Australian gold rushes

Nineteenth-century gold discoveries in Australian colonies triggered mass migration, rapid settlement, and lasting changes to the economy and population.

Edward Hargraves: An Australian prospector whose 1851 New South Wales gold discovery helped initiate the Australian gold rushes. His Bathurst-area discovery prompted New South Wales to announce a payable goldfield.
Alluvial gold: Gold particles or nuggets eroded from rock and deposited in riverbeds, gravels, or sediment. Early Australian miners could recover this gold with relatively simple tools.
Eureka Flag: A blue-and-white flag associated with the miners’ uprising at Ballarat in 1854. It became a lasting emblem of protest rooted in goldfield politics.
Ballarat: A city in Victoria that grew rapidly during the gold rushes of the 1850s. Its goldfields were the setting for the Eureka uprising and a major migration boom.
Bathurst gold rush: The 1851 rush to goldfields near Bathurst in New South Wales, following discoveries at Ophir. It marked the start of the major nineteenth-century rushes on the Australian mainland.
Gold mining: The extraction of gold from deposits in the ground or from sediments and waterways. The rushes were a mass movement centered on finding and extracting this resource.
Victorian goldfields water supply: The reservoirs, channels, and pipelines built to supply water to Victoria’s goldfields and towns. Mining and booming settlements drove large public waterworks, including the Coliban system.
Bendigo: A Victorian city whose rich goldfields attracted large populations from the 1850s onward. Its deep and extensive deposits sustained one of the era’s most productive gold districts.
Victorian gold rush: A series of gold rushes in Victoria beginning in 1851, including major fields at Ballarat and Bendigo. Victoria’s discoveries soon drew migrants on a scale that eclipsed the first New South Wales rush.
Gold licence: A colonial permit that miners in parts of Australia had to buy to search for gold. Licence fees and enforcement became central grievances on the Victorian diggings.

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