Australian gold rushes

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During the Australian gold rush , large numbers of workers (both from other parts of Australia and abroad) moved to areas where gold was found. A number of gold discoveries took place in Australia before 1851, but only gold was discovered from 1851 and then created a gold rush. This is primarily because, before 1851, the colonial government of New South Wales (Victoria not a separate colony until July 1, 1851) has been pressing the news of gold discovery which is believed to reduce labor and shake the economy.

After the California Gold Rush began in 1848, which caused many people to leave Australia to California to seek gold there, the New South Wales government rethought its position, and requested approval from the Colonial Office in England to allow for the exploitation of mineral resources and also to offer prizes for the findings gold paid.

Video Australian gold rushes

History of discovery

The first gold rush in Australia began in May 1851 after prospector Edward Hargraves claimed to have found gold paid near Orange, at a site he called Ophir. Hargraves is in the California goldfield and has been studying new gold search techniques such as panning and cradling. Hargraves was offered a gift by the New South Wales Colony and the Victorian Colony. Before the end of the year, gold rush had spread to many other parts of the country where gold was found, not only to the west but also south and north of Sydney.

Australian raids transformed prison colonies into more progressive cities with the entry of free immigrants. These candidates, called diggers, bring new skills and professions, contribute to a thriving economy. The growing mateship between diggers and their collective resistance to authority led to the emergence of a unique national identity. Although not all diggers find wealth in the gold field, many decide to stay and integrate into this community.

In July 1851, Victoria's first gold rush began in the Clunes gold field. In August, the gold rush had spread to cover the goldfields of Buninyong (now the outskirts of Ballarat) 45 km (28 m) and, in early September 1851, to the nearest goldfield in Ballarat (then also known as Yuille's Diggings), followed in early September into the goldfields of Castlemaine (later known as Forest Creek and Mount Alexander Goldfield) and the goldfields in Bendigo (later known as Bendigo Creek) in November 1851. Gold, just like in New South Wales, is also found in many parts other from the state. Victoria's Golden Discovery Committee wrote in 1854:

Goldfields Victoria's discovery has transformed long-distance dependence into a world-renowned nation; has attracted an enormous population, at an unprecedented pace; it has increased property values ​​to a very large extent; has made the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, has been done for this colony of centuries, and made its impulse felt in the furthest region of the earth.

When the bustle started in Ballarat, the diggers discovered that it was a prosperous gold field. Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe visited the site and watched five men find 136 ounces of gold in a single day. Mount Alexander is even richer than Ballarat. With gold sitting just beneath the surface, superficiality allows diggers to easily find gold nuggets. In 7 months, 2.4 million pounds of gold were transported from Mount Alexander to nearby cities.

The golden invasion caused the influx of people from abroad. The population of Australia more than tripled from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871. Australia first became a multicultural society during the period of gold rush. Between 1852 and 1860, 290,000 people migrated to Victoria from the British Isles, 15,000 were from other European countries, and 18,000 emigrated from the United States. Non-European immigrants, however, are not favored, especially Chinese.

The Chinese are very diligent, with very different techniques from Europeans. This and their unknown physical appearance and fear cause them to be persecuted in a racist manner that would be deemed untenable today.

In 1855, 11,493 Chinese arrived in Melbourne. The Chinese who travel outside of New South Wales must obtain a special re-entry certificate. In 1855, Victoria passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1855, which severely restricted the number of Chinese passengers allowed on newly arrived ships. To avoid the new law, many Chinese landed in southeastern South Australia and traveled more than 400 km across the country to the Victorian gold fields, along the lines still seen today.

In 1885, after a call by the Western Australian government for a prize for the first discovery of the gold debts, the discovery was made at Halls Creek, sparking a gold rush in the state.

Maps Australian gold rushes

Pre-rush gold findings

1788: Lies

In August 1788, convicted James Daley reported to several people that he had found gold, "a source of endless wealth", "a little way below the harbor (Port Jackson, Sydney)". On the pretext of showing an officer his gold position was found, Daley fled into the bush for a day. For this adventure, Daley received 50 lashes. Still insisting that he had found gold, Daley subsequently produced a specimen of gold ore. Governor Arthur Phillip then ordered Daley to return down to the port to show where he had found gold. However, before being taken to the harbor, being warned by an officer that he would be put to death if he tried to trick him, Daley confessed that his story of finding gold was "falsehood". He has made a gold ore specimen that he has exhibited from a golden guinea and a brass buckle and he produces the same remnants with proof. For this scam, Daley received 100 lashes. Many inmates, however, continue to believe that Daley did find gold, and that he simply changed his story to keep the gold discovery spot for himself. James Daley's fate was to hang in December of the same year (1788) for breaking and entering and theft.

Some of the inmates employed cutting the road over the Blue Mountains were rumored to have discovered small pieces of gold in 1815.

1820: Blue Mountains, New South Wales

F. Stein was a Russian naturalist with the expedition of Bellinhausen 1819-1821 to explore the Southern Ocean. Stein claimed to have seen gold-containing ores when he was on a 12-day trip to the Blue Mountains in March 1820. Many people are skeptical of his claims.

1823: Bathurst Area, New South Wales

The first officially recognized gold discovery in Australia was on February 15, 1823, by assistant surveyor James McBrien, in Fish River, between Rydal and Bathurst, New South Wales. McBrien recorded the dates in his field survey book along with, "At E. (The end of the survey line) 1 chain 50 links to the river and marked rubber trees.In this place I found many gold particles that are convenient for the river."

1834: Monaro District, New South Wales

In 1834 with the help of the government, John Lhotsky traveled to the Monaro district of New South Wales and explored the southern mountains. When he returned to Sydney the same year, he showed off the specimens he had collected containing gold.

