Derby’s Dramatic History

In a few days the tranquil town of Derby will be inundated by thousands of mountain bike enthusiasts for Round 2 of the 2017 Enduro World Series.

It won’t be the first time Derby’s peace has been shattered. In 1929 the town was almost obliterated.

A History Worth Exploring

 

 

 

Derby was settled in 1874, when tin was discovered in the area. The Krushka brothers set up a mine, named The Brothers Mine, giving the town its original name: Brother’s Home.

 

By the 1890s, Derby’s population was over 3,000. Its tin mine (now renamed the Briseis Mine after the winner of the 1876 Melbourne Cup) was one of the richest of its kind in the world, employing hundreds of men and exporting tin to countries around the world.

The mine operators built a race 48 kilometres long, from the headwaters of the Ringarooma River to the mine, and constructed the Briseis Dam on the Cascade River to ensure supplies of water.

While exploring Derby and its surrounds, you can find traces of the mining history. There are directions and descriptions on the Discover Tasmania website. 

Disaster

By 1929, on the eve of the Great Depression, Derby was a thriving little town with a school, a boarding house, a doctor’s residence and hospital, and many businesses including two butchers, two bakeries, three hotels, and a cordial factory.

In April 1929 there were five days of rain, culminating in a downpour in which 5 inches fell in two hours.

The Briseis Dam held back around 188 million gallons of water. During the days of rain, water had begun flowing over the top and on 4^th April the dam burst, releasing a 30 metre wall of water and mud into the Cascade River. It swept away trees and scrubbed away the river soil, down to the bedrock.

A catastrophic volume of muddy water laden with debris hit Derby, flooding the mine. It destroyed homes, the railway station and every bridge on the river, as far as Cataract Gorge, 94km away.

The flood was the worst in modern Tasmanian history. It lasted several days. It was so enormous that for nearly six hours the river reversed its flow, running uphill for five miles. Among the mountain of debris left behind was a ten-ton granite boulder.

Fourteen lives were lost.

This was the only dam-burst in Australia’s history to have taken human life. Fourteen people were known to have drowned. Some bodies were carried many kilometres downstream and buried in mud and wreckage.

 

 

Heroes

Hearing of the impending flood, the mine’s assistant manager, William Beamish, ran to the face of the mine, trying to warn his workmates of the approaching disaster. He was swept away and lost his life. Senior Constable W. Taylor braved the rushing waters single-handed in a small boat (possibly a kayak), large enough for only two people. He brought many men to dry land, one at a time. (More about these stories in The Australian Book of Disasters by L. Writer).

Repair

The mine re-opened five years after the flood, but it never reached its previous levels of output and it closed in 1948. The Briseis Dam, renamed the Cascade Dam, was rebuilt in 1936, and now holds water covering an area of 49 hectares.

Nature is slowly repairing the damage to the river bed.

 

Tin Dragon Interpretation Centre

You can learn more about Derby’s mining heritage at the Tin Dragon Interpretation Centre, where there are interpretive displays and video installations. The story of the flood is told on a 15 metre screen. There is a memorial garden overlooking the valley, where you can contemplate the effects of mining on the landscape.

 

Or, if you like your history a little gentler, nearby is the Derby Schoolhouse Museum. 

 

*Thanks to these people for the images

“Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trails, Sawtooth Lookout” by Flow Mountain Bike

“Derby Tunnel” http://www.touringtasmania.info/derby_mine.htm

“Pan relic at the Tin Dragon Interpretation Centre and Cafe” from Tourism Tasmania & Dorset Council

“Lessons from the past: Breaking Briseis” http://www.amsj.com.au/news/lessons-past-breaking-briseis/

“Derby Bridge” http://www.touringtasmania.info/derby_mine.htm

“Derby” from Tourism Tasmania, supplied courtesy of Flow Mountain Bike

“Cataract Gorge in flood” http://jackdaws-corner.blogspot.com.au/

“Bronze memorial at the Tin Dragon Interpretation Centre and Cafe” Tourism Tasmania & Dorset Council

“Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trails” from Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett

References

Writer, L. 2011. Australian Book of Disasters. Murdoch Books Australia, Australia. Pages 51-59

http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/Floods.htm

http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/articles/derbys-mining-history

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Tasmania/Derby/2005/02/17/1108500205722.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby,_Tasmania

http://greataustraliansecret.com/tasmania/north-east-tasmania/derby-tin-mine-centre/

http://www.trailofthetindragon.com.au/derby

http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/derby-tas

http://www.amsj.com.au/news/lessons-past-breaking-briseis/

http://www.tindragontrailcottages.com.au/derbytunnel.php