Australasia Mine DisasterPrint Page

The monument commemorates the victims of the Australasian No 2 mine disaster.

In December 1882, 22 miners drowned when water flooded the New Australasian No 2 Mine in Creswick. Over three days, a frantic rescue was attempted to find 27 men underground. Only five survived.

Note: The date inscribed on the memorial is the 3rd October 1909. 

CRESWICK, Monday.  The memorial erected to the 22 men who perished in the Australasian mining disaster on 12th December, 1882, was unveiled by the chairman of the memorial committee, Mr. W. P. Northcott, J.P., yesterday afternoon. About 4000 people attended. Prior to the unveiling a procession, comprising the combined brass bands of the district, Mr. C. C. Salmon, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Sir Alexander Peacock, M.L.A.; the mayor (Cr.Tait); members of the borough council and Miners' Association, marched from the town to the cemetery. Speeches bearing testimony to the brave deeds performed in connection with the disaster, and the legislation which had been passed towards ensuring the safety of miners as a result of the accident, were made by the members of Parliament and others.

The only living survivor of the five men who were rescued is Mr. John Manley, of North Creswick, and he is still engaged in mining at the West Berry Consols. Mr. James Harris, one of the three engine drivers who stuck to their task throughout the whole of the 50 hours which elapsed before the water was sufficiently reduced to reach the men, is also still in the district, working at the Berry United. The men drowned left 17 widows and 67 children. There are still seven widows receiving £21 per month from the mining accident relief fund raised at the time of the disaster, and which originally amounted to over £26,000. The children were brought up by means of the fund until they reached the age of 17. The monument, which is erected in the local cemetery, stands 16 feet high, and is composed of polished Balmoral granite on a bluestone base. The monument bears a suitable inscription, also the names of the 22 drowned miners. The cost was defrayed by public subscription. The proposal to erect it emanated from Mr. M. Harty, an elderly miner at Clementston, and he personally collected a huge proportion of the money required (about £100) from miners and others throughout the district.
Leader (Melbourne), 30 October 1909.

 

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