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Before any proclamation of the fields, whether for prospecting or otherwise had been
made gold had been found on the farms Ameide and Oorschot, lying some three to five miles west of the present town of Barberton, and forming part of the block of 12 farms constituting Moodie’s concession
- given to him from the government. The first discovery is ascribed to Auguste Roberts known as "French Bob", and it was followed by a rush. This however resulted in confusion over rights of ownership, and Mr. Ziervogel, acting pro term as Gold Commissioner for the Republic, was called in to help. He could however not issue any licences, for this was unproclaimed private land.
French Bob approached Moodie for the right to mine under special privilege as discoverer, which Moodie had no right to grant for his concession was no more than the grant of 12 farms which were subject to the Gold Laws in force since 1871, and to the vesting in the State of the right to mine for gold. Moodie, however, thought he had the right. He was willing to trade fairly with French Bob, but from the other diggers he claimed high licence fees and royalty on gold won. In terms of the Gold Law any licences were payable to the state and the owner was entitled to half of such licence moneys. The diggers rightly refused to pay licences and royalty to Moodie, and also refused to quit working. An impasse ensued and Moodie commissioned Henry Nourse to act on his behalf.
Nourse came down to the fields and on his way, in February 1884 at Lake Chrissie, met Fred and Henry Barber, experienced hunters, with a party en route for the hunting veld. They decided to go with Nourse.
The diggers, associated under the leadership of Henry Culverwell, offered no violence to Nourse, but refused to pay him anything and equally steadfastly refused to quit. Eventually Culverwell and 28 others were arrested and taken to Pretoria where they were charged and acquitted, but Moodie obtained an interdict against them and they had to cease work. Moodie however, had to realize that he himself had no right to mine or permit mining, and it was not until August 1885 that he got a mining concession. Eventually all the 12 farms of Moodie’s Concession were brought within the Zuidkaap Goldfields by proclamation of 28th May 1889.
Meanwhile, whilst Nourse was endeavouring to negotiate with the diggers, the Barber brothers tried there hands at prospecting, and found payable gold in a creek close to the northern boundary of the Moodie’s Concession farm Brommers, and immediately above the present town of Barberton. A rush thereon followed, and Barber’s Camp became a hive of activity. A Diggers Committee was formed. The then Gold Commisioner Wilson came down from Kaapche Hoop to handle the matter. A mining stand township was established, and the township was named Barberton at a naming celebration attended by the diggers and presided over by Wilson together with the Diggers Committee. The date of naming has been set as being 24th June 1884.
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