Tarnagulla

A history of Tarnagulla and Districts.
Centre of the Victorian Goldfields, Australia.

David Gordon Family Index

The David Gordon Index is a fantastic resource providing an index of the Tarnagulla Courier. The index has one section dedicated specifically to family references and hence is a great place to start if you're looking for a particular family name.
The David Gordon Family Index can be found here.
More details of the full David Gordon Index can be found here.

Tarnagulla full site search

The following search box provides a search of the entire Tarnagulla web site via a Google search tool.
Entering your family name below will return all references to that name on the Tarnagulla site. This will search across photos, articles, indexes and more.

The following family histories have been kindly submitted by people willing to share their stories and research. These documents have been provided in good faith and we ask that these are not reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the author(s). The contact details for the authors are included below in some instances. Where this information is not provided then please contact us via the Contact form and ask to contact the specific author.

Emale / Emellen Family History

History of the Nicholas (Emale) Emellen and his family.

Author: Bev Jacobson
Copyright 2018.

James & William Watkins Family History

A History of James and WIlliam Watkins.

Author: Lee-anne Birthisel
Copyright 2018.

Symons and Ball Family History

In 2018, Sarah and Colin Kellam from England visited Tarnagulla during their trip to Australia. Sarah is the grand-daughter of William John Symons V.C. who was born at Eaglehawk but comes from a line of long-term Tarnagulla pioneer residents via the Symons and Ball families. You can see from the attached essay that Sarah was more than a little captivated by the town - a sentiment we all share - and I'm sure you'll enjoy reading these interesting observations by someone from afar but with a special family relationship with the town and its people.

Author: Sarah Kellam
Copyright 2018.

Thomas Leech Family History

Notes and family history of Thomas Leech of Grassy Flat.
Thomas Leech owned property between Tarnagulla and Waanyarra.

Author: Sally Russell
Copyright 2017.

John & Margaret Smith and George & Catherine Graham Family History

In 1852 a number of young Scottish families, along with many hundreds of thousands of like-minded fortune-seekers, undertook the arduous trip to the Australian gold rushes.
Among these Scottish adventurers were John and Margaret Smith and George and Catherine Graham, who would, within a year or so, find themselves among the very early arrivals at the Sandy Creek diggings, as Tarnagulla was soon christened in its formative years.
The Smiths joined the rush along with hundreds and even thousands of other diggers at Sandy Creek and then Dunolly before making their final home at Talbot. The Grahams persevered at Sandy Creek/Tarnagulla and over time acquired farming land at Murphy's Creek where they went on to raise a large family and were district stalwarts for many years. In fact, the Grahams are one of the very few original 1850s pioneering families with descendants still living permanently in Tarnagulla.
Jenny Florence is a descendant of John and Margaret Smith, and she has contributed the attached article which I'm sure you will find interesting and informative. John Hunter Kerr is referred to in Jenny's story. He was an important figure in the early settlement of the Lower Loddon region and his name features prominently in Colonial squatting archives. Well done, Jenny, in researching the connection between the Smiths, Grahams and Hunter Kerr, and thank you for passing your research on to us.

Author: Jenny Florence
Copyright 2018.

Hiram Akers

A wonderful short story of the life of Hiram Akers from Penkridge (near Birmingham) UK to Tarnagulla. His photo appears as one of the early pioneers in the Tarnagulla hall.

Author: Des Akers
Copyright 2018.