WHEN Jan and Earl Robinson were tasked with helping Charters Towers Regional Council celebrate the city's 150 years, a deep dive into online archives uncovered a secret lying beneath the old School of Mines building.
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Upon discovering articles from The Northern Miner and The North Queensland Register detailing a time capsule placed under the building, council tasked Peter Worbey of Aristocut, Townsville to use a ground penetrating radar to find the treasure.
Despite a failed first effort, the Robinsons went back to the drawing board.
"It was buried a foot deeper," Mr Robinson said.
Mr Worbey returned and upon investigating further beneath the building's foundation stone, he discovered there was a long-forgotten box lying unperturbed for over a century.
"It's been there 125 years and it's been missing well over 120 years," Mrs Robinson said.
"It is definitely the oldest, unopened [time capsule] in Australia."
The stone was laid by Edward David Myles, president of the mining institute on March 3 1899.
The locked box, a gift from Walter Aspinall and prepared by H.B. Walker, containing historical items from the city including a disgruntled letter to council by a Mr Tregaskis, was supposed to be opened 50 years after its burial.
It contains a copy of The Northern Miner, The Townsville Daily Bulletin, The Charters Towers Evening Herald and The Mining Standard from March 3 1899.
It also holds:
- The Constitution and Rules of the Institute
- The Catalogue and Regulations of the Library of the Society
- Annual reports of the municipality of Charters Towers 1897
- An annual report of the Charters Towers Chamber of Commerce and Mines for 1897-98
- Rules for the local hospital, jockey club and the North Queensland Racing Association
- An 1898 mining review
- An 1899 investment report
- An 1899 monthly mining report
- A bottle of wine from John Clark, Crown Hotel
- A bottle of whiskey from S Allen & Sons
- A bottle of whiskey from Mrs Arthur Earl, White Horse Hotel
- A plan of the extended mine
- A shilling from 1898
- A copy of the president's address and more.
The letter written to council was written by a gentleman opposed to the school.
"We're trying to locate a relation of his for when it comes out," Mrs Robinson said
Queensland Museum Network's museum development officer Ewan McPhee has attended alongside a curator from Cairns, making plans for his locksmith son to fashion a key to open the box without damaging it.
"Once it's out of the ground it has to be left for a week to acclimatise from being underground," Mrs Robinson said.
"It will probably go to the temperature-controlled part of the library. They've got to wear masks...it will be televised. It's massive.
"I want to do a small film about it, starting off with black and white silent with a couple of gold guys putting the [capsule] in the ground."
Mr Robinson said he has already been tasked with dressing up as an old miner for the film.
The couple hope to host the opening ceremony, which is expected to occur around October, in the School of Mines building and put their own history capsule back into its foundations.
"I've got the final copy of the Northern Miner and I wouldn't mind putting the latest edition of the North Queensland Register [inside the capsule]," Mrs Robinson said.
"My husband makes liquor so we could put Towers Arts honey bourbon in there, some coins, our latest brochure. We're going to ask the community for some ideas and we can vote on it and open it in 50 years."
The School of Mines building was built in 1899 and was expanded as the gold rush boomed, with the rooms used for dried storage by the army in the second World War, and for teaching mining skills such as metallurgy - with the first dual classes (running day and night) in the country accommodating working miners.
Mr Robinson said Oliver Woodward, who famously tunnelled under the Germans in France and whose story is captured in the movie 'Beneath Hill 60' has ties to the building.
"He did his schooling here [at the School of Mines]," he said.
"He blew [the Germans] up. Charters Towers is mentioned in the movie."
In 1964, the community rallied to save the building from being demolished - with it going on to become a Heritage Listed building.
Over the years it has been used as a studio for Tai Kwan Do, ballet, trampolining and pottery.
It now serves as the home for Towers Arts, with a talented group of artists, including Mr Robinson, displaying their unique and stunning pieces (including a portrait of MP Bob Katter) along the old walls.
The Robinsons are also working on a history book on the building, with Mrs Robinson teaming up with local author Maggie Watson, and Mr Robinson creating the illustrations.
"We start with Jupiter Mosman finding the gold, but only stuff pertaining to the School of Mines...[and how they decided to build] something to teach the miners what to do," Mrs Robinson said.
"Each group who has done something [in the building] will be offered to do a short story.
"I want to do a podcast eventually."
The book is expected to be published online next year, with physical copies to be available at the local library.
