Daily Standard Tuesday 12 May 1925

Highgate Hill May Be Another Mt Morgan

FIND OF GOLD IN BACKYARD

Prospecting Being Carried Out

One of those who thinks he has a fortune in his backyard is Mr. C. Williams, of Gladstone-road, Highgate Hill.  He and two experienced miners found good surface indications last week, so they started to dig on Saturday last. Within a foot of the surface they struck blue looking stone, a piece of which was so decorated with gold that it would not take much of it to place Mr. Willams in Easy-street. One assay of a small piece of the stone returned 50 per cent gold and 40 per cent copper.

GOLD FOUND LONG AGO.

There Is a legend , that when the land opposite Mr. William’s property was being built upon many years ago gold was located in the holes dug for house slumps, but the owner of the property would not permit-mining to be carried on to test the ground.  

Article image from the National Library of Australia’s Newspaper Digitisation Program

The Brisbane Courier-Mail Wednesday 13 May 1925

A Bubble Pricked

Gold Find in Suburban Backyard

Highgate Hill is not to rival Mount Morgan. The reported “gold” find in a back yard at Gladstone road, it is officially stated, merely comprised the discovery of a piece of copper ore [..] which was accidentally found far from its point of origin.

On April 8 a lump of what was apparently high grade copper ore [..] was unearthed at a depth of around one foot on the adjoining allotment.[…] A careful search of both places failed to find any sign of a lode formation.

A Fire engine climbs Gladstone Road near Dornoch Terrace, 1929  State Library of Queensland

Historical Notes

News of this gold find was widely reported around Queensland. The Western Champion published in Barcaldine, for example, a few days earlier ran an article calling Highgate Hill the “aristocratic area of South Brisbane” and mentioned the rock found comprised 50% gold. This article finished by saying “’If there is a gold rush to Highgate Hill, it will absorb the unemployed. If they have no other prospects, they will starve”.

In 1925, the great depression had not yet commenced, however unemployment in Australia ranged up to 11%. A decision in that year by the UK government to put the pound sterling back on the gold standard had a negative flow- on impact on the Australian economy, causing rapid deflation.

The gold was found behind this house at 75 Gladstone Road