Welcome to the story of Raub Gold

Castlemaine 1869 - 1875


The links on this page give a short history of William’s time in Castlemaine. Listed are mining leases he had in the Castlemaine area and his interests in shares in Gold Mining Companies. Included also are details of a letters of patent he had granted by the Attorney General’s Department for a direct steam driven stamping machine for crushing the ore.

William first lived at Barkers Creek about a mile north of Castlemaine on the Harcourt/Bendigo road. William’s main partner in his enterprises whilst he was in Barkers Creek and later Castlemaine was John Hopkins Walter who owned The Old England Hotel which was on the main road and at the entrance to Specimen Gully where gold was first found in 1851. See an image of this hotel on this page. It is now a private residence but the bar has been restored to its former state of the time. Descendants of Hopkins Walter still live in Castlemaine.

CLICK HERE to see a description of the Bibby family in Barkers Creek and Castlemaine.

CLICK HERE to see a list of William’s Mining Leases.

CLICK HERE to see William’s share holding list.

A notice in the Melbourne Argus regarding William’s letters of patent appeared in 1874. This was when he was most successful as a mine manager and owner in Castlemaine.

Click on Image to see the full patent No. 1873 granted in February 1874

William Bibb'y Patent 1873.pdf

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The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria Friday 27 February 1874 p 4

Article

William Bibby Castlemaine Patent

Letters patent were granted by the Attorney-General yesterday to Mr. William Bibby, of Castlemaine, for certain improvements in direct-acting steam-stamping machinery, by which it is said that this kind of crushing plant may be more economically and efficiently constructed and worked than by the existing methods. The whole apparatus is supported on one framing, and is so arranged that a constant upward pressure of steam lifts hollow-shanked stampers until they reach the required height, when by their own motion they open a supply of steam to the top of the shank, and give the required downward pressure to the stampers to enable them to descend with sufficient violence to crush the quartz supplied to the box. A pneumatic cylinder is provided for the purpose of shutting off steam at the right moment and causing it to act expansively. Every part acts and reacts upon some other in such a way as to make the machine perfectly automatic; all that is required to keep it at work being to provide a sufficient pressure of steam.