Item 11 - Discovery of Mt.Bischoff Tin Mine

Archibald Lawrence Meston (1890-1951), educationist, historian and anthropologist, was born on 5 June 1890 at Launceston, Tasmania. His most important anthropological work was the discovery and description of the rock carvings at Mount Cameron West in 1933. Another major addition to the study of Tasmanian prehistory was his initiation of large-scale excavation in the shell midden at the South Cave, Rocky Cape. Meston's collection of implements and other Aboriginal relics is now housed in the Museum of Victoria; his library is the property of the City of Launceston. For more information see entry in Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meston-archibald-lawrence-7563

Secretary of the Cradle Mountain Reserve Board Smith was born in Ulverstone, Tasmania the fifth child of James "Philosopher" Smith and Mary Jane (née Pleas) Love on 25 July 1881, the second son of their six children

Mount Bischoff's tin-bearing cassiterite was discovered by James 'Philosopher' Smith at Tinstone Creek in 1871, and he found the massive Mount Bischoff orebody in 1872. Smith was granted a lease, and mining commenced with a pick and shovel. The first loads of ore were taken by bullock carts over muddy bush tracks to Emu Bay. For more information see: https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/M/Mt%20Bischoff.htm