Thomas SLATER [1325]

  General Notes:

carpenter and listed as a millwright on his wife's death certificate. On one sons death certificate Thomas is listed as a Millwright and on another he is listed as an Engineer.

Thomas and Sarah sailed to Australia on the Barque "Frances" which sailed from Liverpool and arrived at Port Philip on 28 November 1841 with 97 people on board. Thomas and Sarah's children John 11 who was christened 4 August 1830 at Manchester Cathedral, Betty 9, Joseph 3, and Thomas 1 were also on board. Thomas's could read and write and his occupation is given as carpenter and the shipping record states that they were imported by Messrs Heape and Grice.

It has been thought for many years that Thomas died in 1877 in Kyneton, however this proved to be the wrong Thomas, so after extensive searching hope was given up of finding Thomas's death

In a last ditch effort to track down Thomas's death, I posted on an Australian Genealogy Facebook site about my frustration and with the help of a member of that Facebook Group (Joy Powney), the details of a Victorian inquest were found that was held in June 1873 into the death of a Thomas Slater, who died at the Mansfield Hospital, 10 days after falling down the stairs at the Mansfield Hotel. It would appear that this is the correct Thomas Slater, however, a death certificate cannot be found. The date of death is given as 22 June 1873 at the Mansfield Hospital. According to the inquest papers, Thomas was a millwright/carpenter born in Liverpool who had been in the colony for about 20 years and had sons in the colony. One of those sons was working at *Dry Creek. Although this son is not named, it is stated in the papers that he was notified of his father's fall but declined to attend his father in hospital.

June 23rd 1873 proceedings of inquiry held upon the body of Thomas Slater Mansfield received at the Crown Law Office June 28th 1873.

A magisterial enquiry held at the Mansfield Hospital on the 23rd June 1873 touching the death of one Thomas Slater who died at the hospital on the 22nd June 1873 - Henry Hambelton Kitchen Esq, a Justice of the Peace in and for the ???? Settlement District of Mansfield.

Upper Goulburn District
Mansfield Police Station 23rd June 1873

Const. Michael Linehan 1908 reports for the information of the Supt. that he made diligent enquiries about the deceased Thomas Slater and ascertained that he was a native of Liverpool and had been about 20 years in the Colony. He was a milwright by trade and has several sons in the Colony one of them is in the employment of Mr Pemberton at Dry Creek near Mansfield and word of his fathers state was sent to him 10 days before his death. He declined to come to see him and as the whereabouts of his other sons is not known, no intimation has been sent to them - the deceased had been only a few weeks residing in Mansfield. Michael Linehan Const. 1908.

William Lyons on his oath stated as follows:- I am groom at the Mansfield Hotel. I knew deceased by the name of Slater - on the 7th Inst about midnight I saw deceased going up the stairs to the bed room he was by himself. He suddenly staggered and said "steady old man". A constable was with me of the name of Carbelt (?) and almost immediately he fell backwards on the back of his head. I went to his assistance with others. His head was battered and he was carried upstairs and put into bed. He told me he was 64 years of age - has a son at the Dry Creek. I know nothing more about him. I believe him to be a carpenter. He was able to walk up the stairs as far as he went back appeared ?? intoxicated - he used to speak of a stone that he flattered very much. I have seen it two or three times (?), He fancied it he said he found it at Dry Creek - it appeared to be a crystal ????? this I do not know if he had any property . Mr Slater was not ??? in a ??? it was like a lump of quartz stone. William Lyons.

Samuel Reynolds on his oath stated - I am a legally qualified medical practitioner and in charge of the Mansfield Hospital. On Tuesday the 10th June inst deceased was brought to my house for admission into the Hospital. He was admitted in due course through the result of falling downstairs at the Mansfield hotel. On the Saturday night previous the 7th inst he complained of pain in the head was rambling and incoherent in his speech and was suffering from low fever. From a reaction from what I should suppose to be concussion of the brain - symptoms increased in severity to the 22nd inst when he died - I know nothing of the man or his antecedents.

I consider deceased to be about 65 years of age. There was no marks of external violence on the head or body - my opinion is he died from concussion of the brain - he fallen as described would produce such concussion of the brain - he had all the symptoms of concussion of the brain - from the first time he was brought to me. His brain was effected - as an instance he said he was born in Victoria which could not have been according to his age - his conversation generally was rambling and incoherent as already described. Samuel Reynolds.

At an enquiry held before me this day tracking the death of Thomas Slater I am of [the] opinon that his death was caused by concussion of the brain in consequence of a fall down the staircase of the Mansfield Hotel. H W Hambleton JP Mansfield June 23 1873

According to a representative of the Mansfield Shire Council, there is no record of Thomas being buried at Mansfield, Bonnie Doon, Jamieson or Merton cemeteries. April 2017

*Gold first found in Hell's Hole Creek (the steep upper reaches of Tallangallook Creek) in 1851. The diggings were for a short time called 'Wilkenson's'. In 1860, Hell's Hole Creek was rushed for about four miles down from its source, with digging confined to the creek bed and banks. Glen, Dry, and Brankeet creeks also formed part of the Hell's Hole diggings. The creeks were largely deserted by the end of 1861. In the late sixties and early seventies, Hell's Hole Creek again received attention and gave steady returns to sluicers. Hell's Hole Creek was little mentioned in the records of this period, and it seems likely that it was included under the general designation of Dry Creek. The Dry Creek area thrived during the early"mid eeighteenseventies, with Chinese miners in the majority. Alluvial mining was on the wane by 1877, as reef prospecting on the highlands proved successful.

In 1888, Hell's Hole Creek was renamed Tallangallook Creek. Quartz mines came and went, and a small handful of persevering alluvial miners persisted along the creek into the 1890s. A Sludge Board inquiry in 1906-7 found that hydraulic sluicing, without elevation, had been carried out for years in Tallangallook and Dry Creeks. These activities presumably continued. Records show that sluicers were active on Dry and Glen creeks during the 1930s, and some mining is likely to have occurred on Tallangallook Creek at that period.

References: Department of Mines Annual Report, 1907, pp. 74-6
Flett, J., The History of Gold Discovery in Victoria, Poppet Head Press, Melbourne, 1979 pp. 120-21 Mining Surveyors' Reports (Kilmore Division), January 1861; (West Buckland Subdivision), August & October 1861; (Jamieson Subdivision), March & September 1867; (Jamieson North Subdivision), September 1869; (Dry Creek Subdivision), June 1874, September 1888 Wylie, A., Gold in the Shire of Mansfield: An outline of the smaller discoveries, Mansfield Historical Society,
1987, pp. 5, 8, 22, 24

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Occupation: CARPENTER. ²³⁴⁰

2. Immigration: on the ship Frances that arrived at Port Phillip, 28 Nov 1841, , Victoria, Australia. ²³⁴¹

3. Residence: 30 Islington Street, 1859, Collingwood, VIC, Australia.

Thomas married Sarah SHANNON [1324] [MRIN: 411], daughter of John Moody SHANNON [3575] and Anne READ [3576], on 7 Oct 1829 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England ²³³¹.^,2332 (Sarah SHANNON [1324] was born in 1807 in Manchester, Lancashire, England,²³³³ died on 27 Feb 1859 in Collingwood, VIC, Australia ^2263,2334 and was buried on 1 Mar 1859 in Melbourne, VIC, Australia.)