Made by Oliver Featherstone

About the australian gold rush in the 1850's

 PictureMiners on the gold fields around the 1850's
The Australian gold rushes were periods of migration of workers, who had travelled overseas, to areas which had discoveries of gold deposits. A number of gold finds occurred in Australia prior to 1851, but the only gold found from 1851 or higher created gold rushes. This is mainly because, prior to 1851, the government of New South Wales (Victoria did not become a separate colony until 1 July 1851, and Tasmania did not become a separate colony until 1856) had put an end to news of gold finds which it believed would reduce the workforce and higher the stability in the economy.

After the California gold rush began in 1848, causing many people to leave Australia for California to look for gold there, the New South Wales government re-thought it's position, and approval from the Colonial Office in England had been granted to allow the exploitation of the mineral resources and also offered rewards for the finding of payable gold.

The first gold rush in Australia began in May 1851 after prospector Edward Hargraves claimed to have discovered payable gold near Bathurst, at a site he called Ophir. Hargraves had been to the Californian goldfields and had learned new goldprospecting techniques such as panning and cradling. Hargraves was offered rewards by the Colony of New South Wales and the Colony of Victoria. Before the end of the year, the gold rush had spread to different parts of the state where gold had been found, not just inside the west, but also to the south and north of Sydney.

The Australian gold rushes changed the convict colonies into more progressive cities with the influx of free emigrants. These hopefuls, termed diggers, brought new skills and professions, contributing to a burgeoning economy. The mateship that evolved between these diggers and their collective resistance to authority led to the emergence of a unique national identity. Although not all diggers found riches on the goldfields, many decided to stay and integrate into these communities.

In July 1851, Victoria's first gold rush began on the Clunes goldfield. In August, the gold rush had spread to include the goldfield at Buninyong (today a suburb of Ballarat) 45 km (28 m) away and, by early September 1851, to the nearby goldfield at Ballarat (then also known as Yuille's Diggings), followed in early September to the goldfield at Castlemaine (then known as Forest Creek) and the goldfield at Bendigo creek in November 1851. Gold, just as in New South Wales, was also found in many other parts of the state. The Victorian Gold Discovery Committee wrote in 1854:In July 1851, Victoria's first gold rush began on the Clunes goldfield. In August, the gold rush had spread to include the goldfield at Buninyong (today a suburb of Ballarat) 45 km (28 m) away and, by early September 1851, to the nearby goldfield at Ballarat, followed in early September to the goldfield at Castlemaine (then known as Forest Creek) and the goldfield at Bendigo creek in November 1851. Gold, just as in New South Wales, was also found in many other parts of the state. The Victorian Gold Discovery Committee wrote in 1854:The discovery of the Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of world wide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of in age, and made its impulses felt in the most distant regions of the earth.


The gold rushes caused a huge arrival of people from overseas. Australia's total population more than tripled from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871. Australia first became a multicultural society during the gold rush period. Between 1852 and 1860, 290,000 people migrated to Victoria from the British Isles, 15,000 came from other European countries, and 18,000 emigrated from the United States. Non-European immigrants, however, were unwelcome, especially the Chinese.

The Chinese were particularly industrious, with techniques that differed widely from the Europeans. This and their physical appearance and fear of the unknown led to them to being persecuted in a racist way that would be regarded as untenable today.