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Baldocks Cave - the site locality for the Tasmanian Cave Spider

And selected historical references relating the early discovery of limestone in northern Tasmania and the caves of the Chudleigh (Mole Creek) area

Arthur Clarke

Abstract

The limestone and its caves in the Chudleigh area near Mole Creek have been known since the late 1820s when surveyors with the Van Diemens Land Company began their "westward" exploration. Early reports of cave exploration in the Mole Creek karst area date back to 1829. The earliest descriptions of the "Chudleigh Caves": the Honeycomb Caverns and Wet Cave systems are recorded from 1833 and most of the subsequent cave descriptions till 1878 relate to these two latter caves. These "Chudleigh Caves" were known by several names and some 40-50 years after their discovery, they were referred to as the "Old Caves" following the discovery of some new caves also considered to be part of the Chudleigh district. Despite confusion in the early literature, it is evident from the cave descriptions and archival records that these new caves were found near Sassafras Creek, further west from the first known caves in the Chudleigh district. Higgins and Petterd described the Tasmanian Cave Spider in 1883 from one of these un-named "new" caves. R.M. Johnston subsequently detailed this site in 1888 as one of the "New Caves in the Chudleigh neighbourhood" - on the land of Mr. Pickett. Although the cave location has remained a mystery, it was also known to be a site that contained a rich deposit of mammalian remains that was recommended for further study. Literature sources indicate that the "New Caves" of the Chudleigh district were principally found in the Sassafras Creek area during the 1870s and 1880s, including Baldocks Cave that was privately opened for tourism around 1890. A report to the Royal Society of Tasmania by Scott and Lord in 1921 provides an analysis of mammalian remains from two caves at Mole Creek: Baldocks Cave and King Solomons Cave. In their descriptive analysis of these skeletal remains, Scott and Lord refer to their work as a subsequent investigation to the earlier 1883 Higgins and Petterd study, suggesting that Baldocks Cave was the original site where some of these mammalian remains were first reported; the same cave where Higgins and Petterd also collected spider specimens for their description of the Tasmanian Cave Spider.

Introduction

The original (1883) description of the Tasmanian Cave Spider (Hickmania troglodytes) by Edmund Higgins and William Petterd was based on specimens gathered from an un-named cave site in the Chudleigh district near Mole Creek in northern Tasmania. In their paper read to the Royal Society of Tasmania on July 10th 1883, the spider was originally described as "Theridion troglodytes". Since this original description of the Tasmanian Cave Spider there has been considerable speculation about which cave these spiders were collected from and where it was situated. Higgins and Petterd referred to the un-named site as Bone Cave, but in the late 1940s/ early 1950s cavers subsequently named it as Picketts Cave (Tasmanian Caverneering Club Archives), although other speculated sites also suggested were Wet Caves, Baldocks Cave, Scotts Cave or King Solomons Cave.

Clues to the identity of this previously unknown (un-named) cave can be gleaned from a number of sources:

The early explorers and discovery of limestone in the Mole Creek district:

The first known documentation of the Chudleigh (Mole Creek) district occurred in November 1823, when Captain John Rolland travelled from Launceston to explore the so-called "Westwards" area. This was the early name given for the lands lying west from the Western River, which by then had been named the Meander River (after originally being referred to as the Quamby River). After camping beside the Mole Creek on November 29th 1823, Rolland travelled west to Circular Ponds, then south of Standard Hill to the gorge section of the Mersey River (Cubit, 1987). Two years later, while in pursuit of a gang of bushrangers, the Government Surveyor General: John Helder Wedge, virtually took the same westward route as Rolland and inadvertently took credit for discovering the Chudleigh area. Wedge's diary entry for September 30th, 1825 records a "...a tract of good wet land, not known before, under the Western tier of mountains between the Western and Second Western Rivers - it is for the most part thinly covered with trees " (Crawford, et. alia., 1962). (This "tract of good wet land" was subsequently referred to by stock-keepers as the Western Marshes, much of which was later settled as the Chudleigh district.)

