C. Ganly

It is the little known and largely untold story of gold mining in a suburb of Geelong, Victoria. The site was Mercer’s Hill in the suburb of Newtown. Between 1851 and 1878 no less than 7 different companies and prospecting operations tried their luck at discovering gold there. Despite all the indications of the futility and the failures of the past, each new endeavor attacked the hill with gusto and each one ended in complete failure. The story is largely unknown and has not been described in any detail to date. It is a fascinating tale of optimism and hope and then inevitable failure.