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Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. About Alison Stuart
  3. Also by Alison Stuart
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Author’s Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Preview of The Goldminer's Sister

In its heyday, Walhalla was a busy gold-mining town of several thousand people, dominated by pubs, the extensive gold mines and the incessant noise of the gold stampers, recorded by no less a person than the English writer Anthony Trollope. The hillsides for miles around were denuded of vegetation and lovely Stringers Creek was little more than a polluted drain. Hard to imagine today. Sadly, the First World War effectively killed the town, as the young men went off to fight and the gold mines became untenable. Several attempts have been made to revitalise the gold mining but they have come to nothing. It has not stopped my husband and I panning some of the creeks in the area—to no avail.

In my extensive research into the actual history of Walhalla, I did come across several very interesting stories, which I have been delighted to weave into my own narrative. The incident with the smallpox scare (and the method used to deal with it) occurred in Walhalla in 1869 and I was able to draw on detailed contemporary accounts. The quick thinking of the town’s doctors (coincidentally, an alcoholic Irishman and an American) saved the town. I recently came across the lonely grave of the only victim, Sarah Hanks, high above the town.

Sadly, the town’s Irish doctor died on the Melbourne coach in similar, but less sinister, circumstances to those of my Dr. Bowen. His grave can still be found at the Shady Creek cemetery (which, being on private land, is not accessible to the public).

The character of Lil is loosely based on the larger than life Kitty Cane, a former dancer who ran a grog shop on the road to Aberfeldy. When Kitty died she was carried down the hill to the Walhalla Cemetery, but alas, her bulk was such that those carrying her coffin abandoned it in a hastily dug grave at the side of the road where it can still be seen today.

I have taken a liberty with the date of the first Cole’s Funny Picture Book for which I apologise. It was not published until 1879. I always thought it was rather an odd book myself but in its day it was hugely popular and I liked the idea of Danny reading it.

It has been a great pleasure writing a story set in my own backyard, so as to speak, and I am looking forward to sharing the second Maiden’s Creek story with you.

Alison Stuart

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements