Australian Gold Rushes: The fever that gripped a nation

Gold has always been in high demand throughout human history. As a precious metal worth a lot of money, any discovery of gold deposits in the ground attracted attention.

There had been some exciting discoveries in America in the 18th century. For example, there was the North Carolina Gold Rush, which had begun in 1799.

However, in 1848, the world had experienced the first major 'gold rush' when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, a sawmill on the American River in California, by James W. Marshall.

News of this discovery spread quickly and soon people from all over the world were flocking to California in search of their fortune.

People from all walks of life abandoned their jobs and homes, hoping to strike it rich.

Small discoveries of gold had been made prior to 1850 at a few locations in New South Wales. 

A surveyor named James O'Brien claimed to have found some at Fish Creek in 1823, and a Polish explorer called Paul Strzelecki made a similar claim in 1839.

Perhaps the most plausible early claim was made by a Reverend William Clarke who showed some gold he had found to the colonial governor in 1841.

To encourage people to look further, the colonial government offered a reward of £10,000 to the first person to find the precious metal.

The first discovery of gold in Australia was made by Edward Hargraves in February 1851. He found gold at Ophir, near Orange, New South Wales.

Hargraves had only arrived back in Australia from California the month before.

He had been inspired by what he had seen during the California Gold Rush and applied the same techniques he observed there to find gold in Australia.

The New South Wales government initially tried to keep the news of the discovery quiet. 

They were worried about the huge numbers of potential migrants that would appear and believed that they would be too difficult to govern. 

However, despite the best efforts of the authorities, news of his discovery spread quickly.

Within a few weeks, approximately 10,000 people from around Australia had left their jobs and travelled to the goldfield.

It was reported in newspapers at the time that some only traveled with a single shovel and a blanket.

Soon, just like in the United States, people from all over the world rushed to Australia as well.

In just a few months, about 40,000 people had arrived in the area, each desperately hoping to strike it rich.

Unfortunately, the small town couldn't cope with the influx of people and soon became a tent city.

The Victorian gold rush, which followed directly after the discovery of gold in News South Wales, would become one of the largest in history.

Jealous of New South Wales' success, Victoria offered a cash reward for a similar discovery in their own region.

Just a few months after Hargraves' find, gold was discovered at Mt Alexander, near Ballarat, in central Victoria.

This sparked a second Australian rush, which was significantly bigger than the first.

The Victorian government was not prepared for what happened next.

People from all walks of life dropped everything to find gold: husbands abandoned their families, ships crews left their jobs, and teachers, policemen, and even government employees became miners overnight.

Within months, over 60,000 people had converged on the town of Ballarat.

The gold rush had a profound impact on the state of Victoria and its population.

It is estimated that by the end of 1852, around half of all of Victoria's population was living on the new goldfields.

In addition, the population of the city of Melbourne increased from around 23,000 in 1851 to over 300,000 by 1865. 

The exciting news of the different discoveries of gold attracted migrants from around the world.

People from all over Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa came to Australia in search of gold. 

Approximately two-thirds of the people who came to Australia during the gold rushes were from the British Isles.

However, there were also significant numbers of people from other European countries, such as Germany, Italy and France.

In 1852, an estimated 60,000 people had arrived for the specific purpose to mine gold. 

Before 1851, Australia was a relatively unknown British colony with a total population of just 400,000.

But, the discovery of gold changed all that. In 1871, Australia's population had grown to over three million.

This was largely due to the gold rushes.

It is important to note that the largest group of non-European immigrants were the Chinese.

At the height of the gold rushes, there were an estimated 30,000 Chinese people in Australia.

Most of them had travelled from the Guangdong province in southern China. 

Unfortunately, the Chinese were treated very poorly by the other miners on the gold fields.

They were often the target of racism and violence. In 1854, the government introduced a poll tax of £100 on all Chinese immigrants in an attempt to discourage them from coming to Australia. 

As the numbers of miners increased, tensions rose between the miners and the government.

This was due to a number of issues, such as the high licence fees that the government said were required to mine for gold.

In 1854, these fees were increased from £30 to £200. This resulted in protests and clashes between miners and members of the police.

The most famous of these incidents was known as the Eureka Stockade, which took place at Ballarat in December 1854. 

This was a rebellion led by gold miners in Ballarat, protesting against unfair mining licence fees and police corruption.

This event culminated in a battle between the miners and colonial authorities, resulting in the deaths of around 30 people.

Ultimately, the rebellion resulted in the removal of the fees, which was considered to be a victory for the miners.

As a result, the events of Eureka are considered to be a positive step in creating a fairer working environment for all miners on the goldfields.

The gold rushes had a significant impact on Australia and its people. Specifically, the wealth generated by the gold rushes transformed Australia from a largely rural economy to a more urban one.

It also led to an increase in exports and helped boost the economy. 

The gold rushes also resulted in the establishment of many new towns and cities.

Melbourne, for example, even though it was founded in 1835, only really started to grow when news of the Victorian gold rush spread in 1851.

Many of the towns and cities established during the gold rushes are still thriving today. 

In a long-term sense, the gold rushes also had a significant impact on the way that Australia was governed.

Prior to the rushes, each colony in Australia had its own separate government.

However, as the number of people increased, it became clear that this system could not cope with the needs of the rapidly growing population.

Consequently, this led to the establishment of a federal system of government in Australia in 1901.