The Goldfields

The Dorhauer Timber Yard in Hill End, according to the Map of "Hill End First Leaseholders" and Harry Hodge's book "The Hill End Story' on page 64 was situated in Clarke Street, next to P. J. Brady's Store. It must have been relocated November 1872 to the site diagonally opposite 'W.Stevens Fancy Goods Store" on the corner of  Short Street. Access to it was from Gerrmantown Lane,  down from Louis Beyer's Cottage  which was on the corner.

The buildings surrounding the timber yard changed dramaticaly in the 12 month period between November 1872 and November 1873 with buildings being removed and others being  built. Shops like W. Stevens Tobacconist and Meaghers which were opposite the timber yard were possibly not there in November 1872, but can be seen in the Panarama Photograph.

 This photo of the Beyer's family can be accurately  dated to between November 1872 and  July 1873  as the Dorhauer timber yard was  closed down and Heinrich returned to Sydney  by  July 1873  for the inaugural meeting of what is now the  Master  Builders Association. of NSW.

There is some indication that Heinrich G T had travelled to country areas prior to him returning to Woollahra. There is a record held in the State records center showing that at least two unclaimed letters were returned from the country to the Sydney GPO. Unfortunately these letters were destroyed by the GPO. Whether or not he had been investigating opportunities on the gold fields, we will probably never know.

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My research has uncovered the following:   (source: Hill End family History & Sands Directory & The Hill End Story, Bks 1 & 2 By Harry Hodge and family documents)

 Heinrich Gottfried Theodore is listed as living in Woollahra in 1858 and he opened a timber yard which extended from Moncur street to what is now Dorhauer lane. His brother, Heinrich Christian also had a timber yard at 60 Queen street.

Johann Krohmann married my great aunt Eva Heinz in 1860 and they moved to Hill End where he had already built his timber slab and mud cottage about 1856, and where their seven children was born in the 1860's.

Johann and Eva built additions to what is now called "The Krohmann Cottage" ( see Krohmann Cottage in section 3 book 1) to accommodate their growing family. His brother in law, Michael Ackermann built a cottage at the bottom of the block which can be seen on the "Map of the Village of Hill End and Suburban and Adjacent Lands, Parish of Tambaroora, County of Wellington"

William Frenzel lived in the Krohmann Cottage for a time after John and Eva  took their children back to Germany.  Elizabeth Krohmann nee Ackermann who was John Krohmann's second wife after the death of his first wife Eva, returned to Hill End in 1881 and lived in the cottage for two years before moving to Sydney.

Johann was a wine merchant and he planted a vineyard and vegetable garden next to their cottage. His intention was to provide wine and vegetables to the miners and their families, especially those who travelled through the area en route to other surrounding gold fields. He was having problems with people stealing his vegetables, so he took an advertisement in the local newspaper, the "Times" issuing this warning " Warning to marauders. mantraps are laid in my garden " He wasn't bluffing, these mantraps were found in 1951 in a shed on what was once his property.

In 1865 John Krohmann was occupying his first gold mine. He and seven others took up ground in the "Excelsior" lease after Joseph Wythes had withdrawn occupation of it, with the intention of sinking a shaft to cut the rich veins, but he abandoned the lease when Hawkins Hill opened up. (Source; Sydney Morning Herald 4th May 1872).

In 1871 he reported the finding of three rich new veins. and as more gold was being discovered he took the opportunity and started another syndicate, with shares purchased by the Dorhauer, Heinz, and possibly the some members of the Ackermann families. No register was kept except for a 500 pound receipt belonging to either the Heinz or Ackermann Family. 

Johann Heinz was a partner with his brother in law, Johann Krohmann. Contrary to belief these were the only two partners in the Krohmann Mine (Sydney Morning Herald 29th March 1872, and 10th May 1872).

Krohmann and Heinz both held a quarter share after an offer was made in March 1872 for a £7,500  full share in the the Krohmann mine by the Hon. George Henry Cox, M.L.C., and G. Rose Esq. of Mudgee, or a half share of £3,750. It appears that the full share  offer was taken up as Krohmann sold  his quarter share to a Mr Edwards for L30,000.00 The same party had previously bought a share in Carroll & Beards claim for £10,000 pounds. (Evening News Sydney NSW 1869-1931. Thursday 20th Feb 1873)

In 1866 the "Robert Burns Gold Mining Company" was formed with Heinrich Dorhauer appointed as one of two trustees. (source: Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 7th august 1866 page 4)

Maria Dorhauer, Heinrich's fisrt wife owned 20 shares in the" Paxton Gold Mining Co." in 1872

The Dorhauer timber yard first opened in Hill End after the end of July 1871 in Clarke Street next door to P.J. Brady's Store on lot 6, section 18, page 172 (Source: Hill End Occupancy Index). and relocated to the road to Germantown site in November 1872. An advertisement in the "Hill End & Tambaroora Times & Mining Advocate" stated that it was open for business on this date. The yard was closed down just prior to October 1873 when Heinrich returned to Woollahra.