Unaware of Wedge's discoveries, Edward Curr, then Chief Agent for the Van Diemens Land Company (VDLC), began exploring for new grazing land in the country beyond Westbury in April 1826, in the company of "...a constable who knew the country through searching for bushrangers..." (Cubit, 1987). In mid-April 1827, Joseph Fossey - a surveyor with the VDLC - began exploration of a "westward" route to provide inland access to the VDLC properties being surveyed by Henry Hellyer in the northwest [of Tasmania]. Travelling west from Launceston, Fossey began his explorations in the Western Marshes area (near the present town of Chudleigh) and spent nine days (from April 10th to 18th 1827) investigating the region between "Moleside" (Mole Creek) and the Mersey River. On April 23rd 1827, he continued west (without his horse cart) following a line south of Standard Hill then across the Mersey River (at Liena) and cross to Middlesex Plains to the "Vale of Belvoir" and "May Day Mount" before heading north to Circular Head on the coast (Bischoff, 1832). Ten months later, following his initial survey of the route, Fossey developed his westward track as a "cart" road (then called the "Inland Road"), producing a map to record the names of features he located in 1827. These "new" mapped features included Mole River (named after a similar area with subterranean stream channels in the Surrey district of England), plus Moleside, Dogs Head Hill and Standard Hill. By February 2nd, 1828, the road had been completed to a distance four miles west of the Mersey River, almost 70 miles from Launceston (Bruce, 1991).

In the Land Commissioners' Journal for 1828, the entry for March 6th includes mention of the "...hills of limestone..." behind the Western Marshes, adding that some of it had been "...burn't at Leith's who had built an excellent Kiln for the purpose." (McKay, 1962). [William Leith lived at Quamby Brook, near the present town of Westbury, so this limestone would have been carted nearly 25 miles, along Fossey's new VDLC road.] On a subsequent map drafted by Hellyer in September 1828, it shows the "Limestone Hills", just south of the Western Marshes (Bruce, 1993). In the "Van Diemens Land Almanac for 1831", it lists place names and distances from Launceston along the 180 mile VDLC road to Circular Head, including "Lobster's Rivulet" (40½ miles) and "Mole-side Creek or Native Plain" (48½ miles) (Melville, 1830?). A subsequent map of Tasmania, produced by J. Arrowsmith in 1832 shows an area described as the "Limestone Forest", lying between the Mole River and Mersey River running south and east of Standard Hill; this map also shows the rivulet named "Lobster Rivulet" (Bischoff, 1832). Ten years later, John Wyld's map of Tasmania which records the travel routes of the overland journeys of two English Quakers (James Backhouse and George Washington Walker), shows the area by the district name of "CHUDLEIGH" (Backhouse,1834).

Early reports of limestone and caves:

From the early period (1829 to 1834), there are three well-documented reports of the discovery of caves and karst features in the Chudleigh (or Mole Creek) area. All three reports are relatively detailed; each report relates to separate caves in different parts of this so-called Chudleigh district: near Circular Ponds (now Mayberry), the "Chudleigh Caves" (now Honeycomb Caverns and Wet Cave) and a cave in the vicinity of the Den Plain area, near the Mersey River.

The first known report of caves in this region emanates from the overland expedition of the Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania: Colonel George Arthur and party, who in January 1829, made an exploratory "visit" to inspect the lands being applied for by the VDLC in northwest Tasmania. Governor Arthur's party included his son (Frederick Arthur) and nephew (Charles Arthur), the Colonial Secretary (Captain John Montagu), Surveyor-General (George Frankland), Mr. Reeves and the Assistant Government surveyor and explorer (Thomas Scott). The journal entries in Thomas Scott's diary for January 15th 1829 state that after travelling (along Fossey's cart road) beyond Moleside to their campsite at "Circular Marsh", while waiting for their overnight baggage and tent to arrive Governor Arthur and party "visited a remarkable cavern in the limestone rock".(Tasmanian Historical Research Association, 1962). A more detailed report of the cave and surrounding karst features appeared in a February edition of the Hobart Town Courier. This article states that after arriving at their campsite at a "small circular plain, containing about 60 acres, and distant about 5 miles west of Moleside, waiting for the baggage carts" they left their horses with servants "and made some excursions to explore the neighbourhood on foot" The anonymous author goes on to say: "the whole country ... appears to be intercepted by numerous underground streams ...[which]... undermine the superincumbent earth ... forming pits or basins of the most singular or regular kind ... all perfectly circular, shaped exactly like a funnel ... in the bottom of one of the deepest of which was found, a cavern extending both ways, into which they entered." Exploring the cave without a light, the author states: "After following its course a considerable distance, the sound of running water was heard, and although they were without light, the reflection from the entrance was sufficient for them to discern a large body of water rushing from a height and flowing away as it were beneath their feet" (Anon., 1829).

