Pluto

Pluto or William Davis (c.1869 – 16 January 1916 ) was an Aboriginal Australian man who worked as a prospector and mining entrepreneur primarily within the Batavia Goldfield in Queensland, Australia. Later in his life he worked alongside his wife Kitty Pluto (Altengen).

Biography Pluto was born in Charters Towers and little is known of the early details of his life, including his specific Aboriginal heritage, although it is known that he began working as a stockman by the time he was a young man, primarily at stations in the region of the Burdekin River. When not in jail he appeared regularly in court on various charges including for fighting, vagrancy and public drunkenness. This rush was delayed until 1911 as news of the discovery was suppressed so that local miners had their first choice of ground. However, the eventual rush did lead to the formation of 'Plutoville', a town founded on the goldfield, to house the miners brought there and it remained in use until 1922.

In order to be able to mine legally and stake their claims the pair had to have the help of a non-Aboriginal friend, Wade Robinson, as their rights were restricted as Aboriginal people and under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897.

After this Pluto and Kitty also made other gold discoveries including; 'Pluto’s Lead No. 2' (1911), 'Pluto's Gully' (1912) and 'The Tunnel' (1914) and, in their work, they often worked alongside other Aboriginal miners.

Pluto died on 16 January 1916 in Coen where it was rumoured he had found more gold deposits. After his death it was claimed that his major discovery at 'Pluto’s Lead No. 1' had been made by "pure accident" when driving a tent peg into the ground in an attempt to discredit him.