The timber yard was re- located to the central part of Clarke Street in November 1872 on land owned by J. C. Kerr alongside Germantown Lane, accross from Beyer's Cottage, and diagonally opposite Short Street and W. Stevens & Co. Tobacconist, which was on the corner of Short Street, Hill End, and The photograph taken by Beaufoy Merlin for the Holtermann collection shows both brothers in the timber yard. The original glass plate negative is held in the NSW State Library in Sydney.There is mention of the Dorhauer Timber Yard in book #1 page 64 of "the Hill End Story" by Hodge, although the name is misspelled and the location of the yard is given as next to P.J. Brady Store which was the original location before it moved.

Between July 1872 and 1874 Heinrich G T travelled back and forth from Hill End To Woollahra. He was in Hill End in 1873 to sign the Petition to form Hill End into a Borough and he was in Woollahra in July, November and again in October of 1874 to attend meetings of the Builders & Contractors Association of NSW.

In 1872 Heinrich G T Dorhauer, in partnership with a Hill End miner, J C Ross held two 5 acre mining leases, one at Wattle Flat, lease # 3495, and the other at Sofala, lease # 3521.. (Source: Auriferous Leases 1873. NSW Government Gazette).

Wattle Flat was an alluvial and quartz mining township located about 14 kilometers from Bathurst. The surrounding area is mountainous and well timbered.

On 5th October 1872 a notice appeared in the 'Evening News' Sydney from the  Kaiserkrone Goldminer Promoters Company that the Wattle Flat Gold lease held By Heinrich Dorhauer and J. C. Ross contained both fine and coarse gold deposits and that the lease was a very valuable property. it was located No. 2 south of "The Planet" line of leases, and adjoining the Southern Cross Gold Mining Company's lease.  Both leases were declared void in 1876 so they must have been worked out by this time.

 Timber for building in Hill End was a scarce commodity, because miners took trees from the area to shore up their mines, and to build their bark and daub huts, so the Dorhauer brothers would have had to transport their timber from the Bathurst area and probably from their timber yards in Woollahra. Rydal was the pick up point for much of the merchandise, mine supplies, and timber, which was carted by bullock wagons, three horse drays, or wagonettes to the field.

Heinrich Christian's children were all born in Sydney, so he would probably have been travelling back and forth to Hill End a few times to help keep the timber yard stocked and to father his children and see his wife Wilhelmina and family.

Heinrich Gottfried's first child was not born until 1879 in Sydney, so he probably remained at the Hill End Timber yard while his brother did the travelling. While his first wife, Maria remained in Woollahra.

It is unclear if Maria's nephew, Adolph Wagner went with them to Hill End or if he remained in Sydney.  It is known that he became wealthy in his own right, and at one time he was listed as a "Gentleman Of Means" his occupation in his later years was listed as "Plasterer" so it is thought that he probably carried out all the plastering work for Heinrich and Christian, who on their return from Hill End became prolific builders in the Woollahra area.

Through information derived from family members, particularly my cousin Merle Atkins, Great Grand Daughter of Heinrich Christian, and other sources. Both brothers probably also had shares in the syndicate for the " Star Of Hope gold Mine", as well as "The Krohmann Gold Mine".

Merle still has a gold family ring that belonged to her great grandfather Heinrich Christian, believed to be moulded from a gold sample taken from either the Holtermannn nugget or the Krohmann claim.

The Star of Hope Mine syndicate was headed by Hugo Ludwig Louis Beyers and Bernard Otto Holtermann and on 19th. October 1872 they unearthed one of the worlds largest gold nuggets, weighing 630 lbs.

Most of the colour, glamour and legend associated with Hill End developed in the years 1871 and 1872. Dishonest "PROMOTERS" were luring unsuspecting shareholders to invest in worthless mines, using the magic name of "Krohmann", because this mine was one of the largest and most profitable mines in Australia.

The Dorhauer involvement in the Krohmann gold mine, particularly for Heinrich GT was later to become more of a family affair. On the 31st. of July 1878 he married my Great Grandmother Margaretha Heinz, after the death of his first wife Maria Weber. Margaretha's sister Eva, my great aunt, married John Krohmann in 1860. It was most likely through Heinrich's association with John Krohmann that he first met Margaretha. 

The Heinz family were also in Hill End, they arrived there from Clarence Town about 1860. Johann had an allotment number 148 in Germantown Lane, not far from the Krohmannn allotment. Eva and Margaretha's brother, Johann Heinz was a partner in the Krohmann Mine, as well as operating his own mines. After he left Hill End he prospected at the Kiandra gold fields, as well as some prospecting at the Temora fields. He was to make his fortune on the Gold Fields. 

On 23rd May 1872, Margaretha's brother, Johann took her back to Germany for a brief visit when she was 21 years old. They travelled with the Krohmann family on the ship "Baroda", in order to end a friendship that had developed between her and Bernard Holtermann that may have grown to more than platonic. 

Johann was later to be a witness at Margaretha's marriage to my Great Grandfather.The Krohmann mine was to become probably the  largest gold producing mine in Australia at that time. It was floated at 80,000 pounds and was situated on the western slope of Hawkins Hill. As previously mentioned, Johann Krohmann had been working his mine since 1866 which would have been financed from his market garden and wine agency. The governor of NSW, Sir Hercules Robinson visited the Krohmann mine in 1873 and fired a dynamite charge.

At least one miner died while working the mine, this was Alexander McIvor aged 34 years from Scotland who was accidently killed on 23 September 1872. He is buried in the Hill End general cemetery.