page_title: Australian gold rushes
hierarchical_section_title: Australian gold rushes
caption_attribution_description: English: Gold diggings, Ararat, c.1858, by Edwin Roper Loftus Stocqueler, oil painting, presented by Sir William Dixson, 1929, State Library of New South Wales DG 15
context_page_description: During the Australian gold rushes, significant numbers of workers relocated to areas in which gold had been discovered. Gold was found several times in Australia before 1851, but there were only gold rushes from 1851 onwards, mainly because the colonial government of New South Wales had previously suppressed news of gold finds which it believed would reduce the workforce and destabilise the economy.
  After the California Gold Rush began in 1848, motivating many people to leave Australia for California to look for gold there, the New South Wales government rethought its position, and sought approval from the British Colonial Office to allow the exploitation of mineral resources, and offered rewards for finding gold.
context_section_description: During the Australian gold rushes, significant numbers of workers (both from other areas within Australia and from overseas) relocated to areas in which gold had been discovered. Gold was found several times in Australia before 1851, but there were only gold rushes from 1851 onwards, mainly because the colonial government of New South Wales (Victoria did not become a separate colony until 1 July 1851) had previously suppressed news of gold finds which it believed would reduce the workforce and destabilise the economy.
  After the California Gold Rush began in 1848, motivating many people to leave Australia for California to look for gold there, the New South Wales government rethought its position, and sought approval from the British Colonial Office to allow the exploitation of mineral resources, and offered rewards for finding gold.
caption: Gold diggings, Ararat, Victoria, by Edwin Stocqueler, 1854
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