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Libby, How fascinating this must all be for you.
Sofala caught my eye as my 2 x great grandparents were in that area in 1853 before moving across to the richer diggings at Tambaroora a few miles away as the crow flies. The gold big rush was well underway and thousands were flocking to the area after their personal El Dorado. Many came to grief as the results of accidents, weather conditions, disease including the nasties typhoid and cholera, poor food supplies etc. If Myles arrived in August winter there would have been quite severe weatherwith occasional snow falls. At that time there would have been only the most basic "shanty" town "services".
One account I read describing the early days of the gold rushes there made the point that many of the hopeful prospectors died unknown and the families they left behind in Australian towns or overseas would never have known their fate.
Sofala caught my eye as my 2 x great grandparents were in that area in 1853 before moving across to the richer diggings at Tambaroora a few miles away as the crow flies. The gold big rush was well underway and thousands were flocking to the area after their personal El Dorado. Many came to grief as the results of accidents, weather conditions, disease including the nasties typhoid and cholera, poor food supplies etc. If Myles arrived in August winter there would have been quite severe weatherwith occasional snow falls. At that time there would have been only the most basic "shanty" town "services".
One account I read describing the early days of the gold rushes there made the point that many of the hopeful prospectors died unknown and the families they left behind in Australian towns or overseas would never have known their fate.
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