well digging - water- Australia

[little meg]

Hi all,
not sure where to put this, but I have an ancestor digging a well for water in 1865, Deniliquin, Australia.
Any ideas as to what would have been involved?

I have done some googling and got some basic stuff, ie bucket, tripod, rope etc.
He was a blacksmith by trade, would he have had a special implement for the digging - ie hand auger.
What would they have lined the well with, if anything?

The info I have and wish to build up on is this - from Pastoral Times - june 1865

Accident - As Joseph Simpson junior was engaged in deepening a well in Deniliquin the other day the rope attached to a bucket of mullock gave way, and the bucket fell some  twenty feet on to the poor fellow's back.  His uncle in going down to his assistance inadvertently made matters worse by his weight again breaking the rope when he was near the bottom, and he fell on to is nephew.  Fortunately a broken rib was the worst injury sustained by young Joe, whilst the uncle happily escaped unhurt.

As you can see, a fun story to add to my book but just want more info so I know what I am talking about.

Any help welcome,
cheers
Margaret

[t mo]

hi margaret
i don,t know about well digging in aus but here in england in east anglia it was the same set up as aus tripod rope and bucket and the fella in the bottom with a shovel digging by hand they would go down approx 3 feet then tap in short pieces of wood flat ways all round then build up the inside with bricks placed in such a way as to knit together so when the soil pressure pushed on the side they pinched up tight sos not to collapse then they dug down another 3 feet and did the same again and so on till they hit the water table it would have been nigh on impossible to work with any form of shuttering due to the small diameter of the well and unsafe to do it any other way even then to shovel soil at any depth is a real struggle  [ bin there dunnit ] it was quite a skill as well [ no pun intended ] as to get it vertical and get the brickwork right was an art in it,s self .
regards
trevor

[little meg]

Hi Trevor,
very helpful, thankyou so much.  The extra info will be a great addition and give me a better understanding of the principles.

regards
Margaret

[little meg]

Hey trevor,
more silly questions for you.
would the shovels used have shorter handles than normal shovels?
I am presuming they did not have a ladder that would go to the 20ft depth and from the article used a rope.  Would they have had two ropes going, one for the bucket and one for climbing in and out?

Margaret

[t mo]

hi margaret
quite possibly they would have a shorter handle than normal as like a lot of things if you do a particular job you adapt what is normal to suit the job in hand , even to day it,s still the same as a little innovation can help save time and effort .
as to ladders back then especially all they had were what is known as pole ladders which are still used today but not so much as metal ones have superceded them probably on elf & safety grounds , in effect it was as it says a straight pole as you say up to 20 feet long cut right down the middle and then had the foot rungs fitted it usually was slightly wider at the bottom then gently tapered up  , later ones would be the same width top to bottom the outside of the rungs was cleaned up and planed so as to make a nice finish but like all things wood as they got older you still got splinters  .
as to wether they used a ladder to get down a well hole probably they did initially but more likely as it got deeper they would use the same rope as the bucket was attached to and be lowered down as i say with some well holes being no more than 3 feet across space was limited to say the least i,ve dug footings down to 18 foot and 3 to 4 foot square and by the time your in the hole with a shovel and a bucket on a rope there aint a lot of room to move about in  . if you google pole ladders a lot of pics come up that will give you a perspective of what they are about .
hope this helps .best wishes
trevor

[little meg]

Hi Trevor,
thankyou very much for your thorough explanation on ladders and ropes etc..
It is a great help to me and hopefully I won't come across as ignorant in my writing. 

regards
Margaret

[t mo]

hi margaret
always a pleasure to help and i,ll look out for you in  the best sellers soon, oooooh i might get a mention in the thanks section at the beginning of the book cor that,s a thought  .
happy writing and best wishes
trevor

[little meg]

suggestion noted