The Australian gold rushes began in 1851 when gold was discovered in New South Wales by Edward Hargraves. This sparked mass migration to Australia from around the world, fueling a dramatic population increase. Harsh living conditions on the goldfields led to tensions and rebellion, culminating in the Eureka Stockade uprising in 1854. While the gold rushes declined by the 1900s, they transformed Australia by establishing major cities, increasing wealth and diversity. Gold mining remains an important industry today.

1. By Christine Morrison
9D

2. • Introduction
• First discoveries
• Gold Fever!
• New Arrivals
• Finding Gold
• Life on the Goldfields
• The Eureka Stockade
• New wealth
• Facts
• Bibliography

3. Since the earliest civilisations, the
rare heavy metal, gold, has always
been valued and prized. Its
discovery in Australia played a
significant role in Australian Gold panning with my
history. Many townships and cities Mum at Warburton Vic.
that exist today owe their
beginnings from the gold rush that
eventuated. The migration of new
people to Australia in the quest for
gold, not only brought great
diversity in customs but also
increased population. Even though
the great rush for gold has
dispersed today, many people still
search for gold in order to ‘strike it
rich’, including myself!

4. Many other people had discovered gold previously
but the first recorded discovery of gold in Australia was
made by surveyor, James Mcbrien at Bathurst, N.S.W.
in 1823. He was surveying a road along the Fish River
and noticed particles of gold on the creek bed.
Following this, there were a number of other
discoveries, however, these discoveries were kept
secret as the early Governors feared that it might
cause a convict revolt and that free workers would
leave their farms and jobs to search for gold, which
would be disastrous for the colonies.
1)Where was the first recorded gold found?
The first discovery of gold
was made at a creek near
Bathurst,N.S.W.

5. Edward Hammond Hargraves(1816-1891)
was born in Britain and settled in N.S.W. in
1832 where he worked as a grazier but when
he heard of the discovery of gold in
California, America, he decided to join the
gold rush that was happening in 1849. He
returned to Australia having found very little
but was convinced that Australia had lots of
gold. He also had gained knowledge of how
to prospect for gold and this gained A portrait of
experience would prove helpful. By the Edward
1840’s,the situation had changed in N.S.W. Hargraves.
and transportation of convicts had ceased
and the possibility of a convict revolt was not
a problem.

6. Governor Fitz Roy, in order to commence a gold
industry, gained permission from the British Government
to appoint a geologist to search for mineral deposits in
his colony. A prize was also offered of 500 pounds for
the first person to find gold. Edward Hargraves went to
search for gold on horseback near Bathurst and met up
with John Lister and together they found a few specks of
gold at Lewis Ponds Creek, a tributary of Summerhill
Creek, on the 5th of February 1851. Hargreaves went
back to Sydney to claim the prize for finding the first gold
in Australia but meanwhile Lister and two neighbours,
James and William Tom, found nuggets of gold. Word
quickly spread and within a week there were over 400
people digging and in May 1851 there were soon
thousands. The rush had begun…
2)Who was Edward Hargraves?

7. This first goldfield was named Ophir
after the city of gold in the Bible. Other
goldfields were established on the Turon
River at Sofala and Hill End causing the
rush to grow. As people flocked to the
goldfields, the government sent soldiers
to the goldfields in order to maintain order
and according to the law, the government
owned all gold in N.S.W., so miners were Map showing first goldfield -Ophir
forced to buy a licence to mine for gold.
Many people left other states to go to
N.S.W. and in particular the Victorian
Government feared that workers would
leave Melbourne and so in June 1851,an
award was offered also for anyone who
found gold in Victoria.
Map showing early Victorian goldfield
areas.

8. In July 1851, a timber James Esmond dug gold
from the creek at Clunes, then Louis John Michel
found gold at Warrandyte. Another discovery was
found soon after by blacksmith, Thomas Hiscock
near Ballarat and all three received awards for their
findings.
People rushed to these areas for the chance to get
rich quickly and people went from one goldfield to
another as reports of new findings were made known.
Men left their jobs, homes and families to rush to the
goldfields in N.S.W. and Victoria. The fever spread to
Queensland, and then finally to all the colonies of
Australia.
3)When did the Australian Gold Rush Begin?

9. Map of main early goldfield areas of Australia

10. News soon spread around the world and ships full of
hopeful immigrants sailed into Melbourne and Sydney in
search of their fortune. By late 1851, people came from
Britain, North America, Germany, France, Switzerland, and
Italy and many other countries. In 1854,thousands of
Chinese began to arrive and increased the population
substantially.
Not every one got along though ,for instance, Aboriginal
groups were driven off their land by the rush for gold,
diggers ruined the land and scared off the native animals
that the Aboriginals hunted for food and some miners
disliked the Chinese because they were different. The
miners also brought diseases, for example measles and
influenza with them which killed thousands of indigenous
people.
Chinese arrived to search for gold.
4)Name the indigenous people who were
disadvantaged by the rush for gold?
5)Why did the European miners become
increasingly hostile towards the Chinese?

