The Wolstenholme Brothers
Joe Wolstenholme. Photograph courtesy of Stephen Paynter.
The Wolstenholme brothers (or Wilsonholme, Wollsenholme or Wollstonholme) were early opal miners at Lightning Ridge.
Joseph “Joe” Wolstenholme was born 11 September 1865. John Robert “Jack” Wolstenholme was born 24 December 1877 at Gundagai, New South Wales. Joe and Jack’s parents were Barcroft Wolstenholme and Sarah Warburton. The Wolstenholme family was large, with ten more siblings.
Joe was a butcher and opal miner in 1904. The brothers had a successful claim on Sim’s Hill in 1905. Joe held a Miner’s Right in 1909 and 1910.
“Jack picked up a green opal stone one day and showed it to his brother that night. Joe said, ‘We don’t want that rubbish, we are after skins.’”
Jack Wolstenholme. Photograph courtesy of Stephen Paynter.
The Wolstenholme brothers are listed among early miners in books written by Stuart Lloyd, Gan Bruce and Len Cram.
Some sources claim the Wolstenholme brothers were the first to find opal at Lightning Ridge, which is at odds with many other reports — but anything is possible.
Joe Wolstenholme passed away 25 September 1940 and is buried in the Church of England section of Lightning Ridge Cemetery, a memorial is also placed at Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney. Jack Wolstenholme passed away 22 September 1950 and is buried at Lightning Ridge Cemetery.
Signature of one of the Wolstenholme brothers sourced from a petition for a post office agency at the Three Mile Flat, circa 1912.
Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 42; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 74; ‘Old Timer tells how the “Flame Queen” was found’, The Commonwealth Jeweller and Watchmaker, August 10, 1957, p. 142; J. Starr, ‘The Ridge Awaits You’, Australian Outdoors, December 1960, p. 19.