The Bermagui and Narooma historical societies and Montreal Goldfield last retraced the Bermagui Mystery in 2022. Photos: Wendy Douch.
In October 1880 five men who had arrived in Bermagui a few days earlier disappeared. Their boat was found on a beach some 15 kilometres north. Their bodies were never found.
Did they drown? Were they kidnapped? Were they murdered? If so, why and how?
The so-called Bermagui Mystery captured the country’s imagination. It shared the national headlines with the trial of Ned Kelly.
For years people speculated about the men’s fate. Some preposterous theories were put forward.
Now, representatives from the Bermagui and Narooma Historical Societies and Montreal Goldfield are planning to revisit one of the South Coast’s enduring mysteries – and everyone is invited to join them. On Monday 5 October they will be reopening the cold case in a series of live talks at five locations from Bermagui to Mystery Bay.
The five men who disappeared were Lamont Young, a government geological surveyor, his German assistant Max Schneider, and three men from Batemans Bay: the boat’s owner Thomas Towers and his companions William Lloyd and Daniel Casey.
Mr Young and his assistant arrived in Bermagui on 8 October to survey the new Montreal Goldfield after gold was found on a beach north of Bermagui three weeks earlier. The Batemans Bay men had arrived in Bermagui a day or so before the two government employees.
Narooma Historical Society president Laurelle Pacey helping to retrace the Bermagui Mystery.
Mr Young and his assistant visited the goldfield on 9 October. It was the last time they were seen alive.
They had expressed interest in also visiting another reported gold find at Corunna, between Tilba and Narooma.
Many people reported seeing the men leaving Bermagui in the boat on 10 October headed north. Later that day a man spotted the boat on a rock shelf well north of Bermagui.
The boat contained some of the men’s belongings and had been damaged from the inside.
Despite this, the police assumed the men had drowned at sea. What followed was very sloppy police work, missing evidence and contradictory statements by people who were questioned.
Stephen Mills, publicity officer of the Bermagui Historical Society, said the Bermagui Mystery is the ultimate cold case with so many interesting red herrings and forensic questions to unravel. It is also an incredibly rich source of history.
“The mysterious disappearance meant a lot of reporters came to the area, plus all the documentation associated with the police investigations and government inquiry. So, we have all these fabulous glimpses into life in this quiet little place in 1880 that had been transformed by the arrival of 2000 hopeful prospectors and then the dramatic disappearance of these five men,” Mr Mills said.
There will be five stopping points to retrace the Bermagui Mystery.
“You see all these details of what was going on at the time, where the campsite was, the farming, colonial settlement, the sly grog shops, the sea trade, the local Indigenous community and the ludicrous policing. It is all documented,” he said.
The event is not just for visitors to the area over the long weekend.
Locals can learn more about the history of where they live and how life was in 1880 and the distances that people walked to go about their business.
“It isn’t just for crime buffs, but there will be plenty for them with so many red herrings, the bullets and Max Schneider’s scar,” Mr Mills said.
The group will meet at 10 am at the headland overlooking Bermagui River on 5 October when the mystery will be retraced, 146 years after the men disappeared.
From the headland, there will be three stopping points before arriving at Mystery Bay, one of two possible sites where the boat was found.
A car is essential and carpooling is encouraged. People should bring lunch to have at Mystery Bay and a portable chair or stool is recommended. This free event ends about 1 pm at Mystery Bay picnic shelter.
For further information on the retracing of the Bermagui Mystery on 5 October contact Laurelle on 0409 761 or Stephen on 0438 081 801.
