Western Mail 27 June 1940, page 9 – Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Hancock in 1900 – In Mrs. Hancock’s lap is a 7oz nugget found in the wash at 79ft on the Adeline Lead between Kalgoorlie and Boulder.
Sun 10 September 1939, page 3
DEEP LEAD POSSIBILITIES DISCUSSED IN NEW BOOK
A sketch from the pamphlet
Gold : deep alluvial leads Kanowna and Kalgoorlie: how to find them by Oliver Hancock
Mr. Oliver Hancock, a practical miner, and prospector has Issued an informative pamphlet on the deep alluvial leads of Knnowna and Kalgoorlie and how to find them. Mr. Hancock is unusually fitted to discuss this subject as he pegged out ground for the Mine Managers Syndicate on the Fitzroy lead when the deep leads were found at Kanowna In 1897 and in 1899, discovered the famous Adeline lead between Kalgoorlie and Boulder. Mr. Hancock deals in detail with the Adeline & Kanownn leads, the peculiarities of deep leads, and how to prospect leads. In his opinion, there are a great number of deep alluvial leads which have not yet been discovered, and adds that a small drilling plant, capable of drilling 50 ft. or more a day, is required for deep alluvial prospecting. For the present generation of prospectors, this pamphlet is informative and suggestive.
Two copies of this pamphlet survive in the State Library of WA
Western Mail 7 October 1943, page 28
Vale-Oliver Hancock.
Yet another of the “Dollypotters” has gone to his rest. On September 17th Oliver Hancock passed away in his 80th year at his home in Maylands WA. He came from Gympie, Queensland, the cradle of single-handed miners in Australia. His first job in the early nineties of the last century was underground manager of the White Feather Main Reef. He organised a fine team of partners to open up the deep alluvial claims in which they were interested at Kanowna. Under a tribute agreement with the Hannans Proprietary Company, he discovered the Adeline lead at Kalgoorlie.
The writer at the time was manager of the company, with little experience of deep alluvial geology and owes much to this fine old alluvial digger, who was ever ready to give any help or advice on the subject, of which he was a master. He spent much of the small fortune he made at Kanowna and Kalgoorlie in the really scientific search for the various deep leads at Kalgoorlie. This work provided him with matter written up at length over several issues of “The Western Mail.” He also wrote a brochure on the subject published for the benefit of diggers and distributed it freely. That work, together with some recent developments on a laterite deposit overlaying a deep alluvial lead on the Golden Mile, will provide the most valuable information on the subject when it is compiled for the Geological Survey Department of Western Australia.
Oliver Hancock gave of his best always to those who sought his help, and what success the writer may have secured for his company in mining deep alluvial is due in no small degree to the knowledge gained from he who has now joined the big army of pioneer diggers, by one who gratefully signs himself – DIORITE Fimiston.
Oliver Hancock was born in 1864. He married Mary Ann Johnson on the 6th Feb 1894 in Gympie Queensland. Mary was born in 1869 in NSW and died in WA in 1947. Oliver and Mary are buried together in Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth. The couple celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary just a few months before Oliver’s death. They had one son born before their marriage, Percy James Johnson. Percy died from Tuberculosis in 1918.
Grave of Oliver and Mary Hancock in Karrakatta Cemetery – Photo Ancestry.com
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