The Miner's Trust
The Miner's Trust is a 1908 Australian play by Jo Smith. It was Smith’s first big success and an original stage work, not based on a novel or history. John Gunn produced and directed it and called it the best Australian manuscript he had seen. Critics generally praised it: the Evening Sun liked its absorbing plot and felt it wasn’t hysterical like many melodramas; the Sydney Morning Herald said it had a high standard of writing and drama; the Daily Telegraph noted it was straight melodrama but well done with clever, well-thought-out effects.
Plot (simplified): Two Englishmen, John Howard and Alan Trengrove, prospect in Red Hills, Victoria, strike it rich, and return to Melbourne. On the way, John is shot and killed by a French bushranger who has escaped from New Caledonia. Alan pretends to be John to marry John’s blind fiancée, Alice Medway, and to claim that John was murdered. Alan learns he has an inheritance from an American uncle, but the money has gone to his villainous cousin Arthur. Alan also falls in love with Ida Medway. A shipwreck leads Alan to help rescue passengers, including the French bushranger, who returns to France. The bushranger recognises Alan, arousing Arthur’s suspicions. Alan confesses his deception to Ida’s father, but Alice overhears. Alice gives up her claim to “John” (Alan). Arthur loses his fortune. The French bushranger is arrested.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:05 (CET).