James Venture Mulligan (13 February 1837 – 24 August 1907) was an Ireland-born Australian prospector and explorer.

Early life

Mulligan was born in

Drumgooland Drumgooland is a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated mainly in the historic barony of Iveagh Upper, Lower Half, with one townland in the barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. Settlements The civil parish contains the fol ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

and emigrated to

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 ...

at the age of 21 in 1860. He settled at

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

in the British colony of

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 ...

where he became a butcher and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

lican. While residing there, Mulligan became involved in gold prospecting at the nearby Rocky River diggings.

Prospecting in Queensland

In 1867, Mulligan ventured north to the colony of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

to further pursue aspirations of fortune from gold diggings. After mediocre success at

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

, Mulligan went to the Etheridge goldfields in the early 1870s. From there he later led a group to find payable gold on the

Palmer River The Palmer River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a gold rush in the late 19th century which started in 1873. Course and features The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in ...

in Far North

which had been reported by

William Hann William Hann (26 February 1837 – 5 April 1889) was a pastoralist and explorer in northern Queensland, Australia. His expedition in 1872 found the first indications of the Palmer River goldfield. Early life He was born in Wiltshire, England, ...

. On 30 June 1873, despite the local Aboriginal people attempting to burn down their tents, the group returned with 102 ounces of payable gold. Mulligan reported his find on 24 August to the Warden of the Etheridge Gold Field at Georgetown and the information was widely published in the press shortly after. By early 1874, Mulligan returned to the Palmer to find 3000 diggers there beset with problems like potential starvation, large biting flies and "the darkies" defending their territories. Mulligan suggested that four paramilitary

Native Police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

camps be set up to clear the area of "the sneaking propensities of the blacks". The Palmer area was later overrun by more than 30,000 prospectors, many of whom were Chinese. Mulligan, being supportive of providing privileged status to miners of European background, became a principal organiser in anti-Chinese movements. In September 1874, Mulligan led a prospecting expedition to the south-east of the Palmer, a journey where he named the Hodgkinson River and

Mount Mulligan Mount Mulligan is a former mining town and now a rural locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the Mount Mulligan had a population of 4 people. It is the site of the Mount Mulligan mine disaster, Queensland's worst mining ...

. In 1875 he was awarded £1000 for opening up the Palmer goldfields and appointed to lead a government sponsored prospecting expedition. This expedition covered and assessed an extensive region for colonial exploitation, with Mulligan naming multiple rivers and landmarks. During this exploration, Mulligan found tin ore around the headwaters of the

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert George Wyndham Herbert, the fir ...

. In 1876, he returned to the Hodgkinson River and found gold which triggered a rush to the Hodgkinson goldfields. Mulligan lived at Thornborough on the Hodgkinson goldfield for a number of years while still maintaining prospecting pursuits. In 1880 he discovered

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

in the Silver Valley west of Herberton. In the same year Mulligan also conducted an expedition with

Christie Palmerston Cristofero Palmerston Carandini or Christopher "Christie" Palmerston (1850 – 15 January 1897) was an Australian explorer and prospector in North Queensland. He led several expeditions during the last quarter of the 19th century including the di ...

to search for gold north of the Palmer River. This mission was largely unsuccessful but Mulligan was able to describe an event where Palmerston raided an Aboriginal settlement, killing men and kidnapping a boy for use as a personal servant. Mulligan admired Palmerston's method of "civilising the blacks" as well as his prospecting skills, advocating the government to fund Palmerston to deal with Aboriginals along the

Daintree River The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics of Queensland. The area ...

in view to create a goldfield there. In the mid 1880s, Mulligan travelled west to investigate the mineral areas around

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known as ...

and worked in the town of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

for a number of years as a mines manager. From the early 1890s until his death in 1907, he was back in the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

of Queensland, involving himself in various mining enterprises including

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

extraction.

Later life

James Venture Mulligan's Grave, Mt Molloy Cemetery (2010)

Mulligan was married in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on 5 March 1903. In that year he also purchased the Mount Molloy Hotel. He died on 24 August 1907 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

after breaking some ribs falling from a balcony while attempting to punch a man during a fight at Mount Carbine. He was buried in Mount Molloy cemetery. His headstone reads: : James-venture-mulligan

''Sacred to the memory of James Venture Mulligan, prospector and explorer, died at Mount Molloy aged 69 years. RIP. Erected by a few old friends.''

Legacy

and the

Mulligan Highway The Mulligan Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 266 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Q ...

in Far North

, and the

Mulligan River The Mulligan River is a tributary of Eyre Creek in the Channel Country region of southwest Queensland. It is in the Lake Eyre Basin. The river rises in Glenormiston Station and flows generally south through Marion Downs Station into Eyre Cre ...

in south-west Queensland, were named after him. James Venture Mulligan's Grave was listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

in 1992.

Sources

*
Georgraphica's website

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulligan, James Venture Australian explorers People from Far North Queensland People from County Down Australian people of Irish descent Australian prospectors 1907 deaths 1837 births Deaths from pneumonia in Queensland Irish emigrants to colonial Australia