The engraving of the watch found at Darlington Point.
Darlington Point resident Shannon Peters considers herself an enthusiastic metal detectorist, and came across something interesting on one of her recent local explorations. Also an avid writer, she has provided this account of a recent historic find for our readers.
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On the sun-baked banks of the Murrumbidgee River in Darlington Point, the beep of a metal detector recently broke a silence that had lasted more than 100 years.
Buried beneath layers of Riverina silt lay a glint of solid silver - a heavy, well made, wristwatch that has since unspooled a forgotten tale of bravery, a life-saving rescue, and a cross-state romance.
Unearthing history lost to the passing of time is always a special moment. But this particular piece was unearthed as shiny as the day it was buried under a pile of refuse and, apart from the disintegration of what was once a leather band, it was in excellent condition.
The inscription, which was legible and clear from the moment it was rescued from its clay resting space, read: 'Presented to K.W. Pescott by the citizens of Curlewis, NSW, 10.1.18'.
Such a small, innocuous engraving bore many questions. Who was K. W. Pescott? What did he do that was so amazing that a small town many miles away felt the need to present him with an extremely high-quality watch as a thank you?
What, if any, was Mr Pescott’s link to Darlington Point? And how on earth did the watch end up buried so far under the surface on the banks of the Murrumbidgee?
No official records state exactly what the watch was presented for, but towards the end of 1917, a child (name unknown) was said to have been saved from drowning by a member of the public who had been visiting the area.
Shortly after the incident was reported in the local news, a watch was presented to Mr Pescott ‘by the citizens of Curlewis’, A safe assumption (but assumption nonetheless) is that Mr Pescott was the brave fellow who saved the child from peril.
Researching the aforementioned questions was a daunting task for one person, thus the help of various historical groups was employed.
Within hours, several common threads appeared among each group's research. A Mr Pescott was discovered in Caulfield, Victoria.
The same Mr Pescott was found to have had a wide and varied employment history but notably had spent time working for the agricultural board and was heavily involved in noxious weed control and surveying, a job that led him far and wide to many areas of both Victoria and NSW in the early to mid-1900s, including frequent visits to a small town on the banks of the Murrumbidgee – Darlington Point.
Thus the mystery of how a watch gifted in Curlewis ended up in the dirt at Darlington Point was solved through a marriage notice from June 16, 1926.
It appears Mr Pescott discovered more than weeds in the small community as a notice printed in the local paper congratulated Mr Pescott and his new wife Mrs Ada Pescott, née Keeble (daughter of Mr and Mrs. Walter Keeble) on their “recent” nuptials in mid-1926.
The couple eventually moved away from The Point, settling in Tallangatta, Victoria, where Mr Pescott continued his work in land surveying and management for the agricultural board.
It is easy to imagine Keith, perhaps during a Sunday picnic or a day of fishing on the riverbanks with his new bride, feeling the weight of the silver watch slip from his pocket.
Whether it fell during work or play, the river eventually claimed it, keeping the token of appreciation safe for the next 100 years.
Today, the remnants of an old watch stand as a bridge between three communities: Curlewis, where a life was saved; Darlington Point, where Mr Pescott and Miss Ada Keeble fell in love; and Tallangatta, where the Pescott couple became a family.
The inside of the watch found at Darlington Point.
