According to some reports given, gold discoveries in Australia are believed to have occurred way before the gold rush of the early 1850s.
Strangely enough, the gold rush in California probably sped up the discovery of the gold in Victoria. The colonial government realized that a lot of people were rushing to California when gold was discovered from 1848, and that influx of people would have a huge economic benefit to the area. Hence, the Victorian government saw the need to allow exploitation of gold and openly put a reward on the table for the recovery of payable gold.
In 1851, the month of May, Australian gold rush commenced following the discovery of payable gold in the vicinity of Orange River at the site known as Ophir by Edward Hargraves. Hargraves already had the knowledge of new gold prospecting techniques like cradling and panning which he had acquired while in California.
As a result, the colony of South Wales and Victoria rewarded him for his hard work. By the end of the year, the gold rush is said to have spread to other locations.
The Rush for Gold in On!
In July of 1851, Victoria’s first gold rush was beginning, which occurred at the Clunes goldfield. By August, the gold rush had reached the goldfield of Buninyong – now a suburb of Ballarat. By early September, the gold rush had spread to Ballarat – known as Yuille’s digging at the time.
The gold rush kept spreading rapidly, and by early September, 1851 it had spread to the goldfield at Castlemaine, which was referred to as Forest Creek and Mount Alexander goldfield. It was in this very time frame that the rush also got to Bendigo, on Bendigo Creek by November of 1851.
The goldfield of Bendigo is believed to have been found by a woman named Margaret Kennedy, who some records reveal was the first to find gold in the creek bed while with a friend, and washed the gold with a pan used to bake bread. Within a few months thousands of prospectors occupied the whole place to search for gold. The discoveries at Bendigo came to be one of Australia’s richest gold strikes.
More and More Gold Discoveries
A number of locations in Victoria are known to have been very rich in gold deposits. For instance, at the time of the gold rush, Ballarat was known to have been a very prosperous field. There were reports of five men who managed to retrieve 136 ounces of gold within a day. The gold deposits are reported to have been sitting just below the surface, and diggers could easily extract the gold nuggets without much effort.
Meanwhile, in 1852, Wedderburn also had the news of gold discovery, where a story is told about a shepherd named Brady discovering gold while taking care of his sheep just outside of Wedderburn. By December 1852, there was a gold rush in the area, about 6000 people had arrived to search for gold.
Golden Victoria
The gold rush in Victoria saw an increase in population like never before. People from different locations relocated to this region causing the population to rise from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871. And a lot of gold was mined from the region. In fact, aside from California it may have been the biggest gold rush on Earth regarding the number of people that came to the area.
Hundreds of other mining camps were established in the region, and gold was found basically everywhere around these towns. Miners scoured every creeks and gulley to seek out gold, and many of them made their fortunes doing so.
Some of the biggest gold nuggets on Earth were found in Victoria.
The goldfields of Victoria produced huge amounts of gold and have contributed to raising the gold production standards of Australia over the years. Most of the largest gold nuggets ever found on Earth have been found in Victoria in the small region around these town.
It is likely no surprise that this area has been mined very hard over the past century. Thousands of miners still look for gold in this area today, hoping to find a nugget large enough the change their lives! Even today this area holds good potential for gold prospectors.
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