Old Mick

Mick loved showing his green to visitors

Mick Stonebridge with his famous green

The 202-carat Stonebridge Green

Mick Stonebridge, 1971

Mick Stonebridge, 13 May 1887 – 16 May 1978
Frederick Max (Mick) Stonebridge is believed to have been born in Berlin in 1887, although it is suspected that Stonebridge was not his birth name.

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After a short stint in the German Imperial Navy, he qualified for an assisted passage to Australia and arrived in Brisbane at the age of 22. After working a variety of jobs across the Blackall district, Mick made his way to the Rubyvale area around 1918, having met local miner Willis Hagan while pressing wool at Yaraka.

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Mick was known as an easy-going gentleman with a huge heart, always ready with a good yarn. He was so highly regarded in the community that in August 1977 he was given the honour of flicking the switch when electricity was introduced to the Sapphire and Rubyvale townships.

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Although he mined around Rubyvale for more than 50 years, Mick never sold the sapphires he unearthed, not even the famous 202-carat Stonebridge Green he found on Norman’s Hill in 1938. The stone was stolen in the 1960s but was soon recovered. From then on, he wore it in a pouch around his neck and proudly showed it to anyone who expressed interest. You can learn more about this remarkable gem at Norman’s Hill, Rubyvale.

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When Mick died in 1978, he left behind a sapphire and stamp estate worth more than six figures. The Queensland Public Trustee launched an international investigation to locate a rightful heir, and in 1980 his collection was auctioned to the public.

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Mick lived for many years in a simple hut along this road, which is now named Stonebridge Place in his honour.

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Excerpt taken from Gemfields: Anakie, Rubyvale, Sapphire and Other Centres: A Sketchbook of Life on the Gemfields by Glen Gillard

According to the late Bill Hagan, who sometimes dug with him, Mick worked hard and would never tunnel out from his shafts. He’d dig down to the wash, sometimes 60 feet (18 metres), process the dirt at the bottom, but never dig out. “About two o’clock each day, the only thing holdin’ Mick up was the shaft. He’d start to rock. Poor old bugger was only eatin’ puftaloons and treacle ’n’ honey.”

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