11. The Chinese gold miners were very hardworking and their camps
were very organised .Many sifted through leftover mounds of soil
called slag and often found gold that others had missed. Racism
was common in the 1850’s and there was much anti-Chinese
feeling ,so much so that a law was passed in order to tax every
Chinese person who landed in a Victorian port. This did not work,
however, and Chinese miners would get off ships in South
Australia walk to the Victorian goldfields.
Within ten years the population in Australia more than
doubled. New towns and cities grew. More farming land was
required to feed the diggers and their families and new
industries were developed to provide building materials,
furniture, clothes and food, and equipment for mines.
A hard working
Chinese digger.
Many people from
different parts of the world
arrived to search for gold.

12. There are two types of gold. Alluvial gold is the
gold found as small flakes, nuggets or dust that is
attainable within the grounds surface while buried
gold is gold found beneath the earth’s surface.
Diggers either would find gold flakes or nuggets
when they washed dirt and sand from old creek
and river beds or dig shafts 30 metres deep or
more.
Panning for A gold
gold. mine.

13. The simplest way to find the alluvial gold
was to pan for it. Diggers would require a
pick to break up the soil and rock, a shovel
and a panning dish to wash the soil and
rock. The first panning dishes were just
any round dish, some using the wide tin
dishes used in dairies to separate milk and
cream. Tinsmiths began making special
pans with a wide base and shallow trim.
With gold being a heavy metal ,after
repeated washing of the soil and rock , it
would hopefully be the only grains left in
the pan!
Using a shallow dish such as
the one in the picture was the
most common way to search
for gold.

14. Another tool used was a cradle, which
looked like a baby’s cradle. It operated
much the same as the panning dish with
diggers washing the dirt and gravel until
only the gold remained. One man would
rock the cradle and the other would
shovel in mud. When all the mud and
stones are washed away, any gold would
be caught in the bottom of the cradle.
Where water was plentiful, some built
long troughs called sluices. As water was
poured down the sluice, which washed
away the mud, it left the gold behind.
Another method was hydraulic sluicing
which was a quick way to find gold.

15. A huge hose forced water against rock and dirt, washing and
breaking it up into the sluice below.
If water was scarce a method called dry blowing was used in which
bellows were attached to the cradle which blew away everything
except the heavier gold.
When all the alluvial gold was found, diggers would dig a vertical
hole called a shaft in which they cut tunnels off to the side looking
for gold inside quartz rock. Buckets of rock were hauled to the top
by horses and then taken away to be crushed and washed.
This became very expensive and miners joined together to form
large companies and sold shares to raise money. Many diggers
ended up working for a wage in these companies and this was the
beginnings of our gold mining industry as we know today.
6)What was the simplest way to find alluvial gold?

16. A Typical Goldfield.
Life on the goldfields was primitive and rough with only the
basics and many lived in tents. So many people arrived in
Melbourne in the 1850’s that a huge tent city was established
with as many as 30000 people living along the banks of the
Yarra River. It soon became polluted with no fresh water or
sewerage and living conditions became unhealthy. Diggers
would leave their wives and children and head off with just
clothes, boots, a roll of canvas and cooking equipment. Those
who could not afford a carriage or horse walked to the
goldfields. As there were no roads, people followed rough
tracks through the bush. Once at the site it was noisy, with the
sounds of digging, carting, crushing and the washing of dirt
and rock. Sunday was the only day that diggers did not
frantically search for gold. Home was often a canvas tent or
bark hut with simple furnishings with simple meals cooked on
an open fire. It was hard work.
Shelter consisted
of canvas tents or
primitive huts.

17. There were very few children living on the goldfields in the early days,
most were left behind . Once diggers settled in a particular area though,
shops, schools and hospitals opened. The presence of wives and
children lessened the drinking and bad behaviour of some of the men.
Food would be very basic and consist of damper, mutton and tea. A
meal would be a stew of some kind. A food store would provide food
such as meat, tea, flour, sugar, biscuits and potatoes and some
vegetables and very rarely, fruit.
There was little or no medical help and the mixed living conditions led
to the spread of diseases. There was whooping cough, scarlet fever and
measles which resulted in many deaths. In addition, mining was
dangerous work and many died due to accidents.
Those that were lucky and found gold either drank the value of all they
had found ,bought land or a small business, or lifted their family out of
debt.
7)What shelter did the miners have?
8)List 3 types of food available for people living on the goldfields?

