Moliagul

Maryborough, Victoria, Australia
Talbot | Carisbrook | Dunolly | Bealiba | Moliagul

The name Moliagul is thought to derive from the aboriginal word moliagulk meaning wooded hill, however it owes its existence like so many other towns in the region to the discovery of gold.

Gold was originally found in the area in 1852 at Queens Gully, the town developed quickly and by 1855 it was estimated to have about 16000 people.

The Mt Moliagul Hotel which is still there today was established in 1856.

It was however the events of February 5 1869 that placed Moliagul in the history books. On that day Cornish miner John Deason was working at Bulldog Gully near Moliagul. While searching around the base of a stringybark tree he struck the ground with his pick and it broke. Scraping the ground aside he saw gold. Following some frenzied scraping he uncovered a huge nugget. Failing to dislodge the monster with a crowbar he called upon his partner Richard Oates to help him, together they removed the huge nugget from the ground.

The Welcome stranger as it was called weighed in the vicinity of 69kg and to this day is the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found. The value by today’s standard would be between 3 and 4 million dollars.
A monument to this find was placed on the historic site and there is a welcome stranger discovery walk which visitors can take.

Moliagul is also famous for being the birthplace of Rev Dr John Flynn who founded the legendary flying doctor service.

Although there are very few houses in Moliagul itself, about 200 people are living in the area.  The Mt. Moliagul Hotel offers budget accommodation and meals

Things to see in Moliagul

The Welcome Stranger Discovery Walk starts from the obelisk and explores the reserve which has a picnic area, shelters, barbecues and drinking water.  It was  near the start of the track that John Deason had a small two-roomed shack.  It was to this shack that he first transported the nugget, placing it in the fire to burn off the debris.

A little further on is the puddler where Deason and Oates treated the wash from their claim.  A puddler was a watertight circular trench that was filled with water. Dirt from the claim was then added and a horse walked in a circle dragging chains or harrows around the trench to break up the dirt and dissolve the clay.  The sludge was drained off and the remaining rocks removed and put through a cradle to glean the gold.  The puddler was built close to the house to deter thieves. 

The pile of stones further on are all that remain of Richard Oates' house. He was working in the paddock here when Deason called him to see the nugget.  

There is a wooden headstone on the fence line which dates from the 1860s.  It is thought to mark a Chinese grave. There were many Chinese as well as European miners in the area at that time

Stones from fireplaces and raised dirt floors are all that remain of the Chinese camps from the 1860s.  Like most such camps it was removed from the remainder of the settlement due to the hostility of the other miners.

The walk continues past an old puddling machine and the remnants of a once robust forest which provided shelter for kangaroos and emus before being chopped down by the miners.

The path then crosses Black Gully, so named because the gold here tended to be stained with black ironstone.

A guiding pamphlet is available from the Central Goldfields Visitor Information Centre (see contact details below) 

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