Willam McLachlan Memorial

Stawell's gold was first discovered in Pleasant Creek near this memorial. In May 1853, William McLachlan, a hut keeper for shepherds of Concongella Station who were living near here in a bark hut, washed the first gold. This small find drew prospectors to the area which probably resulted in the large gold rush of 1857 at Commercial Street, Illawarra and the opening of the quartz reefs around Big Hill.

Discoverers of new goldfields were usually rewarded by the Gold Fields Reward Board but McLachlan's claim was disallowed as he was not directly responsible for the later finds.

McLachlan, a bachelor from Scotland, spent his last years in the Benevolent Asylum wing of the Stawell Hospital and is buried in the Pauper Section of the Stawell Cemetery.

This memorial was erected by the Stawell Progress Association in 1953, one hundred years after the gold discovery. Local stonemasons, G H Robson & Sons were the designers and builders.