Silver tea urn

Veda Hope collection

Silver tea urn

At about 8.45 on the evening of 19 November 1863 bushrangers John Gilbert, Ben Hall and John O'Meally attacked the Goimbla homestead of David and Amelia Campbell, outside Eugowra in the Lachlan Valley, New South Wales. In the ensuing two-hour gun battle, David's brother William was wounded, property was destroyed and O'Meally was killed. The Campbells were well rewarded for ending O'Meally's life of violent crime. They received the government reward money, a sterling silver epergne, a silver tea urn, a gold-watch and a shotgun. They were also presented with two public testimonials and received a public subscription of about ?1000 to compensate for their property losses. Later, in the mid-1870s, David was awarded a gold 'bushranger medal' by the government.

In 1986, Veda Hope, a granddaughter of David and Amelia, donated the silver tea urn and the two testimonials to the National Historical Collection. The silver tea urn had been presented to Amelia by the 'ladies of upper and middle Adelong[as] an appreciation of her heroic conduct displayed during the attack at Goimbla'. The first of the testimonials, addressed to Amelia, is a small rectangle of silk onto which a message of admiration has been stitched by Mrs Thomas Calloway, Mrs W Beaver and Mrs JA Carter, also from the Adelong district. The second testimonial is a large handwritten petition addressed to Mr and Mrs Campbell, which expresses 'unmixed admiration' of their 'heroic courage' in confronting the ruthless bushrangers. It was signed by 92 inhabitants of the Forbes district.