Australian Gold Rush: 1850
The bonanza in California was only the beginning. An Australian named Edward Hammond Hargraves, who had been there, was certain that the same geological features were to be found in his own country. Returning on the boat from California late in 1850, he predicted that he would find gold within a week. 'There's no gold in the country you're going to and if there is, that darned Queen of yours won't let you touch it,' a fellow passenger told him. The news of the fresh gold field reached England, along with the first gold, aboard the Thomas Arbuthnot. In fact, Hargraves had touched only the fringe of Australian gold. Other secondary rushes followed.
Gold Rush in Australia!
The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868. By 1860, the continent of Australia had been divided into FIVE separate colonies (not officially states yet, mate but seperation away from New South Wales), each not seeing eye-to-eye and exhibiting more loyalty to London to each other. A major force within the colonies was the “squatocracy” – the rich officers and settlers a.k.a. opportunists who had followed the explorers into fertile hinterlands. They simply laid claim to or “squatted” upon enormous tracts of land, often 20,000 acres and more. Gold was originally discovered in Australia by Rev. [NEXT: the birth of a new nation!
The Australian gold rush
JCF Johnson, A Game of Euchre, col. wood engraving, Australasian Sketcher Supplement [Melbourne], 25 December, 1876. Image courtesy of the : nla.pic-an8927787. The gold rushes of the nineteenth century and the lives of those who worked the goldfields - known as '' - are etched into our national . There is no doubt that the gold rushes had a huge effect on the Australian economy and our development as a nation. It is also true to say that those heady times had a profound impact on the national psyche. The camaraderie and '' that developed between diggers on the goldfields is still integral to how we - and others - perceive ourselves as Australians. Indeed, mateship and defiance of authority have been central to the way our history has been told. Even today, nothing evokes more widespread national pride than groups of irreverent Aussie 'blokes' beating the English at cricket, or any other sport for that matter! The discovery that changed a nation Gold frenzy A nation transformed Racism Gold Rush
~ GOLD ~
The news of gold discoveries in Australia captured the imagination of the world and sparked a massive influx of immigration to the young colony of Australia. In the early years of the gold rush, NSW and Victoria were the gold mining centres and attracted thousands of hopeful diggers. In March 1851, Victoria’s population was 80,000, not including Aborigines. By 1854 the population tripled to 237,000 and by 1861 it had doubled again to 540,000. The New South Wales gold fields were poorer but the state’s population increased from 200,000 in 1851 to 357,000 in 1861. Gold production reached its peak in 1853 but immigration continued until late in the decade. Victorian gold fields population: The majority of migrants came from the United Kingdom. Canvas towns The colonial town of Melbourne was unequipped to deal with the thousands of people arriving at its docks every day. Letters written to the Australian and New Zealand Gazette describe the scene: Melbourne, October 14 1852 Credits
Chinese at the Australian Goldfields
Chinese at the Australian Goldfields At the time that news about the Australian goldrush reached China in 1853, the country had been suffering from years of war and famine. In order to raise money for the fare to Australia, a man would take a loan from a local trader, agreeing to make regular repayments. A village in China When the Chinese arrived at the goldfields, they stayed together in large teams with a head man in charge. There was ignorance about Chinese customs and culture, and the Chinese seemed very strange and different to the European diggers. In an attempt to limit the number of Chinese at the goldfields, a law was passed in 1885 that any Chinese person entering Victoria would pay ten pounds tax, and one pound for a protection fee, the right to mine and live in the colony. Some Chinese returned home after the gold rush, but many stayed here. The inside of a Chinese temple
Gold rush history, Goldfields
The discovery of gold in the 1850s and 60s is the most significant event in the evolution of the state of Victoria. Fuelled by extravagant stories of wealth gained at the 1849 Californian gold rush, gold fever hit Victoria following the early gold discoveries in and around Clunes, Warrandyte and Ballarat. But the real rush began with the discovery of the Mount Alexander goldfield 60 kilometres north-east of Ballarat. Mt Alexander (taking in the goldfields of Castlemaine and Bendigo) was one of the world's richest shallow alluvial goldfields, yielding around four million ounces of gold, most of which was found in the first two years of the rush and within five metres of the surface. Mt Alexander goldfield's largest nugget was found in 1855 at Golden Gully by some inexperienced miners who had been sent to a 'duffer' or empty claim. The small town of Moliagul became famous when a 69-kilogram gold nugget was found in 1869 at Bulldog Gully.
Gold rush history - Australia's Golden Outback
The Western Australian gold rush began with the first discovery of gold in the late 1890s. News of the gold spread as fast as the region’s wildfires and soon gold prospectors were arriving to seek their fortune and set up gold rush towns in the dusty landscapes of the Kalgoorlie, Goldfields and Murchison regions. They came slowly at first, but as the finds grew so too did the population. Lonely clusters of tents and rough bough sheds were soon transformed into booming Western Australian gold rush towns. Grand hotels lined the main streets and bustling town centres soon boasted butchers, bakers, schools and churches. Many of the original townships remain and though the populations are not as huge, the character buildings and museums provide a fascinating glimpse into the wild and colourful spirit of the gold rush era. Take a journey of discovery, starting at the Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and visiting some of the region’s many museums.
1853 Gold Mining Licence | Australia's migration history timeline | NSW Migration Heritage Centre
Era: 1840 - 1900Cultural background: Chinese, EnglishCollection: Powerhouse MuseumTheme:Gold Government Labour Movement Miners Riots Settlement Licence for gold mining, 1853. Courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum Collection Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia. Object Name Gold Mining Licence. Object/Collection Description Licence for gold mining, framed, paper / wood / glass, issued to J McDonnell, printed by John Ferres, Government Printing Office, Victoria, Australia, 1853. In March 1851, Edward Hargraves wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald to announce that he had found payable gold just outside the New South Wales town of Bathurst. Lambing Flat miners’ camp, c.1860s Courtesy State Library of New South Wales With so many people leaving for the gold fields, many businesses found it hard to keep operating. Although there were some remarkable discoveries on the gold fields, few people made their fortune and most drifted back to towns and cities looking for work. Bibliography Websites
