Ludwig Hugo (Louis) Beyers was a German-Australian gold miner and politician.

Biography

After his parents died in

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

from plague, he immigrated at age 13 to America, arriving in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Not permitted to proceed to the

California goldfields ''Lasthenia californica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name California goldfields. It is native to western North America. Description ''L. californica'' is an annual herb approaching a maximum he ...

because of his youth, he then journeyed to Australia, arriving in 1856. He married Mary Emmett (daughter of Edward Emmett) on 22 February 1868 at White Rock, near

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

, Australia in a double wedding. Mary's sister Harriet married his friend and mining partner

Bernhardt Holtermann Bernhardt Otto Holtermann (29 April 1838 – 29 April 1885) was a successful gold miner, businessman, politician and photographer in Australia. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is his association with the Holtermann Nugget, the largest gold sp ...

Career

On arrival in Sydney, he worked as a draper's assistant, and in 1856 moved to Hill End to mine gold. He also prospected at

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

, the

Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

and in New Zealand. He set up a partnership with Bernard Holtermann at Hill End and in 1870 – 1871, they struck a rich vein of gold and in 1872, they floated the Star of Hope Gold Mining Company which found the largest specimen of reef gold (Holtermann's nugget). He was an alderman at Hill End from 1875, and its mayor from 1876 until 1877 and again from 1885. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on 12 November 1877, retiring on 23 November 1882. He was the member for Goldfields from 12 November 1877 to 9 November 1880 and Mudgee from 1 December 1880 to 23 November 1882. He was a patron of the local hospital at Hill End and a member of many friendly societies. A friend, to whom he had entrusted the management of his estate, enriched himself and left Beyers bankrupted in 1894. He moved to Mount Higgins, Western Australia, where he successfully resumed mining.

Biography

Career

References

Further reading