Australian gold rushes

The Australian gold rush was a large number of gold discoveries in Australia. Thousands of people came to Australia in the hope of finding a lot of gold and becoming rich. The rush started in 1851 when gold was found near Bathurst, New South Wales and ended with the last rush in 1893 to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. At each place gold was easily found in rivers and creeks. This was known as alluvial gold and could be found by individual miners using very basic equipment such as a spade and a dish. In most places this alluvial gold was taken in the first few months. To get at the gold that was buried deeper in the ground meant that the miners needed to work together to dig tunnels. Eventually large companies were formed to raise money so that deep gold mines could be built.
The gold rushes happened when alluvial gold was found. Miners would quickly move there in the hope of being the first to find the surface gold. For example, miners rushing to Clunes, Victoria in August 1851, quickly changed their minds and went to Buninyong when they heard of a new gold discovery. Weeks later gold was found at Ballarat a few miles to the north and within six weeks there were more than 10,000 people digging. But by 1852 most miners had left Ballarat and rushed to the new goldfields at Bendigo. In 1854, miners in Ballarat were angry and upset at paying for gold licences. They burned their licences and raised the Eureka Stockade flag in protest. The miners fought soldiers and police officers to protect their rights. This was called the Eureka Stockade. Many people died, but afterwards the miners didn't have to pay for their licences anymore.
The gold rush finished at the end of the 1850s, but gold was still found throughout Australia up until the 1890s.
Before the gold rush
Gold had been found in Australia before the 1851 gold rush. At first people would not believe the stories. A convict who found gold near Bathurst in 1823 was given 150 lashes with a whip as it was believed he must have stolen it. The explorer Count Paul Strzelecki found gold in the Australian Alps in 1839. The government kept it a secret as they did not want to lose control of the convicts if they went rushing off to search for gold. Gold was also found at:
Strathloddon, Victoria in 1840
Hartley, New South Wales in 1844
Montecute, South Australia in 1846
Glenmona Station, Victoria (near Maryborough) in 1849
Gold rushes in New South Wales
The first gold rush was in New South Wales. There were many others during the next 30 years.
Ophir, New South Wales, north east of Bathurst, 12 February 1851.
Hill End, 1851
Tilba Tilba, 1852.
Kiandra, January 1860
Young, June 1860.
Forbes, June 1861
Parkes, 1862
Gulgong in 1870
West Wyalong, 1893
Gold rushes in Victoria
Clunes, 28 June 1851
Warrandyte, at Anderson's Creek, July 1851
Castlemaine, 20 July 1851
Buninyong, 2 August 1851
Ballarat, 8 August 1851
Bendigo, October 1851
Beechworth, February 1852
Yackandandah, May 1852
Eaglehawk, May 1852
Omeo, 1852
Heathcote 1852
Walhalla, February 1853
Maldon, June 1853
Buckland River, July 1853
Waranga, 3 August 1853
Creswick, 1853
Ararat, October 1854
Daylesford
Blackwood, February 1855
St Arnaud, 1855
Dunnolly
Tarnagulla
Moliagul
Wedderburn, 1852
Rheola
Inglewood
Kingower
Stawell, 1857
Chiltern 1858
Barkly 1859
Wood's Point, 1862
Gaffney's Creek
Jamieson
Matlock
Gold rushes in South Australia
Onkaparinga, October 1852
Teetulpa, 1886
Gold rushes in Western Australia
Hall's Creek, 1885
The Pilbara, 1888
Southern Cross, 1888
Coolgardie, 17 September 1892
Kalgoorlie 14 June 1893
Gold rushes in Queensland
Rockhampton, 1858
Gympie, 1867
Ravenswood, 25 December 1871
Charters Towers, 1872
Palmer River, near Cooktown, 1873
Hodgkinson River, near Cairns, 1875
Mount Morgan
Cracow, Queensland, 1931-1939
Coen, 1878
Croydon, 1885
Gold rushes in the Northern Territory
Pine Creek, 1871
References
19th century in Australia
Gold rushes
1850s