Wonthaggi

Where are the miners now, Old before their time? New to the work, the backbreaking work, The ardent young men began, deep beneath the ground. Hardened within the coal face, Anxious wives waiting, Gaining fuel for the nation, Gambling with their lives, In the toil of long ago.
Inge Meldgaard 2010

Photo and references: http://wonthaggi.net/4.html http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=189 Wikipedia: The name "Wonthaggi" is an Aboriginal word (from the Woiwurrung - Eastern Kulin) which means "to drag, carry or pull with the wind." Coal was discovered by explorer William Hovell at Cape Paterson, South-Eastern Victoria, in 1826, and was subsequently mined from the Powlett River fields in the region, between 1859 and 1864. However, transporting the coal by whale boat through the surf to larger ships, anchored offshore, proved costly and dangerous, and mining activity was soon curtailed. Much of the coal for the colony of Victoria was sourced from Newcastle and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, along with local supplies from private and co-operative coal mines at Outtrim, Jumbunna and Korumburra in Gippsland. After the 1909-1910 strike by coal miners in the Hunter Valley, the Victorian state government was determined to ensure stability in local supplies of coal. The State Coal Mine and the town of Wonthaggi came into being in 1910 to supply coal for the steam rail network. Despite the thin seams and extreme faulting that made it so dangerous, around 2000 former gold miners flocked there within weeks, establishing the town. In its heyday, the State Coal Mine was a bustling network of tunnels, filled with men and pit ponies, dust and dim lights. Deep below the surface, miners toiled to dig the valuable black coal, which was Wonthaggi's lifeblood, from 1909 to 1968. On the morning of February 15th 1937, the miners gathered on the steps of the Union Theatre for a stop work meeting to protest the continuing lack of safety in the mines. The meeting was about to begin when a violent explosion rocked the town. That morning, 13 maintenance men had descended the shaft. All 13 lost their lives. Described as one of the largest and most dangerous collieries in Australia, the mine took 80 lives over its time.