James Christopher 2

After many decades living in Melbourne I recently visited for the first time the Melbourne General Cemetery. Lo and behold, just about the first monument I came across commemorates the Christopher family, at one time very prominent at Tarnagulla.

James Christopher was Tarnagulla's chemist from about 1860 until 1882, when the family moved to Clifton Hill, a Melbourne suburb. While at Tarnagulla, James took a great interest in town affairs, and served on the Borough Council as well as investing heavily in several of the gold mines around the district. He was responsible for the construction in 1867 of a substantial brick chemist's shop and residence which subsequently became the printery of the Tarnagulla Courier newspaper, then a doctor's surgery in the 1890s, and finally a private residence which is now the home of Therese and Sid Bilborough.