Bennett wrote many articles which were published over the years in newspapers. He was the eldest of seven children of Richard Bennett and Ann Isabella (Kirk),of England.The family travelled from London to Sydney in 1833 but returned to England in 1837. Richard jnr arrived back in Sydney in 1843. (his parents also later returned in the 1870's.) Bennett's mother was from a large family and Bennett's Kirk relatives settled throughout the colonies of Australia, (especially through the Rutledge/Kirk/Knight relations at Port Fairy.)
Bennett had a varied career,upon his arrival he undertook a training course in sheep which led to a long career on pastoral stations in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.He eventually returned to the Port Fairy-Warrnambool region and began his hobby of writing articles of historical interest after Richard Osborne released his highly praised "History of Warrnambool". Osborne's history was about the settlement of Warrnambool, whereas Bennnett's articles are usually about his involvement in incidents. His published articles included:

   'Early Days on the VIctorian Goldfields 1 - 4'
   'Early Station Settlement in Central Australia No's 1 & 2'
   'Early Days of Port Phillip 1 - 2'
   'Old Time Sketches'
   'Bush Life Forty Years Ago 1 - 5'
   'The Aborigines of Australia, their Habits & Customs'
   'Pioneer Victorian Colonists-Recollections of My early Life 1 - 2'
   'The Earlist Days of Melbourne 1 - 3'
   'Our Coastal Wrecks'
   'Our Coal Prospects''
   'Our Horses Hoofs'
   'Recollections of Some of the Early Bushrangers'
   'Lost in the Bush'
   'Artisian Wells'
   'Entomological Studies - The Mason Fly'
	

Old Bendigo  (by Richard Bennett)


		Old Bendigo

		by Richard Bennett

In July 1852, our party consisting of two mates and myself,
after some months digging in shallow sinking with indifferent
luck in Spring,Ironbark,Jerusalem,Pegleg and Tin-pot gullies 
in the oldest part of Bendigo, were attracted to a new flat
just discovered bearing the name of 'Murderer's Flat",which
derived its name from a most atrocious murder committed a
short time before, though whether the murdered was ever caught
and handed over to the civil authorities and dealt with by
"Judy Lynch" who presided to mete out justice to criminals
brought to the bar by the vigilanty committee,whi was established
on the gold-fields at that early date, I do not know.
The flat was a dreary looking place and suggestive of its name.
The sinking was not of a very great depth, and the yield in gold
was on a par with our other claim - just paid for "tucker"
to use an old digging phrase; and our tucker was not the best.
The cartage on flour from Melbourne, as on all other goods,was
£16 a bag, so that literally most damper was worth its weight
in gold. It used to be remarked at that time that some parties
invariably had bad luck while others had a run of good, how 
this was to be accounted for I could neverlearn, but such was
undoubtedly the fact. I have worked for weeks in wet claims
for what was considerably then bare wages, while my neighbours
had, to quote an old phrase for good fortune " The devils luck
and their own too".

This ill success was not attributed to want of energy or 
perseverance, for we cleaned out our claims to the bed rock,
more we could not do.  Some lucky old diggerse would look
knowingly,wink their eyes, and with a self-satisfied air assure
us that "it took them to know where to sink" which they "bush-
lawyesr" at they were, certainly did.  Now, and I speak from
experience, nothing riles a man,a digger especially, when down
on his luck to be told by a more fortunate digger with a
patronising air "If you had done so and so,you'd have struck
the patch".  I am not a spiritis or fatalist, but I always
had a notion akin to superstition that some men were born under
a lucky star.

Not doing much good at Murderer's Flat, we shifted our quarters
to "Dead Horse Gully".  This was comparitively shallow sinking, 
the gold ,although not very plentiful, was very coarse and heavy,
but the soil very wet. Here we did very well and our claim being
soon worked out and being unable to mark out another in the same
gully, we again moved - this time to the creek near View Point,
and marked out a claim.  Just at this time Pall Mall was beginning
to assume something of the appearance of a street; he store tents
were in a row, with noly an occasional wooden building, the high
rates on ? preventing material being brought for their construction.;
but the diggers were not without their amusements, concerts were 
inaugurated, and a musical and ? genius named "Thatcher", doubtless
well remembered by some of the early Bendigonians still extant,
reigned supreme. He was without the doubt the best ? vocalist
I ever heard, for, he comiled his own songs, all having reference
to colonial matters, and most of them ?. He was great fun,and
night after night used to bring down the house.  He earned money
faster than the mint, but like most genius he had his day; but
it was ? long one in Bendigo, as there was a ? influx of new
arrivals, and Thatcher's fame spread far and wide. He afterwards
published a volume of ? ?. These were composed to ? ? were
mostly comic, for Thatcher could keep his audience in a roar.
He ? by day and sang by night, so that the ? were treated
to an infinite variety.  My two mates and myself had occasion
to go an dhear Thatcher, and we did enjoy it remarkably. He was a
comical genius, an dhis songs frequently exerted much beneficial
influence. He was keenly satirical, and any newly arrived 
Government official who put on what the diggers were pleased to 
tewrm "jumped up airs" was sure to be taken off by Thatcher,
and immortalised in ? to the delights of his brother officials
who always patronised the concert as well as the diggers. 
These pleasant evenings.......(to be continued)





note from J.Fawcett: These are newspaper articles,and should only 
be used as a general reference. Original sources should always
be accessed for family history purposes and information authenticated.
copyright,2000 J.Fawcett-Genseek 
WS1891888.