John DEASON arrived in Australia with his wife and child in Port Adelaide, South Australia on 24th December 1853. The following link show the passenger list of the ship "Epaminondas" (off site). They may have also had sadness with the death of an infant on the passage to Australia.
How he met up with Richard OATES is unclear. It had been reported that they came out together from England but this is incorrect. Richard came to Melbourne, Victoria on the "Norwood" arriving on 25th July 1854. He was an unassisted migrant, aged 25 years at the time on embarkation in Liverpool, England on 17th April 1854. His occupation was listed as a miner.
It is also reported that John and Richard grew up together on Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England but the evidence does not support this. They may have played and worked together on mainland Cornwall. They found the "Welcome Stranger" gold nugget on 5th February 1869 near Moliagul, Victoria, Australia. This year, 2019, marks the 150th Anniversary of the nugget's finding.
The story of the finding of the "Welcome Stranger" was reported in the "London Times" on Monday, 19th April 1869.
The "Welcome Stranger" is the largest nugget of gold ever found.
Wikipedia entry for the "Welcome Stranger". (Off site).
John Deason describes how they found the nugget. (Off site).
A good article on the Deason and Oates and the finding of the nugget. (Off site).
The Golden Triangle in Victoria, Australia. (Off site).
Dunolly and Moliagul areas. (Off site).
The biggest and best gold nuggets. (Off site).
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