Within Australia
All orders ship freewithin Australia
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300
ship free worldwide
C1870
Section of the Nelson & Wellington Co.s Shaft …
Mapmaker:
Scarce c.19th lithograph of the cross section of the Nelson shaft, located at Peter Court, Sebastopol, Ballarat. The Nelson and Wellington Gold Mining Company began sinking a shaft in June 1856, with the first gold produced five years later in … Read Full Description
$A 85
S/N: WHOBA-02130-VC–451072
(C053)
Free Shipping
See Shipping page for Terms & Conditions
Details
Full Title:
Section of the Nelson & Wellington Co.s Shaft …
Date:
C1870
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition
Technique:
Hand coloured lithograph.
Image Size:
108mm
x 177mm
Paper Size:
130mm
x 213mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1870
Description:
Scarce c.19th lithograph of the cross section of the Nelson shaft, located at Peter Court, Sebastopol, Ballarat.
The Nelson and Wellington Gold Mining Company began sinking a shaft in June 1856, with the first gold produced five years later in September 1861. The lease was bordered by the Red jacket, Defiance, and United Working Miners claims, and there was much litigation between the companies as to who owned what ground. The company was following the Wellington gutter looking for alluvial gold northwards from its junction with Frenchmans Lead.
In 1867 employees were discharged, and operation suspended from a lack of capital. Shareholders had failed to respond to a call made and banks were refusing to loan the company more money. Some development work continued until 1868 when shareholders complained of heavy expenditure; the chairman was missing; and there were threats to wind up the company. It is thought mining stopped shortly thereafter. The Prince of Wales Company complained in 1872, the old Nelson shaft was full of water, which was discharging into their workings.
References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 18715.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2839411
State Library Victoria: H 994.531 B21W Ba
State Library New South Wales: Record Identifier 74VvGrGQlp2b
State Library Victoria:
Francis Wilson Niven (1831 - 1905)
Niven was a lithographic printer and mariner. At the age of 13 he went to sea and was apprenticed to John Sargent, captain of the Stebonheath. Following voyages to Victoria in 1851 and 1853, having gained the rank of first mate (1852), he was discharged in London on 15 June 1854. After prospecting with limited success, Niven decided upon the occupation of printing, specifically lithography, because it suited the artistic disposition he had inherited from his father. He purchased presses for £40 from Alfred Ronalds, a nurseryman at Ballarat who had formerly been a lithographer at Geelong. Niven taught himself to use this equipment with the aid of Ure's Dictionary of Arts. His first known commercial work was assisting with illustrations on Ballarat Punch in 1857. In the 1860s he trained with the lithographic artist Hermann Deutsch in his Bridge Road office. They produced many prints of Ballarat scenes. Between 1863 and 1865 Deutsch sold him the business. Innovation in lithography was a significant part of the firm's success and in 1873 Niven imported one of the earliest known commercial steam lithographic presses in Australia. F. W. Niven & Co. became a large printing business and at its peak employing seventy hands and having some £7000 worth of machinery.
