Hugh Mosman (11 February 1843 – 15 November 1909) was a mine owner and politician in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. He discovered gold in

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

Early life

Mosman was born on 11 February 1843 in

Mosman, New South Wales Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative c ...

. Merchant

Archibald Mosman Archibald Mosman (15 October 1799 – 29 January 1863) was a Scottish-born merchant, grazier and whaler in New South Wales, Australia. Early life Archibald Mosman was born on 15 October 1799 in Scotland to Hugh Mosman, convener of Lanark and Agn ...

(1799–1863) was his father, and his mother was Harriet née Farquharson Hugh received his education at The King's School in

North Parramatta, New South Wales North Parramatta is a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Parramatta is north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. History T ...

. Mosman initially aspired to be a pastoralist, but failed to establish a successful career and was left broke., He visited

in 1860, hoping to acquire properties there; this was also unsuccessful. Mosman decided then to try his hand at

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

. He spent the next ten years mining, and in 1870 he revisited Queensland, choosing to work in Ravenswood.

Gold

On 24 December 1871, Mosman was travelling with miners George Clark, James Fraser, and his servant, Jupiter Mosman, attempting to locate missing horses. After he found them, Jupiter located some shining gold nestled in a creek. Mosman named the place where the gold had been located

(Charters Tors) after the gold mining warden W. S. E. M. Charters. After Jupiter's discovery was reported in January 1872, Ravenswood's population blossomed to around 30,000 people. The discovery prompted a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

in north of Queensland. Mosman's life was largely simple from that point forward. In 1882, Mosman's left forearm was blown off by dynamite, which had exploded earlier than it was supposed to. Mosman remained generally reclusive up until June 1891, when he became a member of the

Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

. He did not give many speeches, and they were noted as being "conservative and unremarkable". He resigned in January 1905.

Later life

In retirement, Mosman pursued his interest in horse racing, owning a number of horses. His horse ''Balfour'' won the

Queensland Turf Club The Queensland Turf Club (QTC) was founded in August 1863. It began on a piece of land in Ascot, Queensland, later called Eagle Farm Racecourse Eagle Farm Racecourse is a heritage-listed horse racing venue in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ...

Derby in 1902. In 1899, Mosman purchased a 300-acre farm in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where he bred race horses. In the final months of his life, he was not in good health. However, on Saturday 13 November 1909, Mosman went to

Eagle Farm Racecourse Eagle Farm Racecourse is a heritage-listed horse racing venue in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located at the northern end of Racecourse Road in the suburb of Ascot, from the Brisbane central business district. The turf track is wi ...

for the Derby race, but was forced to return home after the first race feeling ill. On the following Monday 15 November, he was at his residence ''Easton Gray'', Soudan Street,

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, when he drank a glass of milk and died. He was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

on 16 November 1909. He never married but was well-connected through his sisters Harriette (second wife of

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Thomas McIlwraith Sir Thomas McIlwraith (17 May 1835 – 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. In common with most po ...

) and Cecilia (wife of

Arthur Hunter Palmer Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer (28 December 1819 – 20 March 1898) was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Premier of Queensland, in office from 1870 to 1874. He later held ministerial office in Thomas McIlwraith's ministry from 1879 ...

). He and left over £70,000 to his relatives, much of it to his nephew Cecil Palmer.

Legacy

Mosman's farm in Auckland was sold to investors in December 1910, eventually becoming the modern-day

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

suburb of

Favona Favona is a mostly industry-dominated suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, and is part of the Māngere area. The suburb is in the Manukau ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland city, and is under governance of the Auckland ...

. A street in Charters Towers was named after him.

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

, a suburb in Charters Towers, is named after him. The

Mossman River The Mossman River is a river in lower Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Geography The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a deeply in ...

was named by the explorer George Dalrymple on 6 December 1873. Dalrymple wrote ''"I named this river the Mossman River, after Mossman, an explorer and mining man, member of a very prominent mining family"''. The town of Mossman takes its name from the river. The house ''Easton Gray'' (home of the Palmer family) and its 18 acres of land was sold in 1944 to construct Toowong High School, now

Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology The Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology (QASMT) is a selective entry high school in Toowong, Queensland, Australia. It was developed in partnership with the University of Queensland. QASMT offers the International Baccala ...

References

Sources