Traralgon was a very small place in the 1860's. Most of the native population had been decimated by Smallpox and there was only 8 white men living in the area presumably with their families. The railway hadn't been opened yet and the "town' was simply a stopping place on the road to Walhalla, Jordan and Omeo goldfields. Into this small community came Mounted Police Trooper William Sydney O'Brien Smyth. His district ran from Dargo to the coast and from Rosedale to Shady Creek (Warragul).
William joined the Police Force in 1853, when the gold rush was at fever pitch but, left it in 1859 to pursue a career as a publican in Castlemaine and later as an engineer in Richmond. He married Mary Sharry in 1859 and they had 5 children, four of which died by early 1863. The surviving child was a daughter named Mary Anne.
Mary, William and little Mary Anne moved to Traralgon and into the small Police Station and residence on Franklin Street. Within the year, little Mary Anne went the way of her brothers and sisters. William and Mary were once again distraught by their loss.
The Smyths, buried Mary Anne in the original Traralgon Cemetery which stood in the vicinity of the railway station. In 1877 when the railway was being built many of the graves were moved to the new cemetery on the Tyers Road but William was given permission to leave little Mary Anne where she lay. William built a little white picket fence around the grave and, there she remained, hidden away in a railway paddock.
The death of young children was not an unusual event in colonial Victoria. In the mid to late 1800's the population of Victoria had boomed, but housing and sanitary conditions were yet to catch up. Victoria was suffering from epidemics of smallpox, typhoid, measles, influenza and scarlet fever. Young children and the native population had no immunity to these diseases and so were more susceptible. Many families lost children but, the Smyth's losses were greater than most.
For many years William returned to Traralgon to visit the grave of little Mary Anne but, when he passed away the grave fell into disrepair. In 1914, a local man by the name of William Mason generously donated the funds to restore the little grave and the local railway staff donated their time.
It is thanks to these people and to many others that the story of little Mary Anne and the hardships of colonial life are made so graphically clear in the form of a tiny grave tucked away in the centre of Traralgon.
You will need to gather some numbers to continue your quest for the cache.
Looking at the front fence of the Grave answer the following.
1/ How many loops are there? = A
2/ How many Bars are there? = B
3/ How many small circles are there? = C
Now for the all important co-ords.
S 38° 11.(B-A)((Cx6)+2) E 146° 32.A (B/2)((C-B)+1)