Jack Darke

Jack Darke (c. 1852 – 16 September 1897) was a British-born miller, who spent his later life in the town of Gold Rush in Queensland, Australia. Darke’s notoriety is derived mainly from the suspicious and tragic circumstances surrounding his death.

Early life

While the exact location and date of Jack Darke’s birth remains unknown, it is believed he spent his childhood and much of his youth in the St Giles rookery, London before making passage to Australia as a stowaway on the emigrant ship Montmorency.^[1] Darke had hopes of becoming a gold prospector.

Working Life

Darke began gold prospecting at the Cape River goldfield in North Queensland. Despite the large quantities of reported gold at Cape River, Darke’s prospecting career was largely unsuccessful. In 1888 he moved south to Gold Rush, Queensland where he ceased prospecting and began work at the town’s sawmill. Darke’s reputation was as a taciturn and hardworking man who kept mostly to himself.

Death

Jack Darke died 16 September 1897 when he was pulled into the buzz saw at the Gold Rush sawmill. There is considerable speculation as to the exact circumstances surrounding Darke’s death. While town records from the time report that Jack died while attempting to burn down the sawmill, Gold Rush town folklore suggests a more complicated and suspicious set of events.

Folklore

Gold Rush town folklore has spawned a number of alternative explanations for the circumstances surrounding Darke’s death. These have been passed from generation to generation orally as ghost stories and folk songs. Many involve a second, younger man (name unknown) who is claimed to be the true culprit behind intended arson of the sawmill.

The most popular folklore version of Jack Darke’s death paints it as a cover up to protect the reputation of a young townsman who pushed Darke to his death, while Darke was attempting to stop him from setting fire to the Gold Rush sawmill.

Ghost Sightings

Since the 1980s there have been dozens of reported incidents of paranormal activity^[2] at the Gold Rush site. These have all occurred between midnight and 3am on nights with little cloud cover, and usually when there is a full moon.

In 1992, guests at a banquet on the Gold Rush site reported seeing a stocky man in colonial clothes lurking near the location of the old sawmill. Since then numerous other sightings have been reported, although there is not yet any visual or audio documentation of the sightings.

References