Victor Szwed
Many locals have heard about the Three Lost Children. Have you been to the Three Lost Children’s Memorial Reserve opposite the Mill Markets on the corner of the Midland Highway and Central Springs Road? This reserve was created in their memory.
There is an interpretive sign telling the story. The sign was erected by Daylesford Rotary Club in 2009. The Daylesford Men’s Shed built the structure, Hepburn Council provided funds for the materials and the Daylesford and District Historical Society provided the historical background. After 17 years of weathering, the sign had deteriorated so Daylesford Rotary recently refurbished and repainted it. Take time to visit the reserve and and read about this tragic story.
On June 30th 1867 three young boys from Connells Gully, near Table Hill wandered off looking for wild goats. They headed towards Muskvale past shallow gold diggings.
William Graham aged six and a half, his brother Thomas, only 4 years and three months old, and Alfred Burman, 5, had set off on that Sunday morning. They had not returned by lunchtime so their fathers commenced searching for them. That evening the Police and others joined the search.
The boys had spoken to a local on their way but did not follow his instructions on how to get back. Instead they headed east. The next day, July 1st , the search grew as news of two sightings from the first day circulated. By the 2nd of July more 100 horsemen gathered to widen the search and almost 700 people had joined in searching by Wednesday July 3rd.
Although they continued for 25 days, the searchers failed to find the boys. Then on Friday, 13th September, more than ten weeks after the boys had wandered off, a dog returned home with evidence of one of the boys. The next day the bodies of the two youngest boys were found in a hollow tree near Wheelers Hill and the remains of the older boy nearby. A roadside memorial on Wheelers Hill Road marks the location where they were found.
The boys were buried together at Daylesford Cemetery and an impressive monument was erected there by the community.
In 1869, Mr Graham, father of two of the boys, established a scholarship to be presented each year to the best boy and best girl pupils at Daylesford Primary School. The scholarship continues to be awarded to this day. The scholarship, the reserve and the monument have kept alive the memory of the lost children.
There is a Three Lost Children Walk which roughly follows the presumed route of the children. The 15k walk, which is well signposted, starts at the Reserve and finishes near Wombat Dam. (You will need to arrange a car shuffle for the return trip. A brochure at the Visitor Information Centre describes the walk.
Scattered around Daylesford and our Shire are many historical buildings, monuments and signs. If you are interested in our Shire’s heritage, take some time to explore. The Visitor Information Centres and Historical Societies can help with maps, information and brochures.
Next week: A sign commemorating those who served and supported during the first world war, located just outside the Daylesford Railway Station.