The second early report of limestone and caves in this wider area, appear in the 1832-1833 journal accounts of James Backhouse in his "Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies". Along with his companion George Washington Walker and the VDLC Chief Agent and Secretary (Edward Curr), Backhouse set out from Circular Head in mid-December 1832. It is obvious from the journal entries, that Backhouse and Walker were naturalists with a keen eye for detail. For example, while en route to the VDLC base at Hampshire Hills, the Backhouse journal entry for December 13th 1832, shows that 5 miles west of Crayfish River in the streambed of the Black River they found limestone [now Black River Dolomite], and further on near Detention River, he records a "grassy place with a small spring"(Backhouse, 1834). During their subsequent journey south from Hampshire Hills in the company of the VDLC surgeon (Joseph Milligan) and his prisoner attendant, while crossing The Vale of Belvoir and passing Patterdale-lake [now Lake Lea] on January 24th 1833, Backhouse records the "pits of water and ... deep fissures in the earth, destitute of water" Continuing along a packhorse track designated to be "The Great Western Road" located "by seeking for the marked trees", they eventually crossed the flooded Mersey River, and on January 25th came to "some small, limestone plains, called the Circular Pond Marshes, from a number of circular basons ... with ... subterraneous channels ... [and] ... some cavernous places" (Backhouse, 1834), where Governor Arthur and party had been four years earlier.

The Backhouse journal entry for January 26th 1833, provides one of the first known detailed accounts of the Chudleigh Caves, or what is now known as Wet Cave. Backhouse describes exploration of "a few of the caverns" including "a long subteraneous passage into which I descended with a torch of burning bark ...[where]... there was a fine, clear stream of water, three feet wide and equally deep"(Backhouse, 1834). This description clearly matches our knowledge of the appearance of Wet Cave, or possibly Honeycomb Cave. After his exit from the cave, Backhouse goes on to describe the consumption of a freshly caught freshwater lobster beside the Lobster Rivulet, downstream from the cave just visited.

The third early account of cave exploration in the Chudleigh district comes 18 months later, in the July 1834 diary account of George Augustus Robinson who explored a cave with aborigines "situate at the east end of a small plain on the south side of the Mersey River" (Plomley, 1966). Robinson states that he "discovered this cavern in the course of my perambulation whilst walking under the cliffs accompanied by the aborigines" In his description of the cave where the "stream is not more than ankle deep at the end. I tied a piece of canvas on which I had written my name - G A Robinson July 24 1834" (Plomley, 1966). Robinson describes this cave as being "six miles from Mr. Vaughan's residence" [see below], which suggests the cave is more likely to be Mersey Hill Cave or Den [Plain] Cave. Furthermore, his account of the cave shows that it is a quite different site to the cave visited by Governor Arthur near Circular Ponds and to the site seen by Backhouse; we now know the latter as the "Chudleigh Caves".

The early settlers in the Chudleigh district and first (?) cave guide - Dan Pickett

One of the first large land-holding grants in the Western Marshes [Chudleigh] district, was taken up on September 23rd 1829 by an Irishman: Lieutenant Travers Hartley Vaughan, a retired military person who was granted an area of 2,560 acres at Native Hut Corner (Cubit, 1987). Indentured in the service of Vaughan was an Englishman: Daniel Pickett born at Berkshire in 1810, convicted for housebreaking in July 1832 and sentenced for transportation to Tasmania. Pickett arrived in Tasmania in May 1833 aboard the convict barque: Jupiter, where his name was registered in the log of prison voyagers as "Daniel Piggott" (AOT: CON 31). After coming to Chudleigh, Pickett eventually went on to become known as the ""good host of the Chudleigh Inn, explorer and guide in the famous limestone caves around Mole Creek"" (Bethell, 1957). The 2,560 acre Native Hut Corner property granted to Vaughan, was acquired by Henry Reed in 1835 (Reed, 1906; Fysh, 1973) and renamed as Wesley Dale by Reed soon afterwards. The house itself and the tall imposing walls around the house garden were built from limestone rock, quarried and shaped on site by convict labour, using mortar produced from Reed's own lime kiln (Fysh, 1973). Henry Reed acquired further lands by purchase or grant, most of which were leased out to tenants including the How and Murfett families who Reed sponsored as immigrants in 1836 (Fysh, 1973).

