THIS week’s photo is of Bernhardt Otto Holtermann, possibly one of the best-known residents of Hill End and part-owner of a very productive underground goldmine. This is the first of a three-part series that will tell part of the story behind one of the nation’s early philanthropists.
The image of Holtermann was taken by the American & Australasian Photographic Company in 1872 in Hill End.
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The Australian goldfields hold a special fascination for many people, especially those who live in towns and cities near these early mining enterprises, in this case at Hill End and Tambaroora.
Bernhardt Otto Holtermann was born on April 29, 1838 in Hamburg in northern Germany.
His father was John Henry Holtermann and his mother was Anna (née Nachtigall). After finishing his elementary schooling, he went to work in his home country.
Times were not easy in Germany as they were lagging behind Great Britain, France and Belgium, who were the leaders in industrial development around this time.
In order to avoid being conscripted into the army to do three years’ service, Holtermann sailed to England in pursuit of his brother Herman.
Later, he ventured down to the Liverpool Docks in 1858, deciding to leave the country. He sailed to Melbourne on the 937-ton Salem, working as a waiter to help pay his passage.
After a 100-day sea voyage with Captain Brett, he disembarked on Saturday, August 7, 1858, with the ship then travelling on to Sydney with 490 passengers.
Staying just a few days in Melbourne, he soon located another ship, the City of Sydney, under Captain R.J. Moodie, to take him to the Colony of New South Wales.
He was listed as a miner named “Ortertman”. There were 45 other miners listed, some with families. The rest of the passengers were listed as “gentlefolk”.
They departed from Port Melbourne on August 12 and arrived five days later, where he began to search for his brother, who was already in Sydney. Holtermann was 19.
One assumes he hoped to get a loan off his brother.
He obviously looked around for some type of job, but one has to question how hard he looked. He had little chance due to his limited knowledge of the English language, though jobs were on offer as most menfolk had headed inland to the goldfields.
He did decide to take a job on a small schooner named Rebecca based in Sydney and sailed in mid-September to several Pacific Islands before returning to Sydney on January 20 the following year. Holtermann had the job of steward.
He also managed to get a job at the Hamburg Hotel in Sydney, where he worked as a waiter.
It was here that he was first approached to go to the goldfields by a miner on the goldfields near Adelong. This miner had been lucky and struck it rich, so he was on the lookout for men to support him in working his claim.
One assumes the plan fell through, because some time after, Holtermann met a Polish immigrant named Ludwig Hugo Louis Beyers. He was a miner.
After some persuasion, the two travelled by horse and cart to the Tambaroora-Hill End area in 1861, where they prospected for over half a decade with little success, even working elsewhere to make ends meet to retain their claim because it returned so little.
The two men initially lived in tents on the goldfield. Holtermann was no miner, despite being listed as such on the ship’s passenger list, though he gained information all the time.
They began prospecting around Hawkins Hill. Holtermann had already found that life as a miner was hard and dangerous.
The two men became partners in establishing the Star of Hope Mine at Hawkins Hill.
