A man of keen intelligence, great knowledge of stock, commercial shrewdness and a military tactician's power of combination … He forgets nothing and superintends everything. He trusts nobody" he coerces, persuades and manipulates everybody. He has the terms of all contracts. He keeps the various parties in hand. Toiling every day and half the night, he does the work of two or ten men [so] that in a comparatively few years, out of a salary of £300, he saves as much as £2,000 or sometimes £3,000. He is usually rewarded by being taken into partnership or by becoming a runholder himself.

In November 1852, Dr William Preshaw announced in the Melbourne Argus that he had established a general practice in a tent on the gold diggings at Moonlight Flat, Forest Creek.¹ From this unlikely beginning, Preshaw quickly became involved in most aspects of the district's early public life. His strong philanthropic bent and commitment to his fellow man was evident in his contribution to the foundation of the County and Castlemaine Hospital in early 1854, a Friendly Aid Society in mid-1854 and the Castlemaine Benevolent Asylum in 1860. He was always ready to share his knowledge to raise funds for worthy causes and to help the broad community, whether by offering free medical help or by encouraging local schools to work together for the good of their pupils. His commitment to education drove active participation in the Castlemaine Mechanics' Institute and its library, just as the democratic spirit he had shown on the diggings led him to take on the role of local electoral returning officer.

On 21 January 1841, two boys — 14-year-old James Boyle and 16-year-old Humphrey Sherriff — arrived in Hobart Town in Van Diemen's Land with 196 other boys aboard the juvenile convict ship, the Hindostan.² After a voyage of 104 days from the English port of Sheerness, they were sent to the Point Puer establishment on the Tasman Peninsula, purpose-built for the reception of male juvenile convicts. Three and a half years later, Boyle appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart, charged with assaulting an overseer with intent to murder. On 10 August 1844, he 'suffered the extreme penalty of the law' when he was executed in Hobart.³ In the same month that Boyle appeared in court, Sherriff was released from Point Puer and assigned to a private employer at Hamilton, north of Hobart.⁴ Later, after gaining his freedom in 1849, he settled in the north of the island, marrying twice and founding a large family, and dying in August 1909.⁵The contrasting fates of these two boys highlight significant questions about the Point Puer boys. Who were they and why were they at Point Puer? How were they treated, and were they reformed and prepared for adult lives in the colony?