This book has been ten years in the making. A long road invites many debts. I give thanks and praise to all those who have helped me along the way, but in particular:
My colleagues in the History Program at La Trobe University, where I undertook the research for this book through an Australian Research Council-funded postdoctoral fellowship, and later completed the manuscript through a La Trobe University Humanities Bridging Fellowship. Special thanks to Judith Brett, Richard Broome, Marilyn Lake, Katie Holmes, Adrian Jones, John Hirst, Diane Kirkby, Gwenda Tavan, Alice Garner, Janet Butler and Alex McDermott for their intellectual support and companionship.
All the Eureka descendants who trusted me with their families’ heritage. I could not include every story, but the spirit of your ancestors lives and breathes in the text. I am exceptionally grateful to the following people for their enduring support and patience: Don Walker, Ella Hancock, the Howards—Damian, Marcia, Shane, Eric and Adele, Andrew Crowley, Anne Hall, Ellen Campbell, Val D’Angri, Bill and Chris Hanlon, John Wilson and Lorraine Brownlie.
Staff at the State Library of Victoria—my second home. Special thanks to Shane Carmody for his boundless enthusiasm and Gerard Hayes for finding me the picture of the Adelphi Theatre interior. I also acknowledge the SLV’s generous provision of images for this book, and thank Margot Jones for all her help.
The many people who have been fellow travellers on some leg of the journey: Anna Clark, Helen Garner, Jenny Darling, Donica Bettanin, Dot Wickham, Susan Kruss, Ron Egeberg, Roger Trudgeon, Peter Freund, Kay Gibson, Jan Croggan, staff at the Public Record Office Victoria, Paul Pickering, Katherine Armstrong, Gabriel Maddock and Kristin Phillips.
Barb Malmgren, Bernadette Hess and Barbara Burge for their expert care and counsel.
The kind souls who agreed to read the first colossal draft of the manuscript: Barry Jones, Fiona Capp, Ray Cassin, Tim Sullivan and Rick Kane. The final product was much improved by your judicious road testing. All errors of fact and judgment remain my own. Tim also gave crucial ongoing technical advice on mining technology in his role as Museums Director at Sovereign Hill.
Jacinta di Mase, my literary agent, for her quiet dignity and steely determination to make this book fly. You are a ripper.
The team at Text. What a dream it has been to work with you all. Thanks to Michael Heyward for bringing me into the fold, and to Emily Booth, Jane Novak, Rachel Shepheard, Kirsty Wilson, Shalini Kunahlan and Chong Weng Ho for bringing the book to life. Hats off to my editor, Mandy Brett, for her skill and fine mind. There are not enough thank-yous, Mandy.
Friends and family, so many of you, but especially Justine Sless and Katrina Carling for school pick-ups and sleep-overs on demand; Richard Perry for a lifetime of books; John Goldlust for lunchtime chats; Madeleine and George Wright for their faith; and Ruth Leonards, mother extraordinaire, for letting a thousand kindnesses bloom.
Bernie, Noah and Esther Wright, my favourite people.
And Damien Wright, who has loved me and loved me and loved me through a lot.