18. Miners resented the fact that they had to pay a licence fee. The
fee was 30 shillings a month and represented half the wages of
an ordinary worker. Miners claimed the fee was too high and
troopers (mounted police), were conducting licence checks
unfairly. Troopers could fine diggers with no licence and keep
half of the fine money for themselves, which is why they
constantly checked them. A dispute occurred about a court case
involving James Bentley, a friend of the troopers, being
acquitted of murdering a miner outside the Eureka Hotel and
this sparked a protest as many thought that the police were
corrupt and tensions between the diggers and authorities rose.
A painting depicting the diggers revenge by burning the Eureka
Hotel owned by James Bentley.

19. Three arrests were made and extra soldiers were sent for. The diggers
demanded that the three be pardoned .On the 1st of December 1854, about
10,000 diggers met at Bakery Hill in Ballarat to hear the verdict but the
Governor refused and the diggers, in revolt, burned their licences, elected
leaders and built a fort, the Eureka Stockade on which they erected a flag.
Peter Lalor, an Irish digger, became the leader and about 1000 miners
gathered inside with guns and dared the troops to attack them.
In the early hours of the 3rd of December 1854, 400 soldiers and police
attacked the stockade-a battle which lasted only about 15 minutes. Five
soldiers and about 30 diggers were killed. Hundreds of diggers were arrested
and 13 miners were charged with treason but with the exception of one man,
they were found not guilty at their trial in 1855.
The government realised that the diggers were hard done by and licences
were banned, the gold commissioners sacked and the miners were granted
the right to vote. The Eureka flag has been a powerful symbol of rebellion
against authority since that day.
9)What was the Eureka Stockade?
10)What did you have to pay for in
The famous Eureka flag-blue with a white
order to search for gold? cross and 5 stars representing the Southern
Cross.

20. During the 1900s gold mining in
Australia gradually declined and the rush
had eased. The deeper the gold was
underground, the more expensive it was
to mine and the price of gold wasn’t
enough to make it worthwhile. However,
in the late 1970s the price of gold began
to climb again and big mining companies The Gold Rush created much
started production again in many of wealth and began the towns
Australia’s goldmines. Australia is the and cities we know today.
third largest producer of gold after South
Africa and the United States in the world
today. It is our largest manufactured
export and is worth $7 billion dollars a
year to the Australian economy with
15000 people employed in the industry.

21. The most important result of the gold rushes was
that it increased Australia becoming a nation by firstly
giving two of the colonies N.S.W. and Victoria great
wealth and secondly by bringing a sudden influx of
people, many of whom stayed on, boosting the
economy. Government taxes made it possible for
the building of infrastructure and services required
in new towns and cities and the immigrants brought
with them great diversity in culture, language, religion
and skills.

22. 1.Australia has 10% of the world’s gold deposits.
2.One of the largest nuggets found was called the ‘Welcome Stranger’
and weighed 90kg and its value in 1869 was 9210pounds but today it
would be worth $3,000,000.
3.The total population of Australia increased from 430,000in 1851 to 1.7
million in 1871 due to the gold rush.
4.Gold was carried from the diggings by armed escorts as they attracted
the attention of bushrangers.If robbed ,the owners of the gold would
lose it.
5.With so many people travelling to and from the goldfields, the 1850’s
also saw the construction of the first railway and the operation of the
first telegraphs.
Regular gold transports
were targets of
bushrangers.

23. Books:
1.Gold Fever, Kimberley, Webber, Powerhouse Museum, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd,2001
2.The Gold Rushes, John and Jennifer Barwick, Heinemann Library,2001
3.The Rush to Gold –A world Turned Topsie –turvey, Geoff Hocking,The Five Mile Press, 2005
4.Australia’s Gold Rushes, Robert Coupe, New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd ,2000
5.Gold Australia, Tony Crago, Murray David Publishing Pty Ltd,2000
6.Gold Rush, John and Jennifer Barwick ,Heinemann Library,1999
7.Australia Changing Times-The Gold Rushes-Striving for Wealth, Barrie Sheppard ,Echidna
Books,2004
8.Gold Rushes, Jordan Thomas, Franklin Watts Australia,1999
9.The Golden Years 1850-1890,Michael Dugan, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd,1997
10.Gold in Australia, Bruce McClish, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd,1996
11.The Eureka Stockade –Big Trouble on the Diggings, Geoff Hocking , Waverton Press,2005
12.Settling Australia-The Gold Seekers ,Stephen Gard, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd,1998

24. Internet Sites:
1.http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/goldsearch.htm
2.http://users.tpg.com.au/atdan/panning.html
3.http://www.sovereignhill.com.au
4.http//www.sbs.com.au/gold/
5.http://www.acn.net.au/articles/goldrush/
6.http://www.patricktaylor.com/australian-gold-rush