Spring is in the air!

Well, not here in Utah. But in Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia the canola paddocks are in bloom.

How lovely!

I have several ancestors who made the long journey from England to Australia for what I assume was in search of a better life.

One in particular was Isaac Oldcorn the eldest child of the 16 children of Thomas Oldcorn and Margaret Thompson.

Isaac my first cousin three times removed was born in 1832 in the village of Castle Sowerby, Cumberland, England.

Isaac changed his last name to “Olcorn” during the journey or on his arrival in Rutherglen. He then married his 1st wife Ann Roddy in 1862 and they had 5 children. Ann died in 1872 and he married his second wife Ann Frances Emms in 1873. Together they had 9 more children.

I wondered if he left the tranquil beauty of the English Lake District for the gold rush that was taking place and had to live in a miners camp…

In 1858 Gold was found in the local area at Chiltern and Cornishtown. This started a wave of prospectors sinking duffer shafts along the quartz belts. A group of Indigo diggers spent several weeks digging a hole in the heart of Rutherglen. On Saturday, September 9th, 1860 they finally struck gold starting the 'Wahgunyah Rush'. Within weeks thousands of people moved to Rutherglen. By December of that year seventeen deep leads and seven reefs of gold had been found.

The Main Street of Rutherglen was established and staked claims were selling for 10 pounds per foot. The Star Hotel was the first major establishment in the town on the corner of Argyle (Main) and Elizabeth (High) streets. Here the name of 'Rutherglen' was established over a few drinks! David G. Hamilton suggested if the proprietor of the 'Star', John A. Wallace was prepared to shout the bar he could call the town after his native town in Scotland. Wallace replied, "Right you are Davie, Rutherglen it shall be".

The Star Hotel

They say “Timing is Everything” and the gold rush did not last long so if Isaac did go for the gold he certainly had to find other employment soon after arriving.

The next big industry to hit Rutherglen was Wine Making and in 1900 a very unique Water Tower was built in town

Rutherglen Today is an Important wine growing district in northern Victoria.

Although Rutherglen is a former gold mining town it is best known as the centre of Victoria's long-established and most important wine-producing district. Fortified wines and dry reds are a specialty of this region. Rutherglen's charming atmosphere is conjured by the main street - an historic precinct with old timber buildings, verandah-fronted pubs, antique and bric-a-brac shops and tearooms. It is located in the easterly corner of the Murray River valley plains, 275 km north-east of Melbourne via the Hume Freeway and just 10 km from the Murray River, which forms the state border. Aside from wine production, tourism, wheat-production, wool, dairy products and stock further buttress the local economy. The current population is about 2500.

Isaac has descendents living in the area to this day.