On Saturday 27th April, as part of the Australian Heritage Festival, GCC, under the auspices of the Bendigo Branch of the National Trust and with support from the Castlemaine Society Inc. and the Castlemaine Historical Society. held tours of the Castlemaine Government Camp. The day started with a welcome to country and smoking ceremony by Uncle Rick Nelson at the junction of the three creeks: Barker’s, Forest and Campbell’s. The focus then moved to the former Court House, where tours started and moved to Commissioner Bull’s Residence, James Ah Coy’s Cottage, the former Military Quarters, Sheriff Colles’s House , Howe’s Survey Tree, Camp Reserve, Burke’s Cottage, the Powder Magazine, and the Powder Magazine Keeper’s Cottage. Through the generosity of the owners, tour participants had the unique opportunity to see inside the Sheriff’s House, Burke’s cottage, and the Magazine Keeper’s Cottage. Back at the Court House, over the lunch break, there were presentations by Peter Cox, on the importance of valuing history, Dr Bob Marmion on Commissioner Bull, Professor Keir Reeves on Ah Coy and the Chinese community, and Victoria Police Historical Society members Stuart Duff and Owen Clarke on the importance of the Castlemaine Government Camp in police history. A surprise visitor was Lola Montez.
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“we feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to view close up and inside such historic properties, and to learn so much about the history of the area”
