William McLachlan - the man who discovered the first gold in Pleasant Creek in 1853 - was born in Scotland in 1806.
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When he discovered the gold, he was working as a hut keeper on Concongella Station.
McLachlan was living with two shepherds in a bark hut on the western slopes of Pleasant Creek.
Hut keepers were employed to do the cooking and whatever other housekeeping jobs needed doing.
They were usually responsible for taking care of the sheep at night.
McLachlan discovered gold in Pleasant Creek about 150 yards further up the creek, to the west, from where the memorial stands near the bridge on Pomonal Road, just before the racecourse.
His discovery was only a few ounces and caused no great excitement at the time, as other goldfields in Ballarat, Bendigo and Clunes were producing much more gold.
They also had stores and shops, whereas here there was only a bark hut.
The area's first gold rush did not start until one year after the find in Pleasant Creek.
The rush took place near Commercial Street, Illawarra and it's quite possible that McLachlan's 1853 discovery drew some prospectors to the area who kept on searching.
No reward was ever paid for the discovery at Pleasant Creek, although the government of the day had offered rewards of up to 1000 pounds for the discovery of new goldfields.
Little is known of McLachlan's later years, although in 1879 he was known to be working as a laborer in the Black Ranges.
From 1879, he was in and out of hospital many times for various illnesses.
Finally, in August 1889, he died in the benevolent ward at Pleasant Creek Hospital, aged 84 years.
This ward was added to the hospital in 1882 and many old miners spent their last years there.
He was buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper section of the Stawell Cemetery.
In 1953, his grave was marked in concrete and the top was inscribed "discoverer of Stawell's first gold in 1853."
In March 2018, Stawell Historical Society - through a generous donation from one of its members - had the grave fully restored, with an imposing black granite headstone installed.
McLachlan's grave can be viewed in the Stawell cemetery, left of the gates when entering through the Lake Road entrance, where there exists more than 400 paupers' graves.
McLachlan Street in Stawell is named after William McLachlan.