AUGUSTUS COURTS YANDELL

A true story of

GOING BACK 5 GENERATIONS

Augustus was born on 29th November 1831 in Launceston, Cornwall, England.

He was the son of John Yandell and Elizabeth Wenmouth.

Augustus was one of 8 children, however his sister and his brother, Elizabeth Yandell and Edmund George, died a few weeks after birth. Robert Edwin, his brother, passed away when he was 24.

In his lifetime, it was said that he found the amount of gold equivalent to his weight.

He passed away on 20th May 1899.

General Information

Family

Augustus married Rebecca Cooke on 16th August 1854 in Collingwood. They had 7 children, however Rebecca and 6 of their children died from dysentery. Dysentery is an infection of the intestines which was common because the water that they drunk was the water they used to wash the gold.

Augustus married again on 1st January, 1868. He married Margery Hokin. They had 16 children, however 4 died in infancy.

Augustus and his second wife, Margery Augustus’ first wife, Rebecca

A new country…

John Yandell, Augustus’ father, was a glassmaker and he made houses of 5 acres. A law was created that the houses could only be 1 acre. John didn’t agree with these laws and wanted to move countries.An advertisement in the paper was also made that a captain of a mine was needed in South Australia. John sent a letter saying that he had experience, which lead him to coming to Australia.

The first two-storey house in Castlemaine

Augustus travelled to Australia with his mother, father and his two brothers, Edward Usher and George Henry. He came because jobs were available in Australia, however he wouldn’t have wanted to travel back to England as his family was living in Australia. He was also very successful in the country giving him many more opportunities here than back in England.They travelled on the ‘Bolivar’ which left Plymouth, England on 12th October 1849. It arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia on 29th January, 1850. The ‘Bolivar’ carried 142 recorded passengers.Life on board the ship was unpleasant, with most people suffering from sickness. Most passengers lived in the steerage in the bottom of the boat. There were three deaths while the ship was sailing. They travelled for 108 days from England to Australia. John’s wife was very unwell on the journey, so a woman that lost her husband offered his bed to Elizabeth. John Yandell, Augustus’ father, wrote a journal on the voyage describing the weather and what happened on board. He wrote the latitude and longitude co-ordinates for each day. This journal is now being displayed in the Maritime Museum in Sydney.

Travelling Australia• When Augustus arrived in Australia with his family, they travelled to Burra Burra Copper

Mines, north of Adelaide.• When gold was discovered in Victoria, Augustus boarded a ship heading from Adelaide to

Melbourne. Rumours in Victoria were spreading that gold was being found at Mt. Alexander, so Augustus bought a wheelbarrow and put his belongings in it and walked through the bush to Mt. Alexander which is now known as Castlemaine.

• Augustus travelled in Victoria looking for a good place to find gold before he settled in Castlemaine. He walked through the bush with several other men to a place which is now called Digger’s Rest. He then reached a place about a mile from Gisborne. Augustus ran into many people along the way, saying that there was plenty of gold.

• Augustus said in his speech “At the time of my appearance on the diggings (December, 1851) there were about 5000 diggers at work surfacing, principally about the rich Red Hill, Chewton, sinking having first commenced at Golden Point.”

Castlemaine, 1890

He also said “We had to pay a gold license fee of 30 shillings per month, and I have seen new arrivals without licenses taken by the police.”Augustus came from Cornwall, England, however there is little information on where he travelled in England.

Work When Augustus arrived in Australia, he

worked in the Copper mines in Burra Burra, South Australia. After he moved to Mt. Alexander, (Castlemaine) he spent four years looking for gold when he finally ‘struck it lucky’.

Augustus found 3 pounds of gold in one day, which is approximately 1.5 kilograms. In those times, it was valued at around $19,000.

Augustus later became the mayor of Castlemaine after he was elected for being a ‘good person in the community.’

Augustus opened up a pharmacy and created potions from herbs to help the sick and injured. He was given recipes from his grandmother in England. Augustus wasn’t a trained pharmacist.

Augustus also helped build the first stone house in Castlemaine which was a huge achievement for the community.

Augustus as mayor of Castlemaine

When Augus tus worked on the go ldfi e lds and in the m ines , he wou ld have l i ved in a tent . When he t rave l l ed f rom Ade la ide to V i c to r ia , the food was ve ry expens ive and wate r was d i r ty. In h i s speech , Augus tus sa id that the Germans dug in to the g round fo r bo re wate r and so ld i t

a t a p r i ce that was hard to aff ord .

On the go ldfi e lds , Augus tus wou ld have worn an o ld sh i r t and t rousers , whereas when he became the mayor he wore a su i t w i th a top hat . The type o f hat they wore de te rmined the i r s ta tus . The h ighes t was a top

hat , then a bo la r hat and then a go ld d igger ' s cap .

LIFE ON THE GOLDFIELDS

The first stone house in the background, with Augustus 3rd to the left in the middle row.

Augustus is second to the left at the opening of the Castlemaine Market.

Living conditionsWhen Augustus worked at the mines and on the goldfields, he would have lived in a tent along with others. His tent was cut into several times because thefts and robberies were common. When Augustus struck gold, he became wealthy and was able to afford houses for his family. Augustus bought the first two-story house in Castlemaine.

EducationAugustus knew how to read and write before he came to Australia. His father, John Yandell, was a preacher in the Parish Church in Cornwall, England. John was also a preacher on the goldfields in Australia.

Likely AttitudesFamily was important to Augustus as he had many children. He provided a house for every one of his children when they grew up. He taught others about God and provided to the community through becoming the mayor of Castlemaine. He helped the sick through creating a pharmacy using herbs to treat patients.

Advantages• He was wealthy from discovering

gold.• Was able to provide money for

his family.

Disadvantages• He lost his first wife and 6 of

his children on the goldfields.• Lost 4 children with his second

wife.

FriendsAugustus would have made many friends through his herbal potion business. Many of his friends were other counsellors and church members.

John Yandell married Elizabeth Wenmouth

William HenryBorn 16/5/1823Married Mary Ann BallardDied 26/12/1886

ElizabethBorn 3/12/1824Died 20/12/1824

John ThomasBorn 18/11/1825Married Mary Perkins DangarDied 6/7/1867Robert Edwin

Born 8/2/1828Died 9/3/1844

Augustus CourtsBorn 29/11/1831Married Rebecca CookeMarried Margery HokinDied 16/8/1854

Edward UsherBorn 28/5/1835Married Mary Jane WaterhouseDied 25/12/1868

Edmund GeorgeBorn 21/1/1837Died 1/2/1837

George HenryBorn 8/7/1841Married Elizabeth Emma KempDied 19/6/1896

John Yandell Margery Yandell (Hokin)

Augustus’ children

Bibliography

Title URL (If one)

Author Date found Date created

Augustus Courts Yandell

http://records.ancestry.com/Augustus_Courts_Yandell_records.ashx?pid=123442693

Unknown 20/3/2014 Unknown

Journal of John Yandell

John Yandell 23/3/2014 1849

Speech from Augustus Yandell

Augustus Yandell

23/3/2014 7/1/1889I also interviewed my great uncle, Ron. He supplied many photos and the journal that I found out about on the internet. I also asked my Mum many questions as she knew who Augustus was.