Syndicate of Seven

The Syndicate of Seven is the name given to the original members of the Broken Hill Mining Company formed in 1883, who lodged applications for mining leases along the Line of Lode at Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia.

The members, who all worked at the remote Mount Gipps Sheep station, were:-

1. George McCulloch (1848 – 1907) – station manager.
2. Charles Rasp (1846 – 1907) – a boundary rider, who was interested in prospecting, recognised the importance of the site and pegged out the first mining lease.
3. Philip Charley (1863 – 1937) – a young man learning to be a sheep farmer, employed as a boundary rider.
4. David James (1854 – 1926) – a contractor employed to sink water tanks and mend fences.
5. James Poole (1848 – 1924) – an employee of David James.
6. George Urquhart (1845 – 1915) – a bookkeeper and overseer
7. George Lind (1861 – 1941) – a storekeeper.

"Each of the above seven contributing the sum of £70 each".

(Curtis 1908, and Camilleri 2006).

In September 1883 they pegged seven 40-acre (160,000 m²) blocks (blocks No 10–16) along the exposed lode at Broken Hill, thus securing almost the whole of the easily worked ore (Curtis, 1908).

The Syndicate of Seven was masterminded by George McCulloch (Camilleri, p17, 2006).

The initial assay results were not encouraging and Poole, Urquhart and Lind sold their share before the boom days and flotation of Broken Hill Proprietary in 1885 (Curtis, 1908 and Camilleri, 2006). James Poole sold half his share to Sidney Kidman who went on to become a wealthy cattle baron and landowner.

References

• Leonard Samuel Curtis, The History of Broken Hill, Its Rise and Progress, Frearson's Printing House, Adelaide, South Australia, 1908.
• Blainey, G. (1964) The Rush that never ended: A history of Australian mining, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, pp 142–148.
• Jenny Camilleri, In The Broken Hill Paddock, printed by Openbook Australia 2006 ISBN 0-646-46245-8.