“Tingha Bill” Grant

William “Tingha Bill” Grant was an early opal miner at Lightning Ridge. He was on the fields in the early days of the Three Mile Flat in 1907–08. John Landers considered Grant’s claim the richest claim on the Flat.

Grant had a habit of moving on from a claim as soon as strangers pegged the ground within “speaking distance.” With his mate Ted Brown he found £1,800 worth of opal on New Town Hill. He had a good claim on the Telephone Line diggings. In April 1922, Bill and his mate Harold Frazer found opal at the Butterfly field, causing a small rush.

Away from the fields, Grant went to Sydney and bought a taxi in 1913, however records show him returning to Lightning Ridge for a period in the 1930s.

Little else is known about “Tingha Bill” beyond mentions in a few books, but it is clear he left a lasting impact through his mining partnerships and discoveries.

Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, pp. 33, 71-72, An Old Chum Remembers - The Story of Lightning Ridge 1906-1921, John M. Landers, 2002, pp. 10-11; A Journey With Colour: A History of Lightning Ridge Opal 1873-2003, Len Cram, 2003, pp. 149, 152.