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Gradually the information was gathered; not only the story of the Clarke and Russell families, but also the story of the community of Creswick in which they lived. We found that, despite the impression given in some history books, people could live in primitive tents and huts, without plumbing or sewerage, and still have large families which grew to adulthood, and went on to work, marry, and have their own families. We found that most of the people who came to an area to look for gold also built their homes, joined a church, paid their rates, and supported groups working for their own and the community's improvement. Many problems were the same as we face today - natural disasters, the economy, the environment, Colonial (State) rivalry. We have learnt since those times how to prevent the epidemics of disease, and have also learnt to prevent health problems in miners and factory workers. Or have we? Perhaps we have just substituted hepatitis and AIDS for typhoid fever and whooping cough, and back injuries and RSI for miner's phthisis.

This book is about the Clarke and Russell families in Creswick, covering the period from 1843 till most of the Clarkes left around 1914 and the Russells in the 1940s.