Charles Ferguson
Contents
Background
Ferguson was born in Ohio, United States of America, in 1832. When he was 18 he went to the California gold-fields, where he spent two years. He arrived in Sydney in July 1852 aboard the Don Juan from San Fransisco, then sailed on the Shusan to Melbourne. He spent time on the diggings at Ballarat, Ovens, Bendigo, Beechworth and McIvor.[1]
Ferguson was a famed coach-driver and horse-tamer.[2]
He left Australia in 1883 and returned to the United States. He died on 5 February 1925 in Chico, California.[3]
Goldfields Involvement, 1854
[William Murrell]], corporal of the 40th, was at the Eureka Stockade on the 03 December 1854 and saw Ferguson twenty years inside the stockade. Murrell ordered Ferguson to join the other prisoners. [4] Ferguson described himself as having been seized on his way to visit a friend, and detained by the rioters against his will. [5]
Post 1854 Experiences
Ferguson was appointed Foreman to the Burke and Wills expedition on a salary of £200 per annum. On the 18 August 1860, Brahe signed the Memorandum of Agreement at the Royal Society of Victoria. Ferguson was discharged on 18 September 1860 at Balranald and then allegedly challenged Robert O'Hara Burke to a duel. Burke wrote cheque No. 12 to Ferguson on 18 September 1860 for £16 13s 4d for one months pay. Ferguson sued the Victorian Exploration Committee for wrongful dismissal and was awarded £183 damages.[6]
See also
Independent California Rangers
Further Reading
Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.
Ferguson, Charles D. The Experiences Of A Forty Niner During Thirty Four Years Residence In California and Australia.
References
- ↑ http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Explorers/Expedition_Assistants/ferguson.htm, accessed 05 July 2013.
- ↑ http://www.burkeandwills150.info/expedition/explorers/, accessed 05 July 2013.
- ↑ http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Explorers/Expedition_Assistants/ferguson.htm, accessed 05 July 2013.
- ↑ The Argus, 11 December 1854.
- ↑ The Argus, 11 December 1854.
- ↑ http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Explorers/Expedition_Assistants/ferguson.htm, accessed 05 July 2013.
External links