1837: Segenhoe, New South Wales

In 1837, gold and silver ore was found about 30 miles (48 km) from Segenhoe near Aberdeen. The findings were described in newspapers when the discovery of a gold and silver mine about 30 miles from Thomas Potter Macqueen's Segringtonoe Estate, by a Russian worker working in the discovery neighborhood, located on the property of the Crown.

1839: Bathurst Area, New South Wales

Pawe? Strzelecki, a geologist and explorer, discovered a small amount of gold in silicates in 1839 at the Vale of Clwyd near Hartley, a location on the road to Bathurst.

1840: Lefroy, Tasmania

Gold is believed to have been found in North Tasmania in The Den (formerly known as Lefroy or Nine Mile Springs) near George Town in 1840 by a convicted person. In the 1880s, this was known as the Lefroy gold field.

1841-1842: Bathurst region and Goulburn, New South Wales

Rev. William Branwhite Clarke discovered gold in the Coxs River, a location on the road to Bathurst, in 1841. In 1842 he discovered gold in the Wollondilly River. In 1843, Clarke spoke to many people about the amount of gold that might be found in the New South Wales colony. On April 9, 1844, Clarke showed off a gold sample in quartz to Governor Sir George Gipps. That same year, Clarke showed samples and talked about possible gold abundance for some New South Wales Legislative Council members including Judge Roger Therry, Camden and Joseph Phelps Robinson, who later became a member of Melbourne City. In the evidence that Clarke gave prior to the Select Committee of the NSW Legislative Council in September 1852, he stated that the subject was not followed up as "the matter is regarded as a curiosity only, and the consideration of the colonial criminal character remains silent, just as the general ignorance of such indication values. "Towards the end of 1853, Clarke was awarded a grant of £ 1,000 by the New South Wales government for his services in connection with the discovery of gold. The same amount (Ã, Â £ 1000) was chosen by the Victorian Gold Discovery Committee in 1854.

1841: Pyrenees Ranges and Plenty Ranges, Victoria

Gold was found in the Pyrenees Ranges near Clunes and at Plenty Ranges near Melbourne in 1841 and gold was sent to Hobart where it was sold.

From 1843: Victoria

Beginning in 1843, gold samples were taken several times to the T.J. Thomas in Melbourne by "bushmen". The specimen is seen as a curiosity.

1844: Bundalong, Victoria

A shepherd named Smith thought he had found gold near the Ovens River in 1844, and reported the matter to Charles La Trobe, who advised him not to say anything about it.

1845: Central District, New South Wales

On December 12, 1845, a shepherd walked to George Street, Sydney's gold shop EDCohen carried a gold specimen embedded in quartz for sale, with gold weighing about four ounces, with the shepherd saying he had been robbed twice as much. on his way to town. The shepherd did not reveal where he found the gold, only if men took involvement with squatters, they, in addition to receiving their wages, might also find a gold mine.

1846: Castambul, South Australia

Gold was found in South Australia and Australia's first gold mine was established. From the early days of the South Australian male colony, including Johannes Menge, a geologist with the South Australian Company, had been looking for gold. "Armed with the choice of miners, countless explorers can be found in the depths of the valley or climbing the peak of the mountain, no place too far". Gold was discovered in January 1846 by Captain Thomas Terrell at the Victoria Mine near Castambul, in Adelaide Hills, South Australia, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Adelaide. Some gold was made into a brooch sent to Queen Victoria and samples displayed at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851. Stock prices rose from Ã, Â £ 2 to Ã, Â £ 30, but soon fell back to Ã, Â £ 3 when no further gold found. Unfortunately for investors, and other concerned people, the total gold mining production never reaches more than 24 ounces.

1847: Victoria

Gold is found in Port Phillip (Victoria) by a shepherd. Around April 1847 a shepherd took a sample of apple-sized ore, which he believed to be copper, to a Charles Brentani jeweler in Collins Street, Melbourne, where samples were purchased by an employee, Joseph Forrester, a gold and silver smith. The shepherd refused to reveal to Forrester where he got a nugget, but stated that "there was more where it came from" at the station where he worked about 60 miles (96 km) from Melbourne. The sample was tested by Forrester and was found to be 65 percent pure gold. This ore sample was given to Captain Clinch who took him to Hobart.

1847: Beaconsfield, Tasmania

It is said that John Gardner invented a gold-filled quartz in 1847 at Blythe Creek, near Beaconsfield, on the other side of the Tamar River from George Town.

1848: Wellington, New South Wales

Gold was discovered by a shepherd named McGregor in Mitchells Creek near Wellington, New South Wales, in 1848 with the nickname Montefiore, "Nanima". The Bathurst Free Press noted, on May 25, 1850, that "There is no doubt in the fact that Mr. M'Gregor discovered a large number of precious metals a few years ago, near Mitchell's Creek, and it is estimated he still gets more in the same region."

1848: Bathurst, New South Wales

William Tipple Smith discovered gold near Bathurst in 1848. Smith, a mineralogist and manager of an ironwork in New South Wales, had been inspired to seek gold near Bathurst by the ideas of Roderick Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society, who in 1844 his first presidential speech, had predicted the existence of gold in the Great Dividing Range of Australia, the idea that was published again in "The Sydney Morning Herald" on September 28, 1847 showed that gold "will be found on the western side of the boundary range". Smith sent a gold sample that he found to Murchison.

1848-1884: Pre-goldrush findings in Western Australia

Gold was first detected in Western Australia in 1848 in specimens sent to Adelaide from copper and lead deposits found at the base of the Murchison River, near Northampton, by explorer James Perry Walcott, member of the A. C. Gregory party.

In 1852-53 rich specimens of gold bearing rocks were found by shepherds and others in eastern districts, but they could not find the places where the stone was found. The late Hon of AC Gregory found traces of gold in quartz in the Bowes River in 1854. In 1861 Mr. Panton was found near Northam, while shortly afterwards a shepherd carried a rich auriferous quartz specimen he had found east of Northam, but he failed to find a place it again.

