Here you will find out about the gold rush
The gold rush had a huge affect on the Australian economy.The Gold Rush is an interesting topic to go to if you are considering how we are as Australians. The diggers defiance and eagerness to disobey the rules is a dominant theme in any discussion on history and national identity.
In his understandable enthusiasm, prospector Edward Hargraves slightly overstated the case when he declared: ‘This is a memorable day in the history of New South Wales. I shall be a baronet.’ The year was 1851. The place was near Bathurst, approximately 210km (130 miles) west of Sydney. Hargraves’ audience consisted of one speechless colleague. The occasion was the discovery of gold in Australia.
1850's Australia
The Australian colonies are in a mess,Most of the work had been done by the convicts,Britain wasnt sending convicts to the eastern states anymore,Some convicts were being sent to Western Australia though.There was no one to do all the dirty work anymore.Australia was still part of the British Empire even though England was half the world away.For the past twenty years britain was sending their poor too,If they were respectable and good workers they didnt even have to pay the 'passage fee' .There were closer places like the United States and South Africa.With no convict ships there was not enough ships to take wool and wheat to europe.Since there was no more convicts it was hard to find Servants,Farmworkers,People to build roads and just basically anybody to do ANY dirty work.
Striking Gold
No sooner had the news of the Bathurst find reached the farthest corner of the land than prospectors from Melbourne struck gold at Ballarat. With two colonies – New South Wales and Victoria – sharing in the boom, adventurers streamed in from both Europe and America. By the year 1860 Australia’s population had reached a total of one million. Thirty-three years later the bonanza became a coast-to-coast celebration when gold was discovered in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
A Rugged Life
Life in the gold fields was rugged, aggravated by climate, flies and tax collectors. Whether big winners or, more likely, small losers, all the diggers had to pay the same licence fee. Enforcement and fines were needlessly strict. Justice, the miners felt, was tilted against them. So they burned their licences and demonstrated for voting rights and other reforms. In the subsequent siege of the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat in 1854, troops were ordered to attack the demonstrators. There was heavy loss of life, and the licence fee was abandoned.
Yellow Peril
Another riot, in 1861, pitted the white prospectors against Chinese miners, who were resented for their foreignness, strong work ethic and frugality. At Lambing Flat, New South Wales, thousands of whites whipped and clubbed a community of Chinese. Police, troops and finally the courts were lenient on the attackers. It was the worst of several race riots. With the tensions of the gold rush, the notion of the ‘yellow peril’ was embedded in Australia’s national consciousness.
Bushrangers
Ned Kelly:The Old Melbourne Gaol was the place where Australia’s most controversial character, Ned Kelly was hang in 1880. The son of an Irish convict, young Kelly frequently brushed with the law, becoming a fugitive in 1878. Relentless police pursuit culminated in a shootout at Glenrowan, in which he was captured and the rest of his gang were killed. Ned’s famous revolver is on display at the Gaol today.
Until he was hanged in 1880, the wounded Kelly spent his days in the Gaol while his mother was serving a sentence in the women’s wing.
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The gold rush started in 1851.Thousands of people scrambled to the gold fields to seek fame and fortune.\
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FAST FACTS:
.The welcome stanger weighed 71.018 kg, found only 3 cm (1.2 in) below the surface, near a bark of a tree on a slope.It was the biggest gold nugget ever found.
.There were a number of gold finds in Australia prior to 1851, but it is only the gold found from 1851 onwards which created the gold rushes.
.Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie yielded much gold. They were some of Australia's largest gold mines. Also, they are very close to each other. Other gold fields were established in WA, but these two produced the most.
.Edward Hargraves made the first official discovery in 1851. Other discoveries had been made before, but the governor of NSW did not approve them. All the three incorrect answers are men who made discoveries before Hargraves, but they were not official discoveries.
.The site was near Bathurst, in a waterhole. Hargraves named this place Ophir. John Lister, James Tom and William Tom accompanied Hargraves but the three men decided to give Hargraves the reward that was offered.
.Ballarat and Bendigo are known worldwide for their gold. There are still diggers that wish to strike a fortune there!
.Women didnt need a permit to mine or pan for gold.
.The Chinese, like many other diggers, came to Australia to search for gold,
because there were many problems in China
A gold mine museum recreation