Prospector Missing in Rugged Bush

Sunday, January 21 1886

An old man named Fuller is reported lost in the vicinity of Degilbo. He went out on a prospecting tour, but has not returned or been heard of since. The Police are now in search of him.

Local News

Saturday, January 28 1886

We reported last week an elderly man named Fuller, an old hand at the Burnett had been lost in the bush somewhere in the broken country about Degilbo.

Several Police constables with blacktrackers were dispatched to the rescue, and news reached town yesterday that they, after eight days of vigilant search had found Fuller thoroughly worn out and exhausted, even to the verge of death.

For more than a week he had subsisted entirely on the flesh of two iguanas, which he captured.

Fuller was given nourishment by his finders and conveyed to the nearest station, where he may possibly recover.

Fuller's Rest Didcot

Fred Fuller moved from Mount Perry to Fuller's Rest at Didcot soon after the death of his wife Bridget in 1882. He earned his keep as a general handyman, horse wrangler and bullock driver at the coach stop owned by the Fuller family on the Gayndah - Maryborough road.

In January 1886, the 68 year old veteran of the Burnett with years of bushcraft experience went prospecting for gold on foot in rough country around Degilbo. For reasons best known to himself, Fred decided to travel light with only a meager ration of food.

When he hadn't returned to Didcot within the week his son William raised the alarm with the authorities who immediately dispatched a search party to the Mount Biggenden area.

It is more than likely Fred suffered from some form of senile dementia which caused him to become disorientated and hopelessly lost for over a week.

Fuller's Fatal Fall

His condition would worsen over the next six months and probably contributed to his fatal accident in Maryborough, 2 June 1886.

Fred had cheated death once near Degilbo but his luck ran out on that fateful Wednesday evening in Adelaide Street, Maryborough.

Fred died from brain injuries in the early hours of the morning, 3 June 1886 at the Australian Hotel, Maryborough. His body was removed from the hotel with indecent haste and left in a shed for some hours before being examined by a doctor.

Fred Fuller is buried in an unmarked grave in the Maryborough Cemetery.