Fryers Creek Gold Field. Showing blocks …

Scarce map of Fryers Creek gold field.

Fryers Creek in the Mount Alexander diggings was rushed in late 1851 after large finds of alluvial gold in its vicinity. The creek was named after Peter Fryer, a pastoralist, who held the land for grazing at that time. Early localities around it were Fryer’s Forest which later became Fryerstown, and Golden Gully. In 1857 the census collector also described as ‘Fryer’s Creek’ the location that was later to become the mining township of Vaughan. Here, he recorded a population of 2,000, but did not include several hundred Chinese diggers.

In 1859 Fryer’s Creek Mining Division under the Castlemaine Mining District was formed to improve the Government’s administration of the goldfields. Quartz mining boomed for a time but, by mid 1875, many companies had suspended operations. However, mining in the area did not cease but continued well into the twentieth century.