Dan Griffin (junior) describes Dan Pickett as the "father of Chudleigh", a person who spent most of his adult life in Tasmania in the Chudleigh district. In earlier days when Mr. Boutcher had a property at Mayfield in 1832, he "did a big trade in lime, the kilns for the burning of which he opened up at Chudleigh" (Griffin, 1893b). Along with James How, Pickett was one of the bullock dray drivers and Pickett reports that in favourable conditions when the creeks weren't flooded, it took six days to cart the burnt lime from Chudleigh to Launceston along Fossey's VDLC cart road. Dan Pickett continued his indenture with Henry Reed until granted a "Ticket-of-Leave" probation in 1841, the year he married Mary How(e), third daughter of James How senior (Evans, 1989). In 1840, Pickett took on a position as farm overseer at the Dunloran property northwest of Deloraine, which was subsequently leased by Griffin's father: Dan Griffin (senior) in 1845. Pickett moved from Dunloran to Red Hills where he rented a farm until 1848, then subsequently purchased a farm known as "Carr's Marsh" on the Wesley Dale Estate, then according to Griffin. "not doing much good on it, he bought the Chudleigh Hotel, for which he has obtained over 40 consecutive licenses" (Griffin, 1893b). In the late 1840s/ early 1850s, the previous innkeeper used to regularly advertise his hotel, offering guided tours for patrons to visit the Western Caves. No doubt this was one of the reasons that attracted Pickett to the prospect of becoming an innkeeper; he also promoted his Chudleigh Inn as the meeting-place for excursionists to visit the caves, where visitors could purchase candles and matches or hire a guide and lantern.

In an address on historical aspects of caves to the ACKMA conference at Gowrie Park, Elery Hamilton-Smith refers to "Old Pickett" - the ex-convict publican (at Chudleigh Hotel) who eagerly took tourists (including Tasmanian Governors) to the nearby caves (Hamilton-Smith, 1995). Elery read excerpts of an account by Anthony Trollope describing Dan Pickett's role as "an old man ... who seemed to have the caves under his peculiar care ... taking command of the whole party with that air of authority". Although describing Wet Cave as a "wonderful" cave, in his commentary on Governor Charles Du Cane's less than pleasant candle-lit tour in February 1872, Trollope compares his experience to the caves at Cheddar (in England). He talks of the Cheddar Caves as "nothing to the Chudleigh caves in bigness, blackness, water, dirt, and the enforced necessity of crawling, creeping, wading, and knocking one's head about at every turn"(Trollope, 1873).

The Chudleigh Caves

These so-called "Chudleigh Caves" in the Chudleigh district (known today as Honeycomb Caverns and Wet Cave) were formerly known as the Westward Caves or Oakdens Caves (circa 1840 onwards). For many years the caves were also referred to as the Caves of Oakden or Oakdens Caves named after Philip Oakden who owned land in the district in the 1830s and was one of several people accredited with discovering the caves (Griffin, 1893b). Dan Griffin (junior) states that he was told by Mr. James How (junior), that the caves were reportedly found by two of the "Murfet" sisters in the 1830s (Griffin, 1893b), but discovery of the caves has also been accorded to Daniel Pickett (Trollope, 1873) and Henry Reed (Reed, 1906). In 1852, John West subsequently referred to these caves as the "Great Caves", situated "in the Western Mountains" (West, 1852). Since then, they have been variously referred to as "the caves beyond Chudleigh", the Chudleigh Caves or the Western Caves, plus later again as Oakdens Caves (circa late 1870s), Old Caves (1870s/ early 1880s) and more latterly as Wet Caves or Caveside Caves in late 1890s and early 1900s.

Most of these early accounts describe a cave that is quite different to the site where Higgins and Petterd found their specimens of the Tasmanian Cave Spider. From the graphic accounts and cave descriptions contained in both the early and subsequent reports of explorations of the caves near Chudleigh, they all appear to be describing the sites we know today as Wet Cave and Honeycomb Cave(rns). For example, in John West's History of Tasmania (1852), he describes the "great caves" located "about 15 miles from Deloraine, in the Western Mountains". West speaks of the cave we know of as Wet Cave, as the "principal cave ... more than two miles in length ...[with]... stream which issues from the mouth of the cave, and extends throughout its whole length". In his description, he mentions the two daylight entrances "at a considerable distance from the entrance", various side chambers and the "myriads of glow-worms". West provides a quite detailed account of the beauty and size of cave formations, stating that "near the entrance of the cave they are of a grey or brownish colour, but in the interior they are of a pure white". He goes on to predict that other caves "will probably yet be discovered in the Western Mountains" (West, 1852).

Further graphic descriptions of Wet Cave, with its deep-water streamway and attractive formations, were included in the annual publication series (1869-1885) of the "Guide to Excursionists [to Tasmania]" handbooks. In the 1869 handbook, the caves were initially described under the heading of the "Westward Caves" (Thomas, 1869), then in the 1870 and subsequent editions as "The Caves Beyond Chudleigh" (Thomas, 1870). Excursionists were advised to bring candles, matches, warm clothing, change of clothes and to head for Pickett's Inn at Chudleigh where they could hire horses and a guide to the caves. It was also suggested that visitors take a "small flask of brandy; the latter will be found very comforting when you are wet in the caves" (Thomas, 1870).

