Jupiter Mosman

John Joseph (Jupiter) Mosman (1861–1945) was an Aboriginal Australian prospector, one of the group of four who discovered gold at Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia. It became one of the premier goldfields of Australia, yielding £23,000,000 worth of gold. Mosman is credited with having found the first gold-bearing stone.

Later life

In his final years, Mosman was cared for at the Eventide Home nursing home in Charters Towers. Aboriginal people were not normally admitted to the home, but the people of Charters Towers successfully petitioned the Queensland Government to allow him residence there because of his historic association with Charters Towers.

Mosman died at Eventide nursing home at Charters Towers on 5 December 1945 aged approximately 84 years. His funeral took place on 6 December 1945.

He was one of the only two men remaining alive who were on Charters Towers in its beginnings, the other being Sir Thomas Buckland, who was then an assayer at Millchester.

A large boomerang-shaped monument was erected in memory of Mosman in Lissner Park, Charters Towers .

The Jupiter Mosman Cooperative Society provide accommodation services for Indigenous people in Charters Towers.

Jupiters Casino, afterwards known as The Star Gold Coast, was named after him.