James Venture Mulligan

James Venture Mulligan (13 February 1837 - 24 August 1907) was an Ireland-born Australian prospector and explorer.

Mulligan was born in Drumgooland, County Down and emigrated to Australia at the age of 21 in 1859.

After missing the gold rushes of Ballarat and Gympie, Mulligan set out to find payable gold on the Palmer River in Far North Queensland that had been reported by William Hann. On 30 June 1873, Mulligan discovered payable gold reporting his find on 24 August to the Warden of the Etheridge Gold Field at Georgetown. The Palmer area was soon overrun by more than 30,000 prospectors, and Mulligan continued to search elsewhere. In 1874 he was to discover gold at Pine Creek.

In 1875 Mulligan became frustrated that his finds were creating great wealth for others, but were barely financing his expeditions. Unable to secure his services for free, the Queensland Government paid him £500 to find further gold fields. Instead of gold, he was to discover the Barron River and find tin that year on the current site of Herberton. In 1880 he discovered silver in the Silver Valley west of Herberton.

Mulligan was married in Brisbane on 5 March 1903. In that year he also purchased the Mount Molloy Hotel. He died on 24 August 1907 from injuries received as he tried to stop a fight. He was buried in Mount Molloy cemetery. His headstone reads:

Mount Mulligan and the Mulligan Highway in Far North Queensland, and the Mulligan River in south-west Queensland, were named after him.

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