The Syndicate of Seven is the name given to the original members of the Broken Hill Mining Company formed in 1883, who lodged applications for mining leases along the Line of Lode at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 ...

History

The members, who all worked at Mount Gipps

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

, which encompassed the Broken Hill, were:- #

Charles Rasp Charles Rasp, born Hieronymous Salvator Lopez von Pereira, Local Factbook > Charles Rasp">Broken Hill Visitor Information Centre > About Broken Hill > Local Factbook > Charles RaspAccessed 22 May 2014. (7 October 1846 – 22 May 1907) is known a ...

(1846–1907) – a

boundary rider Boundary rider is a long-established (1864) Australasian term for a cattle or sheep station employee whose duties entail a regular tour (by horse, camel or motor vehicle) of the outer perimeter (boundary) of the property, checking condition of f ...

, who was interested in

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting reli ...

, recognised that the site was highly mineralized (though suspecting black tin oxide — perhaps

cassiterite Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains t ...

) and on 5 September 1883 persuaded David James and his offsider James Poole to help him peg out and registered their claim with mining warden Richard O'Connell. # David James (1854–1926) – a contractor employed to sink dams and mend fences. #James Poole (1848–1924) – worked with David James #

George McCulloch George McCulloch (February 22, 1792 – April 6, 1861) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. George McCulloch was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Upon the death of his ...

(1848–1907) – manager of Mount Gipps station, recommended widening the syndicate in order to control the greater part of the hill, proposed seven shares at £70 (several thousand dollars in today's money) each. #Philip Charley (1863–1937) – a young man learning to be a sheep farmer, employed as a

. #George Urquhart (1845–1915) – a bookkeeper and overseer #George A. M. Lind (1861–1941) – a storekeeper. In September 1883 they pegged seven blocks (blocks No 10–16) along the exposed lode at Broken Hill, thus securing almost the whole of the easily worked ore (Curtis, 1908). The initial assay results were not encouraging and Lind sold his share to Rasp and McCulloch, probably intimidated by the prospect of

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

s to finance further drilling. Poole and Urquhart sold their shares a year later, before the boom days and flotation of Broken Hill Proprietary in 1885 (Curtis, 1908 and Camilleri, 2006). James sold half his share to

Sidney Kidman Sir Sidney Kidman (9 May 18572 September 1935), known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoral farming, pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime. ...

who went on to become a wealthy cattle baron and landowner.

Later

The seven shares were parlayed into fourteen. William Jamieson purchased three of these shares for £320, and on 25 April 1885 was offered management of the mine at a salary of £500 ''per annum''. He shortly divested himself of two, one of which was purchased by W. R. Wilson; George Doolette also purchased one of the 14 shares. Other important early investors were

Harvey Patterson Harvey Norman Murray Patterson (September 12, 1924 – April 8, 2014) was a Canadian politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1973 to 1975. His term in office is usually re ...

, Duncan McBryde and Bowes Kelly.

Notes

References

Sources

*Leonard Samuel Curtis (1908) ''The History of Broken Hill, Its Rise and Progress'', Frearson's Printing House: Adelaide, South Australia. * Blainey, G. (1964) ''The Rush that never ended: A history of Australian mining'', Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, pp 142–148. *Jenny Camilleri (2006) ''In The Broken Hill Paddock'', printed by Openbook Australia, . History of Broken Hill History of New South Wales Septets Australian prospectors {{NewSouthWales-stub