Gold Rushes

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AUSTRALIA

There were three main goldrushes in Australia. One was in Ballarat and the other in Bathurst and Hill End. The first grain of gold discovered in Australia was by a farmer named Edward Hammond Hargreaves. He had just come back from the Californian gold rush and had the experience to search and find gold. The following picture is of Edward Hargreaves.

The gold rush made many people from all over the world come over to Australia for work and money. The population increased a great deal during the gold rush time.

Most people thought that gold was a great metal but some disagreed. They thought it was a dangerous product that caused fighting and theft. A miners permit was made and a miner couldn't mine without one. That caused a big problem. A miners permit cost a lot of money and miners had to cheat and mine without one. If they were caught they could get put into jail.

INTERESTING FACT: Women didn't need to have a miners permit to mine or pan for gold.

THE BALLARAT GOLD RUSH

The Ballarat gold rush began in the 1850's. When it was first discovered there were no roads to the goldfields and everything had to be carried by horses and carts. It sometimes took as long as a sea journey from England to get to the gold fields.

INTERESTING FACT: Ballarat is one of the richest gold fields in the world.

THE CHINESE DIGGERS

The Chinese, like many other diggers, came to Australia to search for gold because there were many problems in China, such as poverty (low of food) and drought. They had a very hard time because of the Europeans. Chinese diggers were hard-workers, they lived quietly in camps of their own and caused no trouble at all. That made the Europeans uneasy with their differences.

At first the Europeans only showed a little dislike to the Chinese. But the chinese were so desperate for gold and even looked where the Europeans had searched but funnily enough they found gold! This made the Europeans angry. The Europeans got so angry with the Chinese successes that they caused a riot (a big fight) that killed many Chinese, broke their tents, smashed their equipment and beat them.