People Australia

Josiah Holman, n.d.

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Josiah Holman (1821-1893) was born on 27 September 1821 in the small mining village of Gwennap, Cornwall, England, second youngest of ten children of James Holman (1777–1866), mine engineer and agent, and Grace née Trenwith (1787-1867). Josiah began his mining career aged fourteen. He married Elizabeth Simmons on 4 July 1842.

Holman’s work in mining saw him travel to other countries and it was during this time that two children were born, Elizabeth Simmons (1842) and John Henry (1846). In a letter to master assayer John Penrose Christoe on 11 January1859 he stated: ‘I have been abroad six times viz.—to the Philippine Islands, the Brazils, twice to the Canadas and the Native Copper Mines of Lake Superior –to South Africa and lastly to Malacca’ (family collection). A meticulous man, it is likely that his assignments in these countries were listed in chronological order. Though there is very little written of English involvement in mining in the Philippines in the mid-1840s, in another letter to Christoe, written on 4 December 1859, Holman said: ‘12 years ago I assisted in a large exploration in the Philippine Islands for gold and copper’ (family collection). 

In or around 1847 Holman was engaged as a sub-agent (assistant manager) by the Saint John d’El Rey Mining Company, which owned a large gold mine in Morro Velho, Brazil. With his wife Elizabeth he travelled to the remote mine site and Cornish settlement where their third child, Emily Louisa, was born. Returning the following year, he was engaged to manage Creegbrawse and Penkevil mines near Gwennap by a number of adventurers, including Humphry Willyams of Carnanton, Newquay, who described Holman as his ‘confidential Mine Agent’ (Carnanton, 5 October 1861).

In 1853 Holman was approached by the British American Land Company, which by Royal Charter in 1834 had secured a private act from the British parliament allowing them to purchase land from the government in Lower Canada (Quebec) to develop and sell. With six miners he travelled to New York, Montreal, and Sherbrook in July to assess, and determine the value of recent mineral discoveries and explore the area for minerals. Prior to his returned to Britain in December 1853 a fourth child, Josiah, was born. In April 1854 he went back to Lower Canada with two miners to finish his exploration.

Around mid-1855 Holman was asked if he would be interested in carrying out a similar expedition in South Africa.  It is most likely the approach was made through John Taylor & Sons, mining company promoters and managers, on behalf of the Cape of Good Hope Mining Company. He, Elizabeth, and a team of Cornish miners spent almost eighteen months exploring recent mine sites in the remote areas of Namaqualand, five hundred kilometres north of Cape Town. A fifth child, Charles William, was born at the Cape of Good Hope.

In mid-1857 Holman was engaged by Bolitho of London, renowned tin smelters located in Chyandour, Cornwall, and H. J. Enthoven & Co., tin smelters of Charlestown, ‘and went to and explored some territory for its tin deposits’ in Malacca (Holman to Christoe, 4 December 1859, family collection). Returning in September 1858, Holman’s family of seven emigrated to New Zealand in January 1859, taking up a land grant at Whangarei where a sixth child, Annie, was born. While building a home, he was also engaged by Otea Copper Mining Company to complete an assessment of their mining operation on Great Barrier Island.

In March 1862 Holman was offered the position of mine manager of the Cadiangullong mine by Robert Morehead. He joined John Penrose at Cadia, New South Wales, to begin the task of developing the mine site and installing the twenty-five-inch Thomas engine and crushing machine made by Harvey & Co. of Hayle, Cornwall, as well as constructing smelters and furnaces. Under the direction of Holman, Penrose, and Dr Matthew Henry Smyth-Blood, the village of Cadia grew to over five hundred people. They successfully petitioned for a common to be declared around the mine site to reserve the resources of timber and feed for animals. They also applied and succeeded in securing approval from the National Education Board for a national school. The men were appointed as the first members of the school board when the school opened in December 1865. When the mine closed in 1868, over eight hundred tons of refined copper had been extracted and sold from East Cadia, West Cadia, Canobolas, and Carangara mines.

Holman next took on the management of the Icely Copper Mine near Guyong, about twenty-two miles west of Bathurst owned by Manton Copper Mining Company and Western Mining Company. It was during this time that Holman inspected the famed ‘Emu Creek’ diggings outside Cowra and the Burrowa copper mine. During 1871 he travelled extensively around New South Wales inspecting a number of mining sites, including Faller's Reef at Moonan Brook (forty-five miles east of Aberdeen), Currawang mine near Tirranna (forty miles south of Goulburn), Tin reefs outside Drake (thirty miles east of Tenterfield) as well as sites at Inverell and Oban. Impressed by the alluvial tin in the Inverell area, he recommended to investors John Brewster, F. H. Dangar, John Frazer, S. Samuel,and A. C. Fraser they establish a mine, which they later floated as the Newstead Tin Mining Company. At Oban, Holman recommended investors establish a tin mine and, once they agreed, set about obtaining leases along the Mitchell River and Paddy’s Gully. Capital was raised through the Mount Mitchell Tin Mining Company, which Holman managed from 1872-73. The directors were E. Vickory, G. W. Allen, John Keep, Alexander Stuart, and S. Zöllner.

In July 1873 Holman travelled to the Peak Downs copper mine west of Rockhampton and completed an assessment prior to his appointment as mining captain. In November he and Elizabeth travelled to central Queensland and over the next three years Holman extended the mine operation (at one point there were twenty-four furnaces in operation), oversaw a workforce of more than four hundred, and significantly improved profitability to settle a huge debt the company owed.  

Returning to Cadia in May 1876, Holman continued building his pastoral interests while managing a small team of Tributers working the Cadia copper mine. Two very large gold nuggets were discovered, one eleven ounces, another seventy ounces. By 1884 he had accumulated over four thousand acres supporting almost four thousand sheep, comprising Boxland Park and Tunbridge Wells to the north-west of Cadia village. He passed away at his home surrounded by family on 18 September 1893 and was buried on the property where he lived. The burial site was relocated by Newcrest mining in 1999.