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Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 2004-07 > 1089598503


From: Andrew Rodger <>
Subject: Re: [ZA] Gold Diggers in Natal
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:15:03 +1000
In-Reply-To: <008c01c46565$49abe1c0$650aa8c0@heatherpc>


We should not be surprised at gold having turned up in all so many
places, albeit in small quantities; in fact, it is the huge deposits
such as those on the Rand, at Kalgoorlie, Bendigo and Ballarat, and in
California and South America, that are the exception. Small deposits
have been found from the earliest times, for example, in Scotland,
Ireland, Scandinavia, India, various parts of Africa (though some of
those in North Africa were of a size to give rise to legends) and many
more places. But of course the purity of the metal, its
incorruptibility and its easy working made it highly prized and easily
recycled, and it was traded over surprisingly long distances from the
beginning. So though gold turns up in many cultures, it is not always
easy to know where they got it from.

On Friday, July 9, 2004, at 01:31 PM, Heather MacAlister wrote:

> Hi All
>
> for my pounds worth there were gold mines believe it or not in Knysna -
> have
> even been to see the old mines and the site !!!
> Cannot remember off hand the name of the mine but it is in the forest
> somewhere
> cheers
> Heather
>
> Heather's South African Genealogy Help List www.genealogy.co.za
>
> Cape Town Family History Society www.genealogy.co.za/society/socweb.htm
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Hayes" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 5:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [ZA] Gold Diggers in Natal
>
>
>> On 8 Jul 2004 at 19:43, Sharon Warr wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Keith
>>> Thanks for the info - the ship definitely called only at Cape Town
>>> from
>>> Melbourne and was on its way to England.
>>> Wonder what they were going to dig in Natal then.
>>
>> There were rumours of gold in Zululand.
>>
>> There was a fellow called Vanderplank, brought black wattle seeds from
>> Australia, lived for a while at Camperdown. His descendants farmed at
>> Osborne, named after the British Resident pf Zululand, Sir Melmoth
> Osborne,
>> and the town of Osborne was laid out. But there were rumours of gold
>> about
> 10
>> miles away, and everyone moved over there, to the farm Golden Reef. A
>> new
>> town grew up there, called Melmoth, and the name of Osborne was
>> changed to
>> Protest in protest. But the Melmoth car numberplates remained NO, for
>> Osborne.
>>
>> And the Vanderplanks farmed Protest, and grew black wattle. And the
>> gold
>> proved not to exist in payable quantities, and now the wattle industry
>> has
>> also died, and it's all sugar cane nowadays. And Bertram Vanderplank
>> was a
>> member of the 1924 Springbok Rugby Team.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Steve Hayes
>> E-mail:
>> Web: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
>> Phone: 083-342-3563 or 012-333-6727
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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