The so-called Chudleigh Caves were named because of their location in the district area known as Chudleigh, within proximity of the town of Chudleigh, a settlement which existed long before the present township of Mole Creek. Most of the caves described in this paper are actually situated closer to two other settlements: Caveside (referred to as the Lobster Settlement in earlier times) and South Mole Creek (known originally in the 1850s as the Sassafras Creek district) [Tasmanian Gazetteer, 1877]. The references to "caves in the Chudleigh district" need to be considered in this early historical respect, as caves within the broader "Chudleigh" district. In a report on the speleological explorations in Mole Creek caves by members of the Tasmanian Caverneering Club, Elliott refers to the "Chudleigh Caves ...[being] ...probably a collective name for Honeycomb Caverns and the Wet Cave." (Elliott, 1958).

Location of the "New Caves" in the Chudleigh district:

One of the first references to the so-called "New Caves" appears in the 1869 edition of the Guide to Excursionists, where the caves are described as being in the vicinity of the area known as the Circular Ponds. In this report, the "new caves" are described as having no water in them and "not so much frequented"; one cave is reported to be "about half a mile in length, having the appearance of a marble hall and pendant from its roof are the largest conceivable stalactites" (Thomas, 1869). There appears to be some confusion in the 1870 edition of the excursionists' guide; there is the quoted report of a cave visitor to the New Caves, who describes a visit to a wet cave that matches a description of Wet Cave, rather than a cave without water (Thomas, 1870). These so-called New Caves are also referred to in the Minutes of the Deloraine Municipal Council (on March 3rd 1873), where there is reference to a police report about the recovery of some stolen stalagmite specimens from the New Caves (Archives Office of Tasmania [AOT]: MCC 42/3/3).

The 1879 edition of the Guide to Excursionists has no mention of the "new caves", but in the description of the previously known (Wet Cave/s), the guidebook relates these as the "old caves ...[which]... have been known for about 35 years" (Thomas, 1879). The Deloraine Council minutes for May 5th 1879 refer to correspondence relating to council proposals for "to take control of caves" in two separate areas of Chudleigh (AOT: MCC 42/3/4). The 1886-1887 edition of the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company's handbook ("Guide for Visitors to Tasmania") makes reference to the "limestone caves at Chudleigh", stating that there are two sets of caves: the first explored "Old Caves" and the more accessible and more frequently visited "New Caves". However, this shipping company booklet makes the mistake of stating that the cave described by John West in 1852 is one of the "New Caves". The same error appears in Trevor Byard's book where he records the 1879 diary entry references his grandfather (Clement Byard) made to the "New Caves", but mistakenly states that these were in fact "the old Wet Caves, from which Caveside got its name" (Byard, 1990).

Although it is unclear when the New Caves were first discovered, evidence from the archived records of the Deloraine Council, the Deloraine Road Trust and early government records, suggests that these relate to cave discoveries made in the Sassafras Creek area (less than 2km from Circular Ponds). One of the earliest known official references to the New Caves is contained in correspondence files held by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) in the new government Department of Primary Industry Water and Environment (DPIWE). Rolan Eberhard (now based in the Hobart office of DPIWE) has recently discovered a letter (dated "August 20th 1879"), with an accompanying survey map, addressed to the Minister of Lands and Works (C.O. Riley).

In this letter written by a surveyor named Charles (?) Smith, he relates to a road survey from Mole Creek to the Mersey River at Liena and makes specific mention of a "new" cave recently discovered by W.R. [William Reed] How in the Sassafras Creek area. The accompanying map actually shows two caves: one which is marked as "1st New Cave" (at the site where Sassafras Creek Cave is located) and the second: "How's New Cave" (which appears likely to be Cyclops Cave). The "action notes" at the foot of Smith's letter, refer to a 300 acre cave reserve around the "1st New Cave" being applied for by the Deloraine Municipal Council, with the suggestion made that this reserve could be extended to incorporate "How's New Cave" (DPIWE file: 00-62-20/1). There is nothing shown on the survey map or in Smith's letter to suggest that Baldocks Cave had been discovered at this time - it almost certainly was not known then (pers. comm., Rolan Eberhard, May 1999).

Baldocks Cave is also located beside Sassafras Creek. Given its proximity to both the "1st New Cave" (Sassafras Creek Cave) and "How's New Cave" (Cyclops Cave), it seems probable that Baldocks Cave was another "new" cave discovered around the same time, or soon afterwards. There is very little documentation about the original discovery of Baldocks Cave and its subsequent later development as private tourist cave. William Baldock was a farmer who had settled in the area around mid-1878; the son of a convict (James Baldock), he was one of three brothers who purchased land in the Mole Creek area. According to Baldock family history, Baldocks Cave was discovered early in 1883, by William Baldock while on a hunting trip in bushland near Sassafras Creek, some 1.5km NNW of his home property at South Mole Creek (pers. comm., Lindsay Baldock, April 1999).

The Minute Books of the Deloraine Municipal Council record many references to the New Caves and the Old Caves. In discussion concerning reservation of land around the caves in the late 1870s and early 1880s, Deloraine Councilors referred to both sets of caves as the Chudleigh Caves. In the early 1890s, Council Minutes distinguish between the two sets of caves, referring to the New Caves as the "Dry Caves" and the Old Caves as the "Wet Caves". Subsequently in the late 1890s and early 1900s the so-called Dry Caves near Sassafras Creek were sometimes called the "Ugbrook Caves", then later known as the "Mole Creek Caves"; the Wet Caves referred to as the "Chudleigh Caves" were also known as the "Caveside Caves" (AOT: MCC 42/3/5 and MCC 42/3/6).

The new cave and "discovery" of the Tasmanian Cave Spider:

In their paper presented to the Royal Society of Tasmania in July 1883, Higgins and Petterd, state that the spider "specimens were obtained from a recently discovered cave in the Chudleigh district on the property of Mr. Peckitt [incorrect spelling], who most liberally allowed Mr. Frederick Henry, of Launceston, to select, for our examination, specimens, not only of the Arachnidae but also of the Mammalian remains deposited in the fissures of the rock embedded in the earthy floor of the cave ... some of which are ... agglutinated by thick stalactitic incrustation" (Higgins and Petterd, 1884). Although this cave was not formally named in their report, Higgins and Petterd refer to it as the Bone Cave. Further insight regarding the cave's identity can be gleaned from some of their comments, where they state "The cave consists of several chambers ... the floor of the Bone Cave is about 30 feet below the level of the present entrance, and is only reached by two well-like descents of from 14 feet to 16 feet each, connected by low passages", and in regard to the cave's different location, in their concluding sentence they comment that "the stalactites are truly magnificent, surpassing in beauty those of the well-known and justly famed Chudleigh Caves."(Higgins and Petterd, 1884).

In his "Geology of Tasmania" (1888), Robert Johnston lists the Chudleigh (Mersey, Belvoir and Ilfracombe) "non-fossiliferous limestone" as Upper Cambrian age rocks. In discussion on the Chudleigh area, he refers to the "numerous and extensive caverns ... underground channels or caves formed in limestone ... extensive chambers ... at a place called the New Caves, which have at a former period, been produced by ancient watercourses" (Johnston, 1888). As well as extolling the beauty of the speleothems in these "New Caves" as "crystalline tabular ledges and Gothic-like pillars", he describes the abundance of "pale blue glow-worms" and the recent discovery of a "a new species of cave-inhabiting spider" Johnston provides further detail of the Higgins and Petterd finds in one of the so-called "New Caves" in the neighbourhood of Chudleigh, stating that "recently a new cave in the Chudleigh District, on the land of Mr. Pickett [correctly spelt], was found by Mr. Henry, who was fortunate also in making the discovery of a large number of bones of animals in one of the chambers". (Johnston, 1888).

In his 1888 description of the area known as the "New Caves", Johnston states that the caves often have lofty chambers with passages "...formed by ancient watercourses" with numerous stalactites and stalagmites in all stages of development" and "a wonderful display on roof and walls from the glow-worms, which everywhere abound in 'clustered magnificence'". Johnston provides a graphic description of a cave within the New Caves area near Chudleigh referring to its "...crystalline tabular ledges and Gothic-like pillars all ablaze as the lights of the visitors' candles flash and reflect from the myriad crystal facets". [I believe we can safely assume that these "tabular ledges" are flowstone sheets or banks and the "pillars" are columns - both of which occur as small-scale features in Baldocks Cave.]

The "new" un-named cave found by Higgins and Petterd in 1883 was referred to as Bone Cave, but that name was never used in any of the subsequent literature. The historical records of the former Tasmanian Caverneering Club (TCC) include a card index of Tasmanian caves and related speleological topics, circa 1948-1955. The TCC's card index lists the cave where the Tasmanian Cave Spider was found as Picketts Cave, presumably based on the information in the 1883 and 1888 reports by Higgins & Petterd and Johnston (TCC Archives).

Tourist operations at the New Caves, including Baldocks Cave:

There can be little doubt that Baldocks Cave was known in the 1880s and frequented by cave visitors; it was probably the most popularly visited tourist cave amongst these New Caves. In 1888, William Baldock made a detailed submission to the Deloraine Council to rent the 300-acre New Caves Reserve in this Sassafras Creek area for a 21-year period. Provided he was given the first five years rent free, Baldock offered to pay "5/- per acre for the 16 years afterward, look after the caves if locked...[and charge] ...2/6 for all that came to see them" [AOT: MCC 42/3/4]. (It is unknown why William Baldock made this offer to the Deloraine Council; it is possible that Baldock believed "his" cave was situated on land within this 300 acre New Caves Reserve.) The cave does not appear to have been referred to as Baldocks Cave until the late 1890s, shortly before the Tasmanian Government acquired it, around about the time when cave tour operations were being conducted in this area by the Northern Tasmanian Tourist Association in an arrangement with the Deloraine Council.

In Trevor Byard's book, he includes mention of the Byard family's 1895 New Years Day picnic at the caves and the family's role in January-February of 1898, providing a taxi service for tourists from Chudleigh Railway station (which opened in April 1890): the tourists arrived aboard a "special Caves excursion train". According to the Byard accounts, the tourists were taken across to the Chudleigh Caves at Caveside.

In the 1888 description by Johnston, it is clear that the "New Caves" he describes relate to new caves recently found near Chudleigh. This suggests that the "excursionists to New Caves" taxied by the Byards in 1898 were in fact being possibly taken to the "new" tourist operation: Baldocks Cave. The minutes of the Deloraine Council indicate that another cave was discovered by Frederick Burk, east of Baldocks Cave around the turn of the century: this was subsequently known as Burks Cave. Another one of the so-called New Caves is Scotts Cave, but this was not discovered till February 1907, when George Scott and his three sons were fencing the western boundary of their property. Scott had originally named the site as the Alexander Caves, but they became more popularly (and locally) known as Scotts Caves (Scott, 1996). In the undated historical booklet by Sydney James, he states that when King Solomons Cave was opened in November 1908, his grandfather (Edward James) "already had all the equipment, horses, buggies etc. for taking the tourists to Scotts and Baldocks Caves" (James, n.d.)

According to Sydney James, in 1910, there were three tourist caves operating at Mole Creek: cave tour tickets cost one shilling for each of Baldocks Cave and Scotts Caves; 2/6 for King Solomons Cave and 1/6 for Marakoopa Cave when it was opened by the Byard family in 1912 and became the fourth tourist cave operating at the same time as the other three caves. James also states that when King Solomons Cave was found in 1906 after a dog fell down a hole while chasing a wallaby, the discoverers found "there was quite a heap of old animal bones" in the cave (James, n.d.).

Mammalian bone deposits from Mole Creek caves reported by Scott and Lord:

The previously mentioned mammal bone study results by Scott and Lord [the respective museum curators of the Launceston and Tasmanian (Hobart) museums], were read to the Royal Society of Tasmania on June 13th, 1921. Their studies described the results of an analysis of their collection of mammalian remains from two Mole Creek caves under the control of the Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau: Baldocks Cave and King Solomons Cave.

Their analysis also incorporated the results of a similar collection of mammalian remains made by E.C. Clarke of Liena in 1914 from "such caves (at Mole Creek) as were immediately available to him". Scott and Lord also described the studies in Baldocks Cave and King Solomons Cave as "subsequent investigations" to the work of Higgins and Petterd (1883) who made recommendations regarding the need for additional research on the mammalian remains in this previously un-named cave.

Concluding comments - Baldocks Cave as site locality of Tasmanian Cave Spider:

Considering that the other "well known and justly famed Chudleigh Caves" referred to by R.M. Johnston in 1888 had been known for some time, the "New Caves" he mentions are most likely to be Sassafras Creek Cave, Cyclops Cave and Baldocks Cave: all discovered over fifty years after Wet Cave and Honeycomb Caverns. Johnston's reference to the "new caves" would certainly be less likely to include King Solomons Cave; apart from which, one would have hardly thought that King Solomons Cave would be considered as part of the Chudleigh neighbourhood district. This view is echoed by the family history accounts of Trevor Byard in his book: "The Pains and Pleasures of Our Pioneers" largely based on the "Moss Vale" homestead diaries of his grandfather (Clement Byard) who moved to the Chudleigh district around 1870. In comment on the references to the "New Caves" in Clement Byard's diaries, Trevor Byard states that these are not King Solomons Cave, discovered later in 1906 and not "Byard's Marakoopa Limestone Caves", found in 1910 by Harold and Jim Byard (Byard, 1990).

Since King Solomons Cave was not discovered till 1906 and Scotts Cave not till 1907, the selection of Baldocks Cave by Scott and Lord as one of their cave sites for the subsequent investigations of "mammalian remains", following on from the earlier work of Higgins and Petterd, suggests that Baldocks Cave was the cave first examined by them in 1883. Furthermore, the brief mention by Higgins and Petterd of two descending passages to a lower floor level in the Bone Cave gives an impression of a cave that matches a description of Baldocks Cave. Since this cave has also been described by Johnston in 1888 as one of the "New Caves" known in the Chudleigh district, it also further supports the suggestion that BALDOCKS CAVE was the un-named cave site from where Higgins and Petterd collected the spider specimens for their description of the Tasmanian Cave Spider. This conclusion is also supported by the recorded history of cave discovery and the early descriptions of both the "new caves" and the "Chudleigh Caves" in this area, south of Mole Creek.

Although Johnston appears to contradict himself by stating that "Mr. Henry" discovered the cave where the Tasmanian Cave Spider and animal bones were found (Johnston, 1888: 328), this is probably an oversight by Johnston, because elsewhere he quotes Higgins and Petterd more precisely (cf: p.40). Although not given a more formal name, the fact that the cave name ("Baldocks Cave") was not used in either of the publications by Higgins and Petterd (1883) or Johnston (1888), does not necessarily negate the fact that this was the cave reportedly discovered by William Baldock in 1883. As history has shown us on many occasions, the names or towns of natural features often change or do not become publicly accepted till some years later after initial discovery. It is quite possible that Johnston was not aware of the cave being found by William Baldock (if the Baldock family folklore is correct). If in fact, the cave was actually found by Frederick Henry, but not recorded as such, Baldocks Cave may have been subsequently named after William Baldock because he was a local nearby resident who regularly visited the cave on a daily basis while developing it as a tourist cave.

There may still remain some confusion or doubt with regard to the above-mentioned 1883 and 1888 reports which both state that the cave with the Tasmanian Cave Spider was located on the land of "Mr. Pickett". In his cordial role as publican host [and owner of the General Store], particularly promoting visitor patronage and custom to his Chudleigh Inn, it appears that in addition to ingratiating himself as the local cave expert and tour guide, Dan Pickett may have taken on the role of custodian to all the caves he showed his visitors. This is certainly the impression given to Anthony Trollope in 1872, who stated that Pickett "seemed to have the caves under his peculiar care ... taking command of the whole party with that air of authority"(Trollope, 1873). The early map charts of original land grants and purchases in the Mole Creek district (circa 1880-1900) show four blocks of "Pickett" land-holdings amidst "How" family blocks, on the northern side of the present South Mole Creek Road, less than a kilometre east of Sassafras Creek. The westernmost "Pickett" block immediately abuts on to Crown Land that had been proclaimed on June 17th 1879 for the Township of Ugbrook [centred around the present day caravan park/ camping area at Sassafras Creek] with the old VDLC road from Circular Head [present road from Liena] passing through the centre of this proclaimed area. It is quite possible that visitors to the "New Caves" (now known as Sassafras Creek Cave, Baldocks Cave and Cyclops Cave) may have accessed these caves via Pickett family land-holdings, which more or less abutted to the Crown Land areas containing the caves (and the proclaimed township of Ugbrook), so Pickett may have viewed these cave sites as being an extension of his land-holdings, or at least conveyed that impression as suggested by Trollope's remarks. [There still remains a road bridge in this vicinity locally known as Picketts Bridge.]

Unless someone can find some other alternate source of information about caves on land owned by Daniel Pickett or family members (and the names of other caves on those lands), or other information about Pickett family land holdings/ location and the dates of purchase etc, I believe it is likely that the Tasmanian Cave Spider can come to rest as being originally described from Baldocks Cave, as implied in the 1921 paper by Scott and Lord.

Acknowledgments:

This paper is the result of inspiration and contribution of many. I would like to acknowledge the following (roughly, in respective order of their assistance as this paper was researched): Elery Hamilton-Smith; Lindsay Baldock; Jenny Dyring; Rolan Eberhard; Beth Stott; staff of the Tasmaniana Library (in State Library) Hobart and staff in the Archives Office of Tasmania.

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