Marjorie Theobald, in her excellent book, Mount Alexander: Mountain of Gold 1851-1861, notes that “Two months later [after December 1852], Acting Commissioner Innez, who did duty briefly after [William] Wright’s departure…” [01]. A footnote refers to correspondence filed at the Public Record Office Victoria.

Innez is not a name I had encountered before. So far, no sign of a Commissioner Innez in the Victoria Government Blue Books, the Victoria Government Gazette , or on Trove . Before going further, it is interesting to look at the context and what was happening on the Victorian gold fields at the end of 1852 and into the beginning of 1853.

Early 1852 saw some structure being introduced into what had become the Gold Commissioners Department. William Henry Wright, the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Wimmera District, was appointed Acting Resident Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields on 18 February 1852. (See also The Elusive John Fletcher.) Wright was based at Forest Creek on the Mount Alexander (Castlemaine) gold field. Soon after, on 1 May 1852, he was promoted to Chief Commissioner, but stayed in residence at Forest Creek.

Meanwhile, Henry Wilson Hutchinson Smythe, the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Murray District, had been appointed a Resident Commissioner at May Day Hills (Beechworth) on 1 January 1852. Ultimately, there would be a Resident Commissioner at each of the major gold fields – Castlemaine, Beechworth, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Ballarat, and Maryborough – all reporting to the Chief Commissioner.

John Edward Newell Bull was appointed Resident Commissioner at Sandhurst (Bendigo) on 9 October 1852.

By late 1852, it was becoming clear that Wright could not manage all of the gold fields from Forest Creek. In early 1853, he and his staff were transferred to Melbourne. That left the need for a Resident Commissioner to take his place at Forest Creek. It would seem that even with the large number of Gold Commissioners, there were very few sufficiently senior men. Bull was transferred to Forest Creek, but still had responsibility for Sandhurst until a replacement could be found. This only happened when Joseph Anderson Panton was appointed Resident Commissioner at Sandhurst from 1 January 1854.

To complicate things further, Smythe was taking twelve months’ leave from 1 March 1853 to visit England. On 24 February 1853, Senior Assistant Commissioner William Turner, who had been at Castlemaine, was promoted to take Smythe’s place at Beechworth. To add to the situation, Smythe died in May 1853 before leaving for England.

This certainly leaves a gap to be filled at Castlemaine in early 1853.

As mentioned earlier, there is no sign of Innez in the usual sources. Who are we looking for? Apparently a sufficiently senior man, who only served briefly when Wright left for Melbourne, was not one of the existing Gold Commissioners, and presumably had a working knowledge of the gold fields laws. Casting the net a bit wider resulted in an ideal candidate: Archibald Clunes Innes [02].

Like Wright and Bull, Innes was a former British Army officer. Wright had been a Lieutenant, Bull a Captain, and Innes a Major.

Innes was commissioned an Ensign in the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment of Foot on 23 September 1813. He was promoted Lieutenant on 3 November 1814. He was placed on half pay in 1816, but exchanged into the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot on 23 October 1816. He returned to the 3rd Regiment on 26 June 1817 and purchased his captaincy on 23 October 1821, then purchased the rank of Major in the 2nd (Queen’s Royal) Regiment of Foot. He retired by selling his commission on 12 June 1828.

He had been in Australia since 1822. From 1825, he had been aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, Commandant of the Port Macquarie penal settlement, a superintendent of Police, and a Police Magistrate. In the 1830s and 1840s, he became one of the wealthiest men in New South Wales, but lost most of his fortune and was declared bankrupt in 1852.

More relevant to our story, Innes was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands for the New South Wales Gold Districts at Liverpool Plains on 22 May 1852. It is worth noting that this only paid £250 per annum, whilst the equivalent roles in Victoria were £300-400, with Bull earning £600! [03].

Innes was succeeded at Liverpool Plains on 27 April 1853 by Charles King, but his next New South Wales appointment seems to be when he became the Police Magistrate at Newcastle on 1 January 1854.

Was he looking for a new job in early 1853? The answer would seem to be yes. Was he available in the February/March timeframe? Newspaper reports on Trove suggest “perhaps.” There are reports in late January that he intended resigning from the Liverpool Plains position and that he left in early March. In April there were reports that he intended returning, but his replacement had commenced later in the month. There is a May report that he had met with some sort of accident and that he had resigned as Commissioner – but hadn’t that already happened?

Of course, the even more interesting question is: why didn’t he become a Resident Commissioner, or at least a Senior Assistant Commissioner in Victoria? I don’t know the answer to that question. When he took up the position of Police Magistrate at Newcastle, his salary was £400.