Lightning Ridge, beneath which more than 90 per cent of the world's black opal supply is located, has competing accounts of its history. The Lightning Ridge Historical Society uses colour-coded car doors to mark sites it considers significant, while local miner Pete Glogauer has posted car bonnet signs challenging accounts of who discovered the opal.
Barb Moritz, who became the historical society's secretary, has spent decades piecing together a version of the town's history. In the late 1990s, the society turned this history into four colour-coded car-door routes to sites it considers significant. A monument to Charles Nettleton stands on an ironstone ridge above town; he is celebrated as the founder of the opal industry that gave Lightning Ridge its reputation.
But Pete Glogauer, a miner who has lived in Lightning Ridge for nearly 60 years, says some of the town's history is not quite as presented. He claims John 'Jack' Murray found black opal in 1901, a year before Nettleton arrived, and says several other miners were there before Nettleton turned up. 'It's always been common knowledge to the locals that Jack Murray was the first miner here,' Glogauer said.
Glogauer began putting up white car bonnets about two years ago to correct what he calls misinformation. 'I put that white bonnet up saying that although Nettleton sank his first shafts here, they were not the first to be dug,' he said. His signs are less polished than the society's doors, and he describes his operation as a 'one-man army', driving iron stakes into the ground himself.
Moritz does not dispute that Murray may have found 'pretty rocks' while setting rabbit traps, but says he may not have sunk a shaft. 'Charlie Nettleton, as a professional miner, knew what to do with it,' she said. She called the car bonnets 'confusing' and said 'they're just creating havoc, they'll be gone soon'.
Both sides agree on the macabre origin of the town's name: a young drover and his flock of 600 sheep were killed by a lightning bolt before 1880. But they disagree on the exact spot. Glogauer says a historical society plaque placed in 1999 marks the wrong location about three kilometres away.
Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay woman Aunty Rhonda Ashby sees a much older history in the same ironstone ridges. She said local Aboriginal people believe the ridge was one of Baayami's creations, built so he could look out over country. 'We believe his power is in the lightning,' she said. She described Lightning Ridge as 'Law country', where special people came to discuss Law.
Aunty Brenda Mcbride, a Gamileroi Yuwaalaraay elder, believes the oral history she holds should be shared with visitors before they tour the opal fields.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The dispute highlights how competing narratives shape a small town's identity and tourism industry, on which many livelihoods depend.
- The alternative signposts risk confusing visitors, but also reflect a deeper struggle over who gets to define local heritage.
- An Indigenous perspective adds a layer of history tens of thousands of years old that neither party's version fully acknowledges.
Background
Lightning Ridge is an opal-mining town in northern NSW, Australia, known for producing the rare black opal. The modern mining industry began in the early 1900s, but the land has been Yuwaalaraay Country for millennia. The official car door tours were created by the Lightning Ridge Historical Society to guide self-drive tourists to historic sites. Pete Glogauer's car bonnet signs are a breakaway effort that started about two years ago.
Key Perspectives
Barb Moritz (Historical Society secretary): Says the society's tours are based on careful research from miners' ledgers and newspaper clippings, and that Charles Nettleton deserves recognition as the first professional miner. She dismisses the car bonnets as 'confusing' and predicts they will not last.
Pete Glogauer (local miner): Argues that local oral tradition has always held that Jack Murray was the first to find black opal in 1901, and that the historical society has 'fixated' on Nettleton. He says his signs present 'just fact' and have good communal support.
Aunty Rhonda Ashby (Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay woman): Describes the ridges as part of a creation story by Baayami, who built them so he could look out over country. She connects the lightning that gives the town its name to ancestral power.
Aunty Brenda Mcbride (Gamileroi Yuwaalaraay elder): Believes oral history should be given greater prominence in the town's presentation to visitors.
What to Watch
- Whether the historical society takes any action to remove or counter the car bonnet signs.
- Whether tourism operators in Lightning Ridge begin to incorporate Indigenous stories into their tours.
- Whether any third party, such as the local council or a heritage body, steps in to mediate the dispute.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe headline frames Lightning Ridge’s history as depending on whether readers side with car doors or car bonnets.Just In: “Exactly what that history is, however, depends on who's telling it.”
- SupportedMore than 90 per cent of the world’s black opal supply is located beneath Lightning Ridge.Just In: “It is an exceptionally rare find, with more than 90 per cent of the world’s supply located beneath this outback moonscape.”
- SupportedThe summary says a dispute over who first found black opal has put Glogauer at odds with the historical society, with car doors and bonnets used for competing signs.Just In: “John 'Jack' Murray, a boundary-rider employed by a nearby cattle station, was the first to find black opal in 1901, he says emphatically. [...] At a distance, it could be mistaken for a signature calling card of the historical society's car door tours. But it isn't a door. It's a car bonnet.”
- SupportedGlogauer said, “It's always been common knowledge to the locals that Jack Murray was the first miner here.”Just In: ““It's always been common knowledge to the locals that Jack Murray was the first miner here,” Pete says”
- SupportedGlogauer says Murray found black opal in 1901, a year before Nettleton arrived in Lightning Ridge.Just In: “John 'Jack' Murray, a boundary-rider employed by a nearby cattle station, was the first to find black opal in 1901, he says emphatically. [...] A seasoned miner from Victoria, Nettleton first made his way to Lightning Ridge in 1902”
- SupportedGlogauer said, “I put that white bonnet up saying that although Nettleton sank his first shafts here, they were not the first to be dug.”Just In: ““I put that white bonnet up saying that although Nettleton sank his first shafts here, they were not the first to be dug,” he says.”
- SupportedMoritz said Murray may not have sunk a shaft and said, “Charlie Nettleton, as a professional miner, knew what to do with it.”Just In: ““He may not even have sunk a shaft,” she says. “Charlie Nettleton, as a professional miner, knew what to do with it.””
- SupportedMoritz called the bonnets confusing and said they were “just creating havoc” and “they'll be gone soon”.Just In: ““There are so many of them around the field and they are confusing and they're not part of the tourist association,” Barb says with disdain. [...] “they're just creating havoc, they'll be gone soon.””
- SupportedThe story says a drover and his 600 sheep were killed by lightning before 1880.Just In: “both Pete and the historical society agree that the town's name was inspired by a macabre natural phenomenon that occurred sometime before 1880. A young drover and his flock of 600 sheep were all struck dead in an instant by a lightning bolt”
- SupportedGlogauer says the historical society’s 1999 plaque marks the wrong location, about three kilometres from where the lightning strike happened.Just In: “Placed there in 1999, it provides a convenient place for travellers to stop and reflect on the poor drover's fate. [...] “It happened nearly three kilometres up the road.””
- SupportedAshby said, “We believe his power is in the lightning.”Just In: ““We believe his power is in the lightning,” she says.”
- Partly supportedBrenda Mcbride believes her oral history should be shared with visitors before they tour the opal fields.Just In: “She believes the oral history that she holds true should be shared with visitors long before they take to the winding tracks that lead to the lookout.”