Small inventions were made until 1882, when Alexander McRae found gold between Cossack and Roebourne, with one nugget weighing more than 9 dwt (14g).

Edward Hardman, Government Geologist, found traces of gold in East Kimberley in 1884. His report on his discovery then led to the discovery of gold debts and Goldrush Western Australia first.

1848-1850: Pyrenees Ranges, Victoria

Gold was discovered in Pyrnees Ranges in 1848 by a shepherd, Thomas Chapman. In December 1848 Chapman came to the Charles Brentani jeweler, at Collins Street, Melbourne, with a stone he had "held for several months". Chapman said he had found gold where he worked at Charles Browning Hall (later Gold Commissioner) and Edmund McNeill station at Daisy Hill (near Amherst) in the Pyrennes Ranges. Alexandre Duchene and Joseph Forrester both worked for Charles Brentani, insisting that the rock contains a total of 38 ounces of 90 percent pure gold, and his wife, Ann, bought the stone on behalf of her husband. This ore sample was given to Captain Clinch who took him to Hobart, Captain White who brought him to England, and Charles La Trobe. As a consequence of the gold discovered by Chapman's official printed notices posted in a number of prominent places in the city (Melbourne) proclaim the fact that gold has been found in Port Phillip (Victoria). Bertini's store is filled with people who want to see a nugget and ask where it was found. These findings sparked a small gold rush with about a hundred people rushing to the site. It may be categorized as the first gold rush, though unofficially, in Victoria, or perhaps a stamped gold rush.

Charles La Trobe quickly ended the search for gold in February 1849 by ordering 10 policemen installed (William Dana and Richard McLelland in charge of 8 indigenous troops) to 'take possession of the gold mines',' to prevent any unauthorized occupation of the Crown Land at the neighborhood '(Hall and McNeill Stations hired from the Crown), get rid of the gold seekers and prevent further excavations at Daisy Hill. The story was later dismissed by some press as a hoax. This did not stop people from finding gold, however, and by 1850, according to Brentani's wife, Ann, "gold descends from the country in all directions". She and her husband buy as much as they can but have difficulty in supplying money.

1849: Lefroy, Tasmania

The first discovery of gold in Tasmania was reported to have been made by Mr Riva of Launceston, who otherwise has tracked gold on slate around The Den (formerly known as Lefroy or Nine Mile Springs) near George Town in 1849.

1849: Woady River Yaloak, Victoria

The following news items from "Geelong Advertisers" July 10, 1849 show a skeptical attitude towards the gold findings being brought to cities like Geelong during the pre-goldrush period:

GOLD. - This precious mineral specimen was brought to town yesterday, having been picked up in an area near the Wardy-Yallock River. The metal identity should not be wrong; but whether it is actually taken from the place indicated, or intended only as a hoax or perhaps a fraud, it is highly unlikely, at this time, to say. The piece on display, very small; but, of course, as in all such cases, lucky seekers can earn tons of the same place with simple modes of bending and retrieving it.

The attitude was completely different only a few years later in 1853 after the Victorian goldrushes began:

Smythe's Creek, a branch of the Wardy Yallock river, also draws its share of the mining population, which does pretty well. One excellent golden example has also been received in the city for a week from Wardy Yallock itself, found in the region where the winter exploration party ended their work. The package was small, - only 22 dwts., But was obtained by one person a week from a very shallow surface.

1850: Clunes, Victoria

In March 1850, pastoralist William Campbell discovered some original gold pieces in quartz at Donald Cameron station in Clunes. William Campbell was known as the first member of Loddon's election district of the Victorian Legislative Council from November 1851 to May 1854. Campbell in 1854 to receive a prize of £ 1,000 from the Victorian Invention Committee of Victoria as the original inventor of gold in Clunes. By the time discovered in March 1850 Campbell was at the Donald Cameron company, the Cameron inspector, and a friend. This discovery was hidden at the time so as not to bring unwanted strangers to the run. However, observing the migration of New South Wales residents and the panic that occurred throughout the colony, and especially in Melbourne, and more motivated by the prize of  £ 200 that has been offered the day before to anyone who can find gold debt. within a distance of 200 miles (320 km) of Melbourne, on June 10, 1851, Campbell sent a letter to merchant James Graham (Victorian Legislative Council Member 1853-1854 and 1867-1886) stating that within a radius of 15 miles from Burn Bank, , he has bought a gold specimen. Campbell reveals the exact place where gold has been found in a letter to Graham on July 5, 1851. Prior to this date, however, James Esmond and his party were already working there mining the gold. This is because Cameron has previously shown gold specimens to George Hermann Bruhn, a German physician and geologist whose services as an analyst are in great demand. The communication of this knowledge by Hermann to James Esmond was to produce an invention by Esmond on 1 July 1851 of the amount of alluvial gold debt in Clunes which then produced the first Victorian gold rush.

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The famous gold discovery that started in a hurry

February 1851: Orange, New South Wales

Edward Hargraves, accompanied by John Lister, discovered five alluvial gold spots at Ophir near Orange in February 1851. Later, in April 1851, John Lister and William Tom, trained by Edward Hargraves, discovered 120 grams of gold. This discovery, instigated by Hargraves, leads directly to the beginning of gold rush in New South Wales. This was the first gold rush in Australia and fully operational in May 1851, even before it was officially proclaimed on May 14, 1851, with an estimated 300 diggers on May 15, 1851. Prior to May 14, 1851 gold had flowed from Bathurst to Sydney, for example when Edward Austin carrying Sydney gold nuggets worth  £ 35, which has been found in the Bathurst District.

In 1872, a large gold and quartz "Holtermann Nugget" was discovered by the night shift at the mine owned by Bernhardt Holtermann in Hill End, near Bathurst, New South Wales: the largest specimen of coral gold ever found, 1.5 meters 59 inches) long, weighs 286 kg (630 lb), in Hill End, near Bathurst, and with an estimated 5000 ounces of gold content (57 kg).

April 1851: Castlemaine and Clunes districts, Victoria

In January 1851, before Hargraves discovered gold in February 1851 at Ophir near Orange in New South Wales which started Australia's first gold rush, George Hermann Bruhn had left Melbourne to explore the rural mineral resources of Victoria. On his journey, Bruhn discovered, on an unknown date, an indication of gold in quartz about 2 miles (3 km) from Edward Stone Parker station in Franklinford (between Castlemaine and Daylesford). After leaving Parker Bruhn station arrived at Donald Cameron station in Clunes in April 1851. Cameron showed a Bruhn sample of gold that had been found at his station in Clunes in March 1850. Bruhn also explored the countryside and found quartz coral in the vicinity. "This information he enacted throughout the country during his journey." One person to whom Bruhn communicated this information was James Esmond who was involved in founding a building at James Hodgkinson station "Woodstock" in Lexton about 16 miles (25 km) west of Clunes. This then indirectly led to the first gold rush in Victoria from the discovery of subsequent gold debt of Esmond at Clunes in July 1851. Bruhn also sent a gold specimen to Melbourne received by the Gold Discovery Committee on 30 June 1851. Bruhn in 1854 received the prize Ã, Â £ 500 from the Victorian Golden Discovery Committee "in recognition of his services in exploring the country for five or six months, and to disseminate gold discovery information".

June 1851: Sofala, New South Wales

Gold was discovered at Turon Goldfields in Sofala in June 1851.

June 28, 1851: Warrandyte, Victoria

On June 9, 1851 a prize of £ 200 was offered to the first person to find gold paid within 200 miles (320 km) in Melbourne. Henry Frencham, who later became a reporter for The Times, and shortly thereafter for The Argus, determined to be one of the people who claimed this award. On June 11, 1851 he formed one of eight parties to seek gold in north and northeast of Melbourne. Only two days later the party shrank to two, Frencham and W. H. Walsh, who discovered what they considered gold in Warrandyte. At 5 pm on June 13, 1851 Frencham was kept with the City Clerk in Melbourne, William Kerr, a gold specimen. The next day the headlines in the newspaper "The Times" were "Gold Discovery". On June 24, 1851, Frencham and Walsh filed a claim for a prize offered by the Gold Committee for the discovery of a goldfield that could be paid at Plenty Ranges about 25 miles (40 km) from Melbourne. Claim was not allowed. The specimens were tested by Hood and Sydney Gibbons chemists who could not find any traces of gold, but this was probably because they had little expertise in the area. Even if they have determined that the sample contains gold, however, it is not paid gold. Frencham has always claimed to be the first to discover gold in Plenty Ranges.

On June 30, 1851 gold was actually found about 36 km (22 miles) northeast of Melbourne on Yarra Ranges quartz rocks at Anderson's Creek, Warrandyte, Victoria by Louis John Michel, William Haberlin, James Furnival, James Melville, James Headon and B.Gruening. This gold was shown in the exact spot where it was found to Richmond Webb, on behalf of the Gold Discovery Committee, on July 5, the full details of the area communicated to the Lieutenant Governor on July 8 and the sample was brought to Melbourne and exhibited to the Gold Discovery Committee at July 16th. As a result, the Gold Discovery Committee believes that these findings were the first publishers of the goldfield discovery site in the Victorian Colony. The site was later called the first official gold discovery in Victoria. Michel and his party in 1854 to receive a prize of £ 1,000 from the Victorian Golden Discovery Committee "for having, at great expense, succeeded in locating and issuing available gold fields". On September 1, 1851, the first gold license in Victoria was issued to dig gold in the region, "which was their problem at other Goldfields". About 300 people worked on this gold field before the discovery of Ballarat.

July 1851: Clunes, Victoria

On July 1, 1851, Victoria became a separate colony and, on the same day, James Esmond with Pugh, Burns, and Kelly, found alluvial gold in the amount that could be paid near Donald Cameron's station at Creswick's Creek, the Loddon tributary, in Clunes, 34 km (22m) north of Ballarat. Esmond and his party found gold after Esmond was notified by George Hermann Bruhn of gold that had been discovered in March 1850 at the Cameron property in Clunes and that there were quartz coral reefs likely to contain gold. Esmond climbed into Geelong with their discovery samples on July 5th. News of the discovery was first published on the Geelong Advertiser on July 7 and later in Melbourne on July 8.

Gold in the Pyrenees. The long-searched treasures are finally found! Victoria is a golden country, and from Geelong comes the first good news of the discovery. Esmond arrived in Geelong on Saturday with some beautiful gold specimens, in quartz, and gold dust in the "rubble" of the same stone species. The specimen has undergone the most stringent tests by Mr. Patterson, in the presence of other competent parties, and he says that they are out of every possible doubt of pure gold...

Specific points from the exact location, with the approval of Esmond, were published on Geelong Advertisers on July 22, 1851. Esmond's publication discovery started the first official gold rush in Victoria in the same month. On August 1, between 300 and 400 diggers camped in Clunes Goldfield, but soon moved to another field when news of other gold discoveries spread. Esmond in 1854 to receive 1,000 pounds as "the first true alluvial gold producer for the market".

July 1851: Bungonia and other findings, New South Wales

The following Goldfields were found in New South Wales during July 1851:

• Bungonia (aka Shoalhaven),
• Hill End,
• Louisa Creek (now Hargraves) near Mudgee
• Moruya

July 1851: Castlemaine, Victoria

On July 20, 1851, gold was found near the current Castlemaine, Victoria (Mt Alexander Goldfields) in Specimen Gully in the suburb of Castlemaine, Barkers Creek. Gold was first discovered by Christopher Thomas Peters, a shepherd and cottage keeper at Barker's Creek, in the service of William Barker. When gold is shown in the men's place, Peters is laughed at for finding stupid gold, and its gold is thrown away. Barker did not want his job to leave his sheep, but in August they did it. John Worley, George Robinson, and Robert Keen, who also worked as Barker as shepherd and bull driver, immediately teamed up with Peters in managing savings by panning at Specimen Gully, which they did in relative privacy over the following month. When Barker fired them and fled them for offense, Worley, on behalf of the party "to prevent them from getting into trouble", sent a letter to The Argus (Melbourne) of 1 September 1851 announcing this new goldfield with the right location of their work. The letter was published on September 8, 1851. "With this vague notion, given even more by journalists as 'Western Port', is delivered to the inexhaustible treasures of Mount Alexander", also known as the excavation of Forest Creek. Within a month, there are about 8,000 diggers working on alluvial beds in a tributary near the town of Castlemaine now, and especially Forest Creek that stretches on the outskirts of the city now known as Chewton where the first small town was founded. At the end of the year there are about 25,000 in the field.

August 1851: Buninyong, Victoria

On August 8, 1851, gold deposits containing many flowers were found 3 km west of Buninyong, Victoria, near Ballarat. The gold was found in a gap in the Buninyong range, by residents of Buninyong, Thomas Hiscock. Hiscock communicates the find, with the right location, to the Geelong Advertisers editor on August 10th. In the same month, prospect seekers started moving from Clunes to Buninyong excavations. Hiscock in 1854 to receive a prize of £ 1,000 from the Victorian Invention Committee of Victoria as the inventor of a large "superior value" gold deposit in the Ballarat area.

August 1851: Ballarat, Victoria

On August 21, 1851 gold was found in Ballarat, Victoria at Poverty Point by John Dunlop and James Regan. Ballarat is about 10 km (6m) away from Buninyong and at the same distance. John Dunlop and James Regan discovered their first few gold ounces while panning on the Canadian Creek after leaving Buninyong excavations to expand their search for gold. But Henry Frenchman, a journalist who in June has claimed, unsuccessfully, a £ 200 reward for getting gold within 200 miles (320 km) of Melbourne, has followed them and seen their work. As a result, they only have a rich Ballarat gold field for them for a week. In early September 1851 what was known as the Ballarat gold fever had begun, as reported from the field by Henry Frencham, who later became a reporter for Argus. (Henry Frencham claimed in his 19 September 1851 article to be the first to discover gold in Ballarat [also known as Yuille's Diggings] "and make it publicly known", a claim he later made about Bendigo, and which resulted in the seat of the Select Committee of the Assembly Victorian legislature in 1890.)

In the report of the Claims Committee for the Original Discovery of Goldfields of Victoria was published in the letter The Argus (Melbourne) March 28, 1854, however, a different picture of gold discovery at Golden Point in Ballarat was presented. They claim that Regan and Dunlop are one of the two parties working at the same time on opposite sides of the range that make up Golden Point, the other competitor to the first gold seeker in Ballarat who is described as "Mr. Brown and his party". The committee stated that "where so many rich deposits are found almost simultaneously, within a radius of less than half a mile, it is difficult to decide on who the actual launch date of the Ballarat dig." They also agree that prospect seekers "have been attracted there (Ballarat) by discoveries in Messrs Esmonds (Clunes) and Hiscock (Buninyong) neighborhoods" and "by pulling a large number of diggers into the environment" that "Ballarat invention is just a natural consequence from Buninyong's invention ".

in 1858, "Welcome Nugget" weighing 2,217 troy ounces 16 cents. (68.98 kg) was found at Bakery Hill in Ballarat by a group of 22 Cornish miners working at the Red Hill Mining Company mine.

September 1851: Bendigo, Victoria

It has been claimed that Gold was first discovered in Bendigo, Victoria in September 1851.

The name of the first inventor of gold in the Bendigo goldfield is unknown. The Select Committee of the Victorian Parliament that investigated this issue in September and October 1890 examined many witnesses but could not decide among the various complainants. They were, however, able to decide that the first gold in the Bendigo goldfield was discovered in 1851 in Bendigo Creek's "The Rocks" area in Golden Square, which is located near Maple Street today through Bendigo Creek.

According to the Bendigo Historical Society, today, contrary to the findings of the Selected Committee of 1890, it became "commonly agreed" or "recognized" that gold was found in Bendigo Creek by two married women from Mount Alexander North Run (later renamed Ravenswood Run) , Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell. A monument to this effect was established by City Of Greater Bendigo in front of the Senior Citizens Center on the High Street, Golden Square on 28 September 2001. This recognition is not owned by contemporary historians such as Robert Coupe who wrote in his book Gold Rushes Australia >, first published in 2000, that "there are several accounts of the first findings in the Bendigo area". Also, as local historian Bendigo Rita Hull notes: "For decades many historians have made bold statements that Margaret Kennedy and her friend Julia Farrrell were the first to find gold in Bendigo Creek, but on what basis did they make this statement?". The recognition by Bendigo Historical Society and City Of Greater Bendigo is in spite of the fact that FIRSTLY many others also claim to have been the first to find gold in Bendigo Creek; SECOND Julia Farrell, the deceased before the Electoral Committee of 1890, has never been documented to make this claim; THIRD Margaret Kennedy claimed to have found gold without the help of Julia Farrell and while accompanied and assisted by her 9-year-old son John Drane; FOURTH that their two husbands, John "Happy Jack" Kennedy and Patrick Peter Farrell also documented claims to be the first to discover gold, and were also seen on numerous occasions with their wives in Bendigo Creek by witnesses, and FAMILY that the Victorian Government Election Committee 1890, after hearing evidence from Margaret Kennedy (both husband John "Happy Jack" Kennedy died), Patrick Peter Farrell (his first wife Julia Farrell who died), and many others, unable to decide who first finds gold on what became Bendigo gold fields.

When Margaret Kennedy gave evidence before the Selected Committee in September 1890, he claimed to have found gold near "The Rocks" in early September 1851. He claimed that he had taken his son (9 years), John Drane with him to seek gold near "The Rocks "after her husband tells him that she has seen a pebble there that may contain gold, and that she joins her husband at night. He also gave evidence that after finding gold he was "engaged" with Julia Farrell and returned with him to seek more gold in the same place, and while there it was seen by Mr. Frencham, he said in November. He asserts that they have been panning for gold (also called washing) with milk plates, and have used pots and containers as storage containers.

Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell, however, but a pair of serious competitors for the first gold seekers on what became Bendigo Goldfields. The date of September 1851, or immediately after that, and the place, at or near "The Rocks" in Bendigo Creek, is also mentioned in connection with three other serious sets of rivals for the first gold seekers in place of the Bendigo gold field, all linked to Mount Alexander North Run (later renamed Ravenswood Run).

Four sets of serious contenders for the first gold seeker in place of the Bendigo goldfield, in no particular order:

• Stewart Gibson and Frederick Fenton. Stewart Gibson was one of two brothers who owned/hired Mount Alexander North Run in 1851, and Frederick Fenton was the then subsequent owner/supervisor. Fenton claimed that he and (brother-in-law) Stewart Gibson had been together when they found gold in a watering hole near the intersection of Bendigo Creek with what came to be known as the Golden Gully in September 1851, before the shaving began, but they decided at that time to Keep calm;
• one or more of the shepherds living in the cottage, named Bendigo cottage, on the North Alexander Hill Run near the Bendigo Creek intersection with what became known as the Golden Gully, a hut a few meters from "The Rocks". These are James Graham (aka Ben Hall), Benjamin Bannister, and Christian Asquith nanny, and/or Sydney-born chefs who visit them in a hut named William Johnson. These people are mentioned in the evidence of many witnesses in the Electoral Committee of 1890;
• one or more Mrs Margaret Kennedy, Mrs Julia Farrell, and/or 9-year-old son Margaret from her first marriage, John Drane; and
• one or both husbands of the two women mentioned above. John "Happy Jack" Kennedy, is the shepherd/overseer of Mount Alexander Run who has a cottage named after him at Bullock Creek in what is now known as Lockwood South, and Patrick Peter Farrell is an independent worker who works at Alexander Run Hill during the milling season. Farrell gave evidence to the Electoral Committee in 1890 that he was the first to discover gold, and Kennedy made similar claims during his lifetime published in his obituary in 1883.

In September 1890, an elected Committee of the Victorian Legislative Assembly began to sit down to decide who first discovered gold in Bendigo. They claimed that 12 plaintiffs had applied to be the first to find gold in Bendigo (this included Mrs Margaret Kennedy but not Julia Farrell's deceased), plus Frenchman Henry journalist claiming to have found gold in Bendigo Creek on the moon November 1851. (Frencham previously also claimed to have been the first to find gold in Warrandyte in June 1851 when he failed to claim a £ 200 reward for gold within 200 miles (320 km) in Melbourne, claimed to be the first person to find gold in Ballarat [also known as Yuille's Diggings] "and made it publicly known" in September 1851.)

In the evidence that Margaret Kennedy gave before the Selected Committee in September 1890, Margaret Kennedy claimed that she and Julia Farrell secretly poked gold before Henry Frencham arrived, proof proved by others. The Select Committee found "that Henry Frencham's claim as the inventor of gold in Bendigo has not been sustainable", but can not make a decision about who from the other at least 12 plaintiffs had first as "it would be the most difficult, if not impossible, to decide the question now "..." at this interval of time from the discovery of gold in Bendigo ". They concluded that "there is no doubt that Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Farrell had obtained gold before Henry Frencham arrived at Bendigo Creek," but the Frencham "was the first to report the discovery of gold debt in Bendigo to Commissioners in Forest Creek (Castlemaine)." (A Frencham event dated November 28, 1851, a date that, according to French writing itself, after a number of diggers had begun to search for gold in Bendigo.28 November 1851 was the date when Frencham sent a letter to President Commissioner Wright at Forest Creek (Castlemaine) to ask for police protection in Bendigo Creek, a request that officially discloses a new gold field. The patron is awarded and Assistant Commissioner of the Crown Land for Buninyong and Mt Alexander Gold District, Captain Robert Wintle Home, arrives with three black troops (indigenous police) to set up camp at Bendigo Creek on December 8th. )

The Select Committee also decided "that the first place where gold was found in Bendigo was in what is now known as the Golden Square, called by hand stations in 1851" The Rocks ", a point about 200 yards west of the intersection of the Golden Gully with Bendigo Creek. "(The straight line is closer to 650 meters [600 meters].) In October 1893, Alfred Shrapnell Bailes (1849-1928), the man who had proposed the Chosen Committee, which was one of those who had once sat down in the Select Committee, and who the chairman of the Select Committee for 6 of the 7 days was seated, gave the address in Bendigo where he gave his opinion on the subject of who first discovered gold in Bendigo. Alfred Shrapnell Bailes, Bendigo Mayor 1883-84, and Victoria Legislative Council member 1886-1894 & amp; 1897-1907, states that:

as a whole, from the evidence that, read with station books, can easily be put together, it will be seen that Asquith, Graham, Johnson and Bannister [three pastors living in cottages in Bendigo Creek and their shepherd visitor Johnson], were the first find gold

The first people to dig gold in Bendigo Creek in 1851 were people associated with Mount Alexander North (Ravenswood) Run. They include, in no particular order:

John Kennedy (c1816-1883), his wife Margaret Kennedy nee Mcphee (1822-1905), and his son, 9, John Drane (1841-1914). They also had three younger Margaret girls, Mary Ann Drane (1844-1919), 7, Mary Jane Kennedy (1849-1948), 2, and baby Lucy Kennedy (1851-1926);

Cooper Patrick Peter Farrell (c1830-1905) and his wife Julia Farrell (c1830-bef1870); and,

pastors working in Bendigo Creek, Christian Asquith (c1799-1857), James Graham (aka Ben Hall) and Bannister. They will join other people who have been hired elsewhere on Mount Alexander North (Ravenswood) Run rather than at Bendigo Creek, including William Johnson's cook (c1827-), and James Lister, William Ross, Paddy O'Donnell, William Sandbach (c1820-1895) and his brother, Walter Roberts Sandbach (c1822-1905) who arrived at Bendigo Creek for the prospect in late November 1851.

They soon joined the miners from the excavations of Forest Creek (Castlemaine) including journalist Henry Frencham (1816-1897).

There is no doubt that Henry Frencham, under the pen name "Bendigo", was the first to openly write anything about gold mining in Bendigo Creek, with reports of miners' meetings in Bendigo Creek on 8 and 9 December 1851., published respectively in Melbourne, the unknown date and the 13th of December 1851 edition of Geelong Advertiser and The Argus , Melbourne. These were the words of Frencham, published in The Argus on December 13, 1851, which would begin Bendigo Goldrush: "With regard to the success of the diggers, it is intolerable that the majority do well, and few make less from half an ounce per person per day. "

In late November 1851, several miners in Castlemaine (Forest Creek), after hearing new gold discoveries, began to move to Bendigo Creek joining them from Mount Alexander North (Ravenswood) Run who had started searching there. The beginning of gold mining was reported from the field by Henry Frencham, under the pen name "Bendigo", which states that the new fields in Bendigo Creek, which were originally treated as if it were an extension of the Alexander or Forest Creek (Castlemaine) Mountain, about two weeks on December 8, 1851. Frencham reported then about 250 miners in the field (excluding cottage guards). On December 13, Henry Frencham's article on The Argus was published announcing to the world that gold was abundant in Bendigo. Only a few days later, in mid-December 1851 Bendigo's busyness began, with a Correspondent from Castlemaine for Geelong Advertiser reported on December 16, 1851 that "hundreds were on the wing there (to Bendigo Creek)".

Henry Frencham may not be the first person to find gold in Bendigo but he was the first to announce to the authorities (28 November 1851) and then the world ("The Argus", 13 December 1851) the existence of Bendigo-gold fields. He was also the first person to send some gold paid from the Bendigo goldfield to the authorities when on December 28, 1851, 3 days after 603 men, women and children later worked in the Bendigo goldfields have collected their food sources for a combined Christmas dinner , Frencham and his colleague Robert Atkinson, with Trooper Synott as bodyguards, gave 30 pounds of gold they had mined to Assistant Commissioner Charles JP Lydiard in Forest Creek (Castlemaine), the first gold received from Bendigo.

Sep-Dec 1851: Another finding in New South Wales

1851 (undated): Other findings in New South Wales

1851 (undated): Other findings in Victoria

Gold was discovered in Omeo in late 1851 and gold mining continued in the area for many years. Due to inaccessibility of the territory there is only a small Omeo gold rush.

1851-1886: Managa and other findings in Tasmania

Woods Almanac, 1857, states that gold was probably found in Fingal (near Mangana) in 1851 by "Old Major" who continued to work in a ditch for two to three years keeping his secret. This gold discovery is probably in Mangana and that there is a gutter there known as Gully Major. The first paid deposit of alluvial gold was reported in Tasmania in 1852 by James Grant in Managa (later known as The Nook) and Tower Hill Creek which started the Tasmanian gold invasion. The first registered gold strike was made by Charles Gould at Tullochgoram near Fingal and Managa and weighed 2 Â £ 6 oz. Other small findings were reported in the same year around Nine Mile Springs (Lefroy). In 1854 gold was found at Mt. Mary. During 1859, the first quartz mine began operating in Fingal. That same year, James Smith found gold in the Forth River, and Mr. Peter Leete at Calder, a tributary of Inglis. Gold was discovered in 1869 at Nine Mile Springs (Lefroy) by Samuel Richards. This news brings the first big rush to Nine Mile Springs. The village is fast developing alongside the current main road from Bell Bay to Bridport, and dozens of miners group the claims there and in the nearby Back Creek. The first recorded return from the date of Mangana goldfields from 1870; Waterhouse, 1871; Hellyer, Denison, and Brandy Creek, 1872; Lisle, 1878 Gladstone and Cam, 1881; Minnow and River Forth, 1882; Brauxholme and Mount Victoria, 1883; and Mount Lyell, 1886.

1852 and 1868: Echunga, South Australia

Gold debt was discovered in May 1852 at Echunga in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia by William Chapman and his friends Thomas Hardiman and Henry Hampton. After returning to his father's farm from the Victorian goldfield William Chapman has searched the area around Echunga for gold motivated by his mining experience and a prize worth £ 1,000 offered by the South Australian government for the inventor of the first gold gold. Chapman, Hardiman, and Hampton later received  £ 500 from this prize because 10,000 required gold has not been raised in two months. Within days of the gold announcement found 80 gold licenses had been issued. Within seven weeks there were about 600 people, including women and children, camping in tents and huts in "Chapman's Gully". The village emerged in the area along with population growth. Immediately there are blacksmiths, butchers, and bakers to provide for the needs of gold diggers. In 6 months 684 licenses have been issued. Three police officers were appointed to maintain order and to assist the Gold Commissioner. In August 1852 there were less than 100 gold diggers and the police presence was reduced to two troops. Gold fever peaked for nine months. It was estimated in May 1853 that about, 18,000 pounds of gold, more than 113 kg (4,000 oz, 250 pounds), had been sold in Adelaide between September 1852 and January 1853, with an unknown extra value sent abroad to England.

Despite the sale of gold from Echunga, this gold field could not compete with the richer fields in Victoria and in 1853, the South Australian gold fields were described as 'very quiet'. There is further discovery of gold in the Echunga area that was created in 1853, 1854, 1855, and 1858 causing small waves. There was a great revival of the Echunga field in 1868 when Thomas Plane and Henry Saunders found gold in Jupiter Creek. Aircraft and Saunders received prizes of £ 300 and £ 200 each. In September 1868 there were about 1,200 people living in new places and tents and huts scattered throughout the bush. A municipality is established with public shops, butchers and refreshment booths. By the end of 1868, alluvial deposits at Echunga were nearly depleted and the population was reduced by several hundred. During the year 1869 coral mining was introduced and several small mining companies were established but all of them had been liquidated in 1871. The gold fields in Echunga are South Australia's most productive. In 1900, the estimated gold production was 6,000 kg (13,225 pounds), compared to 680g (24oz, 1Ã,½lb) from the Victoria Mine in Castambul. After the revival of the Echunga gold field in 1868, gold seekers sought the Adelaide Hills for a new gold field. News of the new discovery will trigger another flurry. Gold is found in many locations including Balhannah, Forest, Birdwood, The Wirra, Mount Pleasant and Woodside.

1852-1869: Other findings in Victoria

1892-1893: _Other_finds_in_New_South_Wales "> 1852-1893: Other findings in New South Wales >

1857/8: Canoona near Rockhampton, Queensland

Gold was discovered in Queensland near Warwick in early 1851, initiating small-scale alluvial gold mining in the state.

The first Goldland Goldrush did not occur until the end of 1858, however, after the discovery of what was rumored to be paid gold to a large number of people in Canoona near what became the city of Rockhampton. According to this gold legend found in Canoona near Rockhampton by a man named Chappie (or Chapel) in July or August 1858. However, the gold in the area was first discovered north of the Fitroy river on 17 November 1857 by Captain (then Sir) Maurice Charles O'Connell, grandson of William Bligh, former governor of New South Wales, who is the Government Resident at Gladstone. Initially worried that his findings would be exaggerated O'Connell wrote to the Chief Commissioner of the Crown of Land on November 25, 1857 to inform him that he had found a "very promising gold prospect" after several ground pots were washed. The chapel is a flamboyant and extrovert character who in 1858 at the peak of goldrush claimed to have found gold. Instead, Chapel has been hired by O'Connell as part of a prospective party to follow up on the discovery of the first O'Connell gold, a prospective group that, according to a contemporary local rancher Colin Archer, "after poking around for about six months or so, a gold field near Canoona, earns gold in the amount paid for a limited number of people ". O'Connell was in Sydney in July 1858 when he reported to the Government the success of the steps he had begun for the development of the goldfield he found.

This first Queensland gold rush resulted in about 15,000 people flocking to this sparsely populated area in the final months of 1858. It is, however, a small gold field with only shallow gold deposits and with no place near enough gold to retain large quantities prospectors. This gold rush is named 'fools rush' as ​​a poor miner 'has, in the end, to be rescued by the colonial government or given charitable treatment by shipping companies "to return home when they do not become rich and have used all their capital. The authorities have estimated the violence will break out and have provided a contingent of equestrian and leg police and warships. The Government of New South Wales (Queensland then part of New South Wales) sent up "Iris" who remained at Keppel Bay during November to preserve peace. The Victorian government sends "Victoria" with orders to the captain to return all the Victorian diggers who can not afford to pay their fees; they had to earn their travel money while returning to Melbourne. O'Connell has reported that "we have had several moments of trials when it seems as though the weight of the feathers will change the balance between the comparative order and the violent scene", and according to legend O'Connel and Chapel were threatened with the death penalty without trial.

1861-1866: _Cape_River_and_other_finds_in_Queensland "> 1861-1866: Cape River and other findings in Queensland h3>

In late 1861, the Clermont gold field was discovered in Central Queensland near Peak Downs, triggering what (wrongly) described as one of Queensland's main gold rushes. Mining is expanded over a large area, but only a small number of miners are involved. The newspaper that day, which also warned against the repetition of the Canoona experience of 1858, at the same time describing the lucrative gold findings revealed that this was just a small gold mining. The Rockhampton Bulletin and the Central Queensland Advertiser on May 3, 1862 reported that "some people have managed to earn a living for several months... others have gone there and returned unsuccessfully". The Courier (Brisbane) January 5, 1863 describes "40 miners in the current excavations... and within a few months there will probably be several hundred miners at work". The Courier reported 200 diggers at Peak Downs in July 1863. Goldfield covering an area of ​​over 1600 square miles (4000 km ² ) was officially declared in August 1863. The Courier > The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tasmania), quotes Ballarat Star, reported about 300 men at work, many of them new friends, in October 1863.

In 1862, gold was found in Calliope near Gladstone, with a gold field officially declared the following year. Small thrusts attracted about 800 people in 1864 and after that the population declined in 1870 because the gold deposit was successful.

In 1863, gold was also found in Canal Creek (Leyburn) and some gold mining began there at that time, but the short-lived gold mine there did not occur until 1871-72.

In 1865, Richard Daintree discovered a 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Charters Towers, a Cape River oil field near Pentland in North Queensland. The Cape River Goldfield covering an area of ​​more than 300 square miles (750 km ² ) was not, however, proclaimed until 4 September 1867, and the following year the best of alluvial gold had subsided. This Goldrush attracts Chinese diggers to Queensland for the first time. The Chinese miners on Cape River moved to Goldstone at the newly discovered Darwin Daintree on the Gilbert River in 1869.

The Crocodile Creek (Bouldercombe Gorge) field near Rockhampton was also discovered in 1865. In August 1866 there were reported to be about 800 and 1,000 people on the field. A new rush occurred in March 1867. In 1868, the best of alluvial gold had subsided. The enterprising Chinese diggers who arrived in the area, however, were still able to make the success of their gold mining business.

Gold was also found in Morinish near Rockhampton in 1866 with miners working in the area in December 1866, and the "new insistence" described in the newspaper in February 1867 with an estimated population on the field as 600.

1867-1870

Source of the article : Wikipedia