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The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Morgan, Frederick Augustus

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1413860The Dictionary of Australasian Biography — Morgan, Frederick AugustusPhilip Mennell

Morgan, Frederick Augustus, discoverer of the Mount Morgan gold mine, was born in Sydney on June 21st, 1837. He spent his boyhood in Bathurst, and commenced life as a digger by joining with his uncle, Mr. John Woodward, who made the discovery which led to the Orphir rush, in 1851. After working with success there and at Golden Point and Golden Valley, he migrated to Warwick, Qd., in 1866, and engaged in mining at Thanes' Creek, and tinning at Stanthorpe, and was successful. He reached Rockhampton in Dec. 1879, and, after some prospecting, opened the Gallawa reef, near Mount Wheeler, and worked it for some years. He was then joined by his brothers—Thomas Squire Morgan, and Edwin Francis Morgan—and with them formed a prospecting party, which resulted in the discovery of Mount Morgan—the richest gold mine in the world. Mr. Morgan, who is largely interested in pastoral properties, is an Alderman of Rockhampton, and is prominently identified with local affairs in that town.