Austral ...

(1846-1831), journalist and politician *Alfred Ainsworth (1827-1920), civil engineer and public servant *Laurence Cohen (1874-1916), stone mason and trade unionist *Sigismund Wekey (1825-1889), solicitor and postmaster

References

External links

Geoscience Australia place names: Gaffneys CreekPicman database: Photograph of Gaffneys Creek in 1900
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Hume Shire of Mansfield Mining towns in Victoria (Australia)