A day in the life of a Castlemaine Goldfields Commissioner

Castlemaine Historical Society will hold its next general meeting on Monday, October 1, at 7.30pm. The society will welcome Emeritus Professor John Ramsland, OAM as the guest speaker on this occasion who will speak about Alexander Smith, R.N., Antarctic explorer and Goldfields Commissioner.
John Ramsland OAM is Emeritus Professor at the University of Newcastle NSW and a well-regarded historian with broad interests including Aboriginal studies, sport, education, child social welfare, war and maritime history.
He is the author of 18 books and many articles. Children of the Back Lanes, Custodians of the Soil (now translated into French) and Remembering Aboriginal Heroes (co-authored) are considered classics in their field.
His most recent books include From Antarctica to the Gold Fields in the wake of the Erebus (2011). Soon to be released is a biography of Joseph Maxwell VC - World War I hero.
Alexander John Smith had an idyllic childhood and home education in a large elite family in the naval establishment and town of Greenwich south of London on the Thames.
At 14 he joined the Royal Navy as a Volunteer Midshipman beginning a distinguished seafaring career following in the footsteps of family heritage.
He sailed the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans serving the Royal Navy for 17 years and gradually worked his way up the ranks until noticed and chosen to serve on the famous James Clark Ross British Antarctic Expedition of 1839-1843 as First Mate aboard the Erebus.
After the arduous Ross Expedition, which lasted nearly four-and-a-half years, Smith married and settled in Van Diemen's Land.
As a naval officer working at the Rossbank Observatory in Hobart, he made distinctive contributions to navigation science in the 1840s. After he resigned from the Royal Navy in 1852, he was appointed on March 9, 1853 as a Goldfields Commissioner for Castlemaine in Victoria.
This was soon after the gold rush to Mount Alexander that began in September, 1851.
Smith reflected on his experiences during his sea voyages and his time on the gold fields in letters sent to members of his family in England between 1830 and 1872 (now held in a private collection of a descendent).
These letters bring to life the adventure into the Antarctic in the extreme dangers of the pack ice and his insightful eye-witness accounts of the turbulent, sometimes violent, but always colourful gold rushes of the 1850s where he witnessed the temporary miners' camps becoming a township.
He provides a rare contemporary picture of day-to-day life in and out of the Castlemaine Commissioner's Camp.
This will be an opportunity to hear the story of a man who may not have received the recognition he deserves. The meeting will be held at the Former Courthouse, 7 Goldsmith Crescent, Castlemaine